Betta's Acting Odd

[amy.layne]

Hello! I come here with concern for my male betta fish, whom I've had since December. He's in an established 5.5 gallon planted tank with hang-on-back filtration and a heater. He's been doing exceptionally well in this tank, and I do large water changes every 2 weeks or so with gravel vacuuming. I just purchased a pair of nerite snails for this tank and I put half of an algae wafer in there for their first couple of nights. Tonight I realized that my betta is swimming a bit oddly, and I noticed earlier he seemed to be pecking at the algae pellet but I wasn't too concerned because I figured he'd spit it back out once he got in in his mouth, but he still seems very interested in the algae. When I came to fed him he only ate one pellet and whenever he'd turn he would swim somewhat sideways toward his tail in a loop, and he's usually a graceful swimmer. I thought it may be swim bladder disease, however he seems to have no problem swimming to the top or bottom of the tank, only when he tried to eat or turn. Should I let him fast for two days and see if that helps him or am I over reacting?? I checked the water this morning for my new snails and the nitrites are 0 and the PH was perfect.

[amy.layne]

OH also another change I just made was I used prime instead of Topfin conditioner for my water change two days ago, I'd been meaning to make that switch for awhile

[Floop123]

What is your ammonia? I honestly think it's swim bladder. Maybe try a different food after peas. I use tetra BettaMin flakes.

[subliminalme]

Originally Posted by Floop123

What is your ammonia? I honestly think it's swim bladder. Maybe try a different food after peas. I use tetra BettaMin flakes.

please don't feed your betta peas, they are carnivores. If bloated you can try frozen daiphnia from the pet store. It's a natural laxative.

OP: I would be interested in what the ammonia levels are and how much prime you used.

Have you tried a salt bath? Natural Epsom salt is a good one to use. Lemme see if I can find a link...

[subliminalme]

Try this ❤ any other symptoms? Any other progress? Make sure if you try to do something like the salt bath you keep your eyes on him sat all times


http://bettasplendid.weebly.com/salt-baths.html