Betta not eating or swimming

[Polkadots]

Apollo, the betta in my avatar picture, is almost two years old. He might have swim bladder disease, but I'm not sure. Three days ago, I noticed he was eating less, and seemed to have trouble swimming and staying horizontal. Yesterday it got worse, he didn't eat. Apollo has to constantly try to pull himself up but keep on falling vertically. He always likes to go on his zoo med leaf bed or wedge himself between the glass and the heater, but now he needs it for support, and even has trouble staying wedged/on. I offered him garlic soaked pellets and 1/4 of a boiled pea, but he ignored both. He looks normal.

Is it swim bladder? How should I treat him?

I plan on putting him in a hospital tank tomorrow.

Thanks!


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[Polkadots]

I transferred Apollo into the hospital tank. He was laying on the sand for about 20 minutes before he swam to the plastic plant and has been laying there for about 3 hours now. He still ignores food. His difficulty swimming makes me think it's swim bladder, but I don't know if bettas with swim bladder disease refuse food.
Could he be depressed?
I'm kind of desperately grasping at straws.


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[Haileyjade]

Poor Apollo. It does sound like swim bladder, which can be caused by many things. It's important that he have access to the surface, so it's good that you have a leaf in there for him. It may be advisable to lower the water level as well.

What has your water change schedule been? How large is his tank? Heated? What is his feeding schedule...what brand, and how much daily?

Constipation can be a cause of swim bladder disease. Epsom salt can be effective in this case, as well as feeding frozen daphnia.




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[Polkadots]

Apollo, until three days ago, lived in a 36 gallon community tank. It was a constant 75 F. I did a water change once a week, about 20%. He is now in a 1.5 gallon tank. It's filtered and heated to about 80 F. It's probably too small, but it's all I have for now. (He used to live in it before I learned it was too small.) He usually eats Aqueon betta pellets, about 8-12 pellets a day. I target feed him. I've offered him a different brand, and frozen bloodworms before but he refused them.


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[Haileyjade]

Hmm...and all of your parameters have checked out as normal? Is he bloated? No pine cone appearance? 8-12 pellets a day seems like a lot. Bettas are piggies...mine would stuff themselves til they burst of they could. I'd try epsom salt--I believe the dosage is 1 tsp/gal, dissolved in water before being added...but I would check that before administering. It's been awhile since I've had to treat for swim bladder. Also, try the frozen daphnia. I've heard it's much better than the pea method.


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[Polkadots]

So far, the only notable change in Apollo is that he has started to produce bubble nests again. I guess it's a good thing he hasn't gotten much worse. I haven't noticed any poop. None of the Lfs near me carry frozen daphnia, but I'll try to order it online. As for the Edison salt, I picked some up today. Hopefully I'll have time to read about and try it tomorrow!


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[Polkadots]

Also, Apollo still doesn't look bloated at all...


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[ppo8820]

He may be old. When you buy them from the traditional stores, they are usually 6 months to a year old. So if you have had him two years, then he is about 3, which is elderly for most captive bettas.

If he isnt bloated, then I doubt he is sick with anything treatable like swim bladder or whatever He is just old, and when things get old, they get slower and have difficulty doing things. It may be his time, but I commend you on providing him a nice retirement home Id lower his food amount as that is a lot of pellets in 1 day btw. He is sure a nice looking fish.

 

[Polkadots]

He's eating less than one pellet a day on average. I actually meant to write 8 pellets at 12 pm everyday (autocorrect!). That's probably too much, anyway. If he's not sick, would doing a Epsom salt bath be more harm than good?

Thanks!


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[Polkadots]

I got home to see this:

(Not a good picture)
Poor Apollo! I can't tell if his gills or his... Ugh, I don't know the word for it is... Well, see if you can tell from the picture. Sorry for being so vague, and thank you!


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[Polkadots]

Slightly better picture:




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[Nils]

Sorry to hear about your betta :-(. Once I had a cory with swim bladder disease, but I somehow cured it. I was probably 5, and he was floating at the top and couldn't swim down, so I took a spoon and ladled him out, and I talked to him telling him how disappointed I was in how he was behaving. Weird I know, but the next day, he was sitting on the sand and looked perfectly healthy! I think that because he got a big breath of air he was able to either let air out or in..... I don't know but it helped!

Nils

 

[Haileyjade]

I would bring the water level down immediately and make sure he is able to rest on something stable so that he can reach the surface easily. Poor fella.


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[Polkadots]

He swam up to rest on the leaf bed a few hours ago. I guess he just got tired. There's a little bulge at the bottom of his head- can you tell what it is? I'm hoping it's not a tumor or something.


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[Haileyjade]

Hmmm its a bit hard to tell. Has he been eating?


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[Polkadots]

He hadn't been eating. Unfortunately, this morning, Apollo has passed. Thank you for all of your help.


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