Betta Belly Swollen (She died NEW fish with SIMILAR problem)

[Puriti]

My female betta Mango has been listless and hanging around the back wall of the tank in the exact same spot. I checked her, it's not dropsy but her stomach is swollen and when I put her in the jar to isolate her she was in the middle and very slowly just floated back up to the top. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the swim bladder the long organ in the tail region? cuz it's just like in her abdomen and then stops after right after her egg spot and rounds back up to her tail and that's where the abnormality stops... If she does have internal parasites though, cuz i'm questioning that as well....would that make her float up if she wasn't making herself do so? I've never really had that happen unless it was like the very end stage of death from internal parasites where they start floating around with not much strength to swim upright, but she is upright, just kinda...floaty and bloaty....Hellllpppppp

[Jaybird]

I've had some problems that people thought might have been an internal parasite, but the fish never seemed bloated, or swollen. They have always just stopped eating and wasted away.

I've lost a couple of mollies to this, and now I have a male guppy that is acting the same way.

There is some medicated food that you can get, but one is for internal parasites, and the other is for internal bacterial problems. It could be either, and I don't know if mixing the medicated foods is a good idea. I am sure that someone on here would know a lot better.

I hope you fish comes through alright.

[Menagerie]

Not all fish have swim bladders, but I forget where bettas fall in this category. You said you isolated her, what other fish was she with? How are they acting? Many things can make a fish's stomach swell. Normal gas bloating, which can be fixed by feeding bleached peas, if she will take them. IME, internal parasites tend to make fish look thin, check out Disease Diagnostic Charts and Other Helpful Sites. I like the two two links best and the second one has pictures.

[Puriti]

She's in with 11 other bettas who are all acting normal, 2 gouramis, a dwarf puffer, ADFs and cory and oto cats..and 2 mollies and they're acting fine it's just her.

[Zagz]

All the fish I've had that suffered from internal parasites have looked thin. I think the peas would be the best choice right now as it could be constipation. I do believe bettas have swim bladders but I might be wrong. You could add a bit of epsom salt as well to ease the bloating, 1/8 tsp per 10 gal. Good luck.

[Puriti]

It sounds like this

Q: My fish used to eat readily, but now he won't eat at all. His stomach is all bloated up.
A: Sounds like the fish has internal Hexamita (Malawi Bloat).

Treatment: Treat the fish with Metronidazole powder. Try starving the fish for 1 week and feed him some Metronidazole in some frozen food. Use 1/2 teaspoon per 1/2 pound of food. Feed it to the fish once a day for 5-7 days.

[Menagerie]

There's bloat and then there's Malawi bloat. I don't know how prevalent Hexamita is. I don't think your betta will last a week of starvation (bigger fish, like those found in Lake Malawi can last a week) and the 1/2 teaspoon to a 1/2 pound of food will be hard to scale down.

Originally Posted by http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/articles/hexamita.html

Articles: Hexamita (Internal and external)

The external form of Hexamita is referred to as: Hole in the head disease. This disease affects susceptible fish such as discus, angelfish and oscars, which seem to be the most popular carriers of this problem (note that this disease may affect all fish). This disease usually starts out as a small "pimple" on the head, and as the condition proceeds in severity, ends up to be a very large sore causing lesions in the epithelium and... eventually ending up in death of the fish. Sometimes you are able to see small white nodules, sticking up out of the sore. The lateral line is also another area where this parasitic protozoan can be seen.

This disease is best treated early on with Metronidazole. If the sore(s) are extremely severe, you may also want to use an anti-fungal treatment like Forma-Green in the water to prevent a secondary infection from occuring ( In this case you would mix the Metronidazole in the food at 1 teaspoon per pound of feed, and use the Forma-Green in the water at 1 drop per gallon). Treat the fish for a minimum of 10 days with the Metronidazole.

The internal form of Hexamita are flagellated protozoans found in the gastrointestinal tract of a wide variety of fishes. They frequently infect discus. Spironucleus may be a distinct organism from Hexamita, as it is longer and possibly more sinuous, but for practical purposes, both organisms appear to cause similar clinical responses. These parasites are very motile. The flagella are usually not easily seen. Many times infections are not apparent. In angelfish, discus and gouramis, the disease is characterized by poor condition, weight loss and death. The fish may also show excessive nervousness, turn dark in color, and hide in the aquarium.

Again, Metronidazole is the drug of choice for this disease. Use 1 teaspoon per pound of food (frozen food is preferred). Thaw the food and mix the Metronidazole into it. Return the food to the freezer, and once frozen you are ready to start the treatment. Feed it to the fish once a day for a minimum of ten days. Do not feed the fish any other foods during this treatment. The treatment may take longer according to the condition of the fish, and the severity of the disease.

Thank You and Good Luck,
Dr. Gary Aukes; Pharm D, and the staff of National Fish Pharmaceuticals.

Since only one fish has the problem, I don't think it's a parasite, or you would likely see other fish with the same problem. Blanched peas are a natural way to cure many bloated fish. Let a frozen pea thaw, or microwave it for mere seconds, peel it and squish it. Offer it to Mango and she if she's interested. The problem with bloating with this method and the one described by National Fish Pharmaceuticals is that if the fish isn't eating, it will not get better, unless the blockage passes by itself.

[Puriti]

Yeah, she isn't eating anything. She's passing this like curly white poo though. It like spirals a little bit. I'm going to try giving her a little bit of food again just to see what happens cuz I didn't give her anything yesterday because I left her out in a baby food jar to keep the heat off incase it was a bacterial infection and I did have her in a regular mason jar but she just stayed near the top and the food I had given her wasn't getting to her so since the space is smaller maybe she'll be able to reach the food if she wants it becasue she keeps kinda floating back up which is making me think that she has just natural gas if nothing else.

[Menagerie]

curly white poo

That doesn't sound good. Go to http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=64798 and check out the Diagnostic Charts.

[Puriti]

>__< I went through every site and I can't find it!

[Menagerie]

The bloating and the white poo may be caused by different things. The other fish are still fine?

[Puriti]

Mango died. Foxy (The red fish I thought had ich) is REALLY pale and has stringy white poo but she ISN'T bloated, my other female Jem has the same problem as Foxy but it's harder to tell because she's peach colored but they both have stringy white poo (not skinny) and I think my male Dragon has the same problem now. I'm thinking of putting Marcel-Two which is an antibiotic and used to take care of external parasites but when I read about all the different products they make that was the only one to mention internal problems. I'm thinking more I should just do a 100% water change and then put them in something else and put them in the tank so they're seperated but not IN the actual water because I dont have a hospital tank @__@

edit: I took all the water out of the tank and scrubbed EVERYTHING down with REALLY hot water X.x Also, Dragon and Jem are acting pretty normal other than the listlessness and stringy white poo and staying in the same area, but Foxy is really dull colored, has stringy white poo, stays at the bottom and only comes up to breath. None that I've seen are eating.

[Menagerie]

Sorry to hear about Mango. I don't know if you can find Seachem medications in your area, but that line has products specifically for internal infections.

[OceanMaiden]

Hmmm look at their anal vents and see if you can see little red paintbrush like bristles coming out. They might have camallanus worms wich will cause the same symptoms you mentioned.