Betta fish Tumor?

[Meagan.Marie]

Okay so my roommate and I are watching her boyfriend zachs betta fish for the next two weeks, anyways. We are pretty sure he has a tumor because I saw the fish like three weeks ago and he did not look like this. Its a gigantic bulge under his belly, but not like the fish is fat... anyways the scales on his head look all streched out but he does not look like he has dropsey. but its a huge huge huge bulge

if so is there anything we can do about a fish tumor
is he suffering?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Overfeeding. Pretty sure. They have tiny bellies.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

he only gets fed three pellets a day... no way hes over fed.

 

[jenatron]

My guess would be swim bladder. Does he swim oddly? Is he lethargic? Does he stay at the top of the tank exclusively, or sink to the bottom?

 

[Bettababe1011]

I'm sorry to say, but I think it's overfed. My Betta gets one pellet a day, one day of no food to clean out his system. He stays the slight rounded of well fed. I would try cutting down on his food intake. This sounds just like overfeeding with the belly shape. Luckily for you, I don't think it's a tumor. This is an easily fixed problem.

In loving memory of Pansa Princess, the greatest horse who ever lived. May you rest in peace.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

i will tell her and we will try it! not feed him for a day and then see if it starts go go down

 

[Bettababe1011]

That's just what it sounds like to me. I hope this helps you. Update to tell us what happens. It may take more than a day of not feeding to go down. Cut back on the food and keep it there. Check his belly to see if it is being fed enough. It should be slightly rounded. You can find pics online. A good website for anything Betta is bettatalk.com.

In loving memory of Pansa Princess, the greatest horse who ever lived. May you rest in peace.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

well we are trying to make sure we dont kill the fish under our watch. I am sure zach would be pretty upset. poor anastasio... our game plan is we are going to fast him tomorrow and then only give him one pellet a day and see what happens. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks.

 

[Bettababe1011]

Okay. Good luck. And I love that name.

In loving memory of Pansa Princess, the greatest horse who ever lived. May you rest in peace.

 

[Tasha]

man im just learning things all over the place, I didnt know that could happen if you overfed a beta, although my only experience with betas and they didnt "love" to eat. I hope that is all thats wrong and not a tumor GL.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Overfeeding. Pretty sure. They have tiny bellies.

Betta Fish | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

There you go, take a look. Does this look similar? My Betta ate all of the food intended for the other fish in the tank and this happened.

 

[dkpate]

Holy cow Tim! I am surprised he didn't explode.

As for the OP, my bettas get 2 pellets, twice a day, one day a week they get boiled, shelled peas, they never get bloated.

How old is the fish? What did he tell you to do for a water changing schedule? How big is his tank? Is it heated? Does it have a filter?

 

[Tim Wheatley]

I know! I couldn't believe it. I dropped 3 catfish sinking pellets in the tank AFTER I had fed the Betta and he swallowed his own food then all three pellets. I had to take photos, I now think they're pretty funny but I thought he was going to die at the time.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

It is just a one gallon bowl it isnt heated... Trust me I know.. this is bad for the fish but idk what to say because hes not my fish and my roommate thought i was insane because i have two mini bows for my bettas with heaters. Anyways he changes the water twice a week. he is about 4 months old. My roommate and i are going to fast the fish today and feed him one pellet a day after that. He is a crown tail and fairly small anyways.
I will keep you updated

Tim: yes he looks just like that. we are relieved it is not a tumor but he does look like he could explode. but i hope not. zach however did not notice this, he insist the fish looks exactly like when he got it, however i think not because I saw the fish three weeks ago and he was a normal size betta.

 

[Tim Wheatley]

Glad we were able to confirm it. Good to hear he does water changes at least.

Thanks for being responsible and checking it out.

 

[Meagan.Marie]

Well I was worried about my little fish nephew to be in pain.

 

[Tasha]

that is crazy!!! that cant be comfortable, I cant believe he would eat that much to do that!! Glad its no tumor.

 

[Bettababe1011]

How is the Betta doing now? Has he improved with the fasting and less feeding?

In loving memory of Pansa Princess, the greatest horse who ever lived. May you rest in peace.