Update: Betta with bloated belly

[RocketSeason]

Hi,

My betta has a bloated belly.

what to do?

thanks,

-Matt

[RocketSeason]

oh yeah, my parameters are good. temp is 78 degrees,

nitrates and nitrites are low and amonia is a bit high, but not bad: .5...ish

[An t-iasg]

Hi RocketSeason,
I'm sure you know that ammonia and nitrites should be 0, and nitrates should be no higher than 40 ppm. Ammonia should be considered high if it's .25 or higher. Also, can you get the temperature up to 80 degrees? It's only 2 degrees, but 78 degrees is the lowest temperature I would consider comfortable for a betta.

About the bloat -- is it swollen where the pectoral fins meet the body, like he had too much to eat? If so, he may be constipated. Do you feed skinned pea pieces once a week?

Or is the whole body very bloated, and do his scales stick out like a pinecone? Look at him from above -- do his scales stick out? If so, he has dropsy. This is caused when too much fluid accumulates in the body cavity. Dropsy isn't a disease itself, but a symptom of a disease, like organ or kidney failure. In this case, try some epsom salt to draw the excess water out. I did google searches for a starting dose, and mostly I found that you should start out with 1/8 teaspoon per 5 gallons, ranging to a teaspoon per 5 gallons. Start out with the smaller dose first, and work your way up if you need to. You can always add a bit more gradually, but you would do massive water changes to get the salt back out if you add too much.

Dropsy in general can be hard to treat, and is often fatal. I don't want to worry you, but start treatment immediately if you think it's dropsy -- make sure you start lowering the ammonia and try the salts to draw out the fluid. Epsom salt can be found at the drug or grocery store. Good luck!

[RocketSeason]

he has a bloated belly, right around his fins, no scales sticking out, I will consider the epson salt idea.

Right now I have started an anti-bacterial food which I used to treat a previous case of pop eye.

we will see what happens I guess.

[Menagerie]

Do you feed your betta blanched peas?

[RocketSeason]

never heard of feeding a betta peas, sorry.

The light bulb burned out about 4 days ago...I have not had time to go buy a replacement yet. last time it happened the entire fixture was the reason for the blown bulb so I had to replace it all.

I dont want to have to spend more money on a stupid hood.

[Menagerie]

Bettas and many other fish can benefit from peas and their "clearing" effects. Blanch or nuke some frozen peas, peel them and serve. You may need to crush them a bit, but I have found most fish will eat them. If your betta is suffering from bloat, don't feed the betta for a day, feed it a pea.

[RocketSeason]

ok. so. feed the betta the pea skins? or the inards???

regular green peas will work???

[Menagerie]

The pea inside the skin. No fish that I know of eats the skin--wateful fish!!
Regular frozen green peas are great!

[An t-iasg]

I'm glad to hear that the scales are not sticking out!

I agree with Menagerie that frozen green peas work great! They don't turn to mush like canned peas do, and frozen ones are easier to cut in small pieces for the betta. I use frozen peas, and boil in the microwave for 3-4 minutes. I let them cool, peel and discard the skin, and feed the "meat" of the pea. Each betta gets about 1/4 of one pea. I try to make the pieces the same size as their pellet food, and this way they eat the pieces quickly. If the piece is too big, it may sink before the betta gets to it.

[swanandmokashi]

also your betta may not eat the peas the first time. If I were you, I would "starve" him for a day and feed him nuked pea the next day. Make sure that the pea is not very hot for him and also try to make as small pieces as possible. I had an incident where my betta was struggling with a big piece for a good hour

BTW What and how much are you feeding him ?

[RocketSeason]

he gets about 4 pellets a day. and I skip a day once a weekend. ( i go outa town on the weekends.)

[swanandmokashi]

Mine eats 7 pellets on Mon Wed Fri, 6 bloodworms on Tues and Thursday, peas on Saturday and fast on Sunday.
So there doesn't seem like you are over feeding

[RocketSeason]

Quick update: I went ahead and fed my betta about 1/2 a pea just now. he ate it up quick. His bloating does look like it has gone down slightly since the first post.

my fingers are crossed.

[An t-iasg]

I'm glad the betta ate the pea, and that the bloating has gone down! I wouldn't feed him for another day or two. If you can, look at the bottom of the tank to see if he "went to the bathroom". ( There is just no easy way to type this! ) If he does then you can get his feeding schedule back to normal. You wouldn't believe what comes out of my bettas sometimes after a pea feeding! But that's good -- you want his digestive system to be free of blockage. I feed my bettas peas once a week. The only time I saw some waste hanging from the one betta is when I forgot to feed the peas that week! Do you have any daphnia? That is good for their digestive system too. I feed mine some freeze-dried daphnia, Hikari brand, twice a week.

[RocketSeason]

Well, the bloating never went away, and now it is worse today than it has ever been.

I tried the peas, I tried the anti-bacterial food, I tried the epsom salts, nothing.

any ideas? or is there a certain way I should be treating that I don't know about?

how long should I try epsom salts before i give up?

[An t-iasg]

Oh no...poor betta. Is he eating anything? Are the scales sticking out now?

How long has he been in the epsom salts, and what is the dosage? You can use up to one teaspoon per 5 gallons, or try 1/2 teaspoon in a 2 gallon tank.

Don't give up...keep using the epsom salts and hopefully you'll see some improvement. If he's been in the epsom salts for a week or more and it hasn't helped, try some antibiotics in the water. I like Jungle Fungus Eliminator (it has antibiotics in it too) and Kanacyn from Aquatronics.

[RocketSeason]

ive placed a bit over a half a teaspoon in the 2 gallon about 3 days ago. should I do a water change and add more?

I am kinda at a loss as to what to do here.

[An t-iasg]

I would do a water change of 50% every other day. Add the epsom salt back to equal the present dosage in the tank -- so you would add about 1/4 teaspoon epsom salt to one gallon. Keep up with this water change schedule and see if it helps. Hopefully it will. Keep trying to get him to eat peas. If he does eat the pea, don't feed again for a day or two. If he poops, feed him 1 or 2 pellets.

Keep this dosage of epsom salts up for about a week. Hopefully that will draw some fluid out of him.

[RocketSeason]

well, yesterday, after nearly 2 months of having bloat, my fish died. I tried everything and nothing helped. My girlfriend is upset, but we have another betta in a smaller tank that we will transfer over to the larger, prettier tank as soon as I change out all of the water and do another cycle.