identifying a white spot on my betta

[Finchley]

I'm getting a bit concerned about a white spot I noticed on our little guy's scales. Could be something simple, but I'm worried it might be the start of ick. Don't want to start treatment without knowing what's going on, though. Would really appreciate any thoughts or advice you all might have.

[coltin]

Can you describe or show a picture of the white spot on your little guy's scales?

[sSjey]

I've taken a closer look at our little guy, and the white mark is actually quite faint. It's situated on his side, right between the pectoral fin and dorsal fin. To give you a better idea, it's roughly the same size as one of his scales.

In my opinion, it doesn't resemble ich at all – the mark is too isolated and doesn't have that characteristic speckled appearance. Ich usually looks like someone's sprinkled salt all over the fish, and there are often multiple spots. This just looks like a single scale that might have gotten caught on something.

[coltin]

If that's the pale spot between the pectoflake and dorsal fin, I'd say it resembles a lifted scale - it seems the scale got caught on something and has been lifted up. It will likely fall out and be replaced by a new one.

[SeaBidder]

Definitely not ich, more like a scale issue.

[Finchley]

Thanks so much for all your help - I really appreciate it. I've been keeping a close eye on him and I think I've spotted another one. It's similar to the first, so I'm hoping it's just another lifted scale. His appetite is fine, energy levels are normal and he's still building a nice big bubble nest, so that's a good sign at least.

[sSjey]

I don't think it's ich, the spots are too large for that and if it was, the original one would've dropped off by now.

It's worth keeping an eye on them though. I had a betta seveflake years ago with a similar issue - it started out with small spots that gradually grew in size. I'm hoping your betta doesn't have the same thing, so please do keep us updated on any changes, whether the spots disappear or not.