bloated beta

[Fiferna]

Hello others,
My betta is definitely bloated (you can see a bulge right after his head) and controlling what he's eating is very difficult now that I've added 4 tetras to the tank. He even goes after their food before they have a chance. They are scared off right away when I try to feed them and my betta (Ovie is his name), seems to search for food constantly as if he were a bottom feeder. So no matter how sneakily I try to feed the tetras, he still gets what they don't eat. And then Ovie's behavior has been strange in another way recently. Even before I added the tetras and the bloating, he has been hiding a whole lot recently. Yesterday I didn't see him at all so I had to pick up the hollowed out log where he hides to get him out and make sure he was alive. Today he's been out more and has even gone after the tetras, but they are far to quick for him and I really don't think he has bad inttentions. Once he snuck up on one and just "sniffed" the tetra's tail before the tetra realized it and darted off.
If anyone has any advice about or experience with this situation, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks.

 

[WhiteDevil]

tetra knew he was there the entire time, their lateral lines do that job.


How old is he? how big is the tank?
what food? how long is the light on?

any pics?

might have something wrong in his gut track.

 

[DragonFish71]

A frozen pea that has been boiled in tank water until tender, peeled and cut into small pieces has helped my bettas when they were bloated from constipation.

If you look at him from the top and he looks like a pine cone, meaning his scales stick out, it could be signs of something worse than constipation, like dropsy.

 

[Fiferna]

Thanks for the replies. I have been feeding him boiled peas. About a month ago Ovie had swim bladder disorder (bent frame, constantly sinking, lying upside down...) and I used those on him as well as changing the water frequently and I even used "lifeguard" all-in-one tablets (non-anti-biotic). I was sure he was a goner and was just waiting for what I though was inevitable, but he pulled through and I decided to get him a 10 gallon tank and some friends just as I promised him while he was sick (he was in a gallon fish bowl before that). It doesn't look like he has "pine-cone" scales, he really just seems bloated and is eating as if he were a bottom-feeder, which is everything I throw in there. I feed him twice a day, either 1 pellet of some beta food twice a day or a pellet and then later blood worms. The tetras (slender) get TetraColor Tropical Granules (I got them a few days ago and haven't really set up a routine yet due the problem I stated). If I'm not sneaky enough, Ovie gets to them before the tetras do so I'm worried about overfeeding him and underfeeding the tetras.
I have had Ovie for about 2 months and when I got him he was really small so I imagine he was quite young. I leave the light on during the day and turn it out at night.
I just took some pictures of the tank and fish and I will post them shortly.
Thanks again.

 

[Fiferna]

the pictures are posted in the only album I have created thusfar (is that a word (looks strange when typed)?)