active yet bloated betta

[indrani987]

I have had a betta for about a year and a half in a 5 gallon filtered tank. He has always been very healthy and active. A few weeks a go, he had little white things on his body, which I guessed was ick, so I treated it with "super ick cure" with nitrofurazone. The ick quickly cleared up. But then my bettas belly started getting bloated. I don't overfeed or use live or frozen foods, and keep a clean tank, so I'm not sure what went wrong. Then I treated with "fungus clear", because that's all the petstore had for treating dropsy....that didn't work, so I ordered maracyn I and II online, that didn't help either. The fish is now still pretty active, but for shorter periods now, resting a lot in between due to his huge belly. The belly is stretched so thin you can see light passing through it - like a big bubble. Poor fishy:-( I had tried feeding him peas at the beginning in case it was constipation, but that wasn't it. I have tried a little epsom salt to help with the bloating, but it doesn't seem to do anything.

Is it worth doing anything else? I understand all fish age and die - and if his kidneys were failing cuz of old age, then that's that. But the thing is he is so active after his little rests.

hmm...any thoughts? I am wondering if it was the ick treatment that hurt his kidneys and made him swell up?

 

[Zagz]

The treatments might have stressed him making him vunerable to ich. For future reference heat treatment is best for treating ich. How often do you change the water? The first thing I'd do if you haven't already done it is do a 50% pwc and add activated carbon to the filter to remove all the meds. How much epsom salt did you add?

Are his scales sticking out like pinecones from his body? Have you seen him poo? If not try feeding some frozen peas, nuke them for a few seconds then cut them to bite size portions. If his scales are sticking out it is probably dropsy and there isn't a great success rate curing dropsy.

 

[An t-iasg]

Some bettas are just prone to bloat for some reason. Of all the bettas I've had, only two died from bloat/dropsy. I feed all my bettas peas once a week as a precaution, and I hope it helps as a preventative. Of course, if the dropsy is due to an organ failure, there's not much you can do.

One of my bettas that died from dropsy was very swollen, like your description. He was also very active for 10 days, and then on the evening of the 10th day, he died.

As long as your betta is active, I would try to make him comfortable. Do try the peas as Zagz suggested. If you cut them up into bits as small as his betta food (yes, it's a little tedious) he should eat them. If he does eat some peas, don't feed anything else for a day or two.

Did you try epsom salt as a temporary "bath" or in his tank? You can add it to his tank if you have no live plants. Try 1/8 teaspoon per gallon at first, and then add another 1/8 teaspoon per gallon later (gives him time to get accustomed to it). Do the water changes with carbon as Zagz suggested before you do the salt again. Keep doing small daily water changes while replenishing the amount of salt you took out.

 

[indrani987]

I did try feeding him peas before, which he ate - but I don't think it was constipation. I've been doing the water changes recommended after each treatment, and there's always fish poop being vacuumed up from the gravel. He still has the same healthy appetite as usual.

Yeah...the ick treatment came before the dropsy - for some reason my instincts are telling me it may have just been hard on him, leading to the dropsy. And my understanding is once dropsy is there, it is very rare that a fish can be cured of the underlying problem. My last betta died of dropsy too, but that was from bloodworms, I'm pretty sure - that's why I've stuck to dried foods with this one.

I think I will do as you said and try to keep him comfortable. I already did the water change today and stopped all treatments and re-inserted the activated carbon. He seems a little happier already, at least he's more comfy. Thanks for the advice on epsom salt - I added it to the tank. The recommendation I read on line was like 1/8th a teaspoon per 5 gallons, so that's what I added - but maybe that is way too low? I will try the dosage you recommended - maybe it will at least ease discomfort from swelling.

At least it sounds like your fish didn't suffer too much before he died if he was swimming around? That's what I hope with this one - I hate watching them suffer and having to euthanize:-(