Marble betta "lumpy" tumor and color progression

Gourami Swami

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I find this pretty interesting and wanted to share, the complete transformation of my blue marble betta "lumpy" over the time I've had him. I took him from petco, as they were going to euthanize him because of a tumor growing on his side. Figured I would give him a shot, that was probably a year and a half ago and he is still kicking. Very active and personable betta.
This video is from august 2019. He was a mostly white fish with the beginnings of a tumor on his side.


And these pictures are from today, notice he has become completely blue and the only white on his body, is on the tumor. Also, his tumor has grown to be very large, and there are two more small ones now on his tail. His scales have also grown over his eyes partially, though he can still see. These health problems seem to be the result of the excessive inbreeding required to produce the blue marble morph, similar to the dragonscale or metallic morphs.

lumpy.jpeg
lump3.jpeg
lump2.jpeg

I had considered removing the tumor, but am afraid that I will do more harm than good since it is so large. I guess I will just observe since he does not seem to be bothered by the condition. This does make me more wary of any line-bred color morph fish, and is a good example of the darker side of selective breeding.
 
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Magnus_Bane

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I find this pretty interesting and wanted to share, the complete transformation of my blue marble betta "lumpy" over the time I've had him. I took him from petco, as they were going to euthanize him because of a tumor growing on his side. Figured I would give him a shot, that was probably a year and a half ago and he is still kicking. Very active and personable betta.
This video is from august 2019. He was a mostly white fish with the beginnings of a tumor on his side.


And these pictures are from today, notice he has become completely blue and the only white on his body, is on the tumor. Also, his tumor has grown to be very large, and there are two more small ones now on his tail. His scales have also grown over his eyes partially, though he can still see. These health problems seem to be the result of the excessive inbreeding required to produce the blue marble morph, similar to the dragonscale or metallic morphs.

View attachment 1424642
View attachment 1424641
View attachment 1424640

I had considered removing the tumor, but am afraid that I will do more harm than good since it is so large. I guess I will just observe since he does not seem to be bothered by the condition. This does make me more wary of any line-bred color morph fish, and is a good example of the darker side of selective breeding.
Personally I would remove the 2 tumors from the tail but I'd agree on leaving the one on his side alone. The only on his side has just gotten far to large to remove safely but the 2 on his tail should be safe to remove and would heal up over time and proper care. It would also allow him to swim a lil more freely beings that he'd no longer have the added bulk/weight of the tumors on his tail fin.
 
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Gourami Swami

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Personally I would remove the 2 tumors from the tail but I'd agree on leaving the one on his side alone. The only on his side has just gotten far to large to remove safely but the 2 on his tail should be safe to remove and would heal up over time and proper care. It would also allow him to swim a lil more freely beings that he'd no longer have the added bulk/weight of the tumors on his tail fin.
His swimming actually seems unaffected, honestly they are pretty small & if the giant one on his side hasn't taken him out yet, I don't think the small ones will either. Catching him and removing them with a razor would be difficult and traumatic, so if I don't see a real necessity for it, I'd rather just leave him be. I appreciate the input though!
 
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