Betta fish constipation

Hey!
I’ve noticed Bleu has been showing some (not very many) signs of constipation.
I think this could possible be from feeding too many freeze dried bloodworms (I feed 1/2 of a worm 2x a week).
This is what I read is best on a different fish forum, but now reading up on here I think is too many.
He is a little bit bloated and has stringy brown (thank god for brown) poop hanging from his stomach. It hasn’t dropped in the 30mins I have checked on him.
I included some pics below of him.
Also attached is the pellets that I feed regularly (I usually switch them up, I just ran out of the other bottle) and the bloodworms.
Would a pea help? I heard they’re a good clear out because they’re high in fiber.

Oh, I forgot. Here’s a top view of the mild bloating.
(Excuse the dirty tank, it’s WC day!)

I personally can't see any bloating, but I would reconsider the freeze-dried bloodworm. Frozen is much better, you just cut tiny pieces off the ice cube and defrost it in a spoonful of his tank water. Brine shrimp is more nutritious than bloodworm so that's something you might want to try? Betta seem to really struggle with dry foods in my experience although I had good results with BugBites. High in protein and they just love it.

You could try the pea if you're worried that he's constipated

Do you soak the freeze dried food before feeding? Despite all the posts in forums suggesting otherwise I don't believe 99% of constipation diagnoses, or that peas have more fibre than fish food. But I do believe that dried food swells when you dunk it in water. If it hasn't had the chance to swell before its eaten it will do so inside the fish.

CaptainBarnicles said:

I personally can't see any bloating, but I would reconsider the freeze-dried bloodworm. Frozen is much better, you just cut tiny pieces off the ice cube and defrost it in a spoonful of his tank water. Brine shrimp is more nutritious than bloodworm so that's something you might want to try? Betta seem to really struggle with dry foods in my experience although I had good results with BugBites. High in protein and they just love it.

You could try the pea if you're worried that he's constipated

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Thanks for the response! He looks to have cleared up, his poop is normal again and he looks normal in the stomach. I didn’t have to give him a pea, thankfully!

seangee said:

Do you soak the freeze dried food before feeding? Despite all the posts in forums suggesting otherwise I don't believe 99% of constipation diagnoses, or that peas have more fibre than fish food. But I do believe that dried food swells when you dunk it in water. If it hasn't had the chance to swell before its eaten it will do so inside the fish.

Click to expand...

No, I don’t. That might even be the case. Thank you!

Dry bloodworms are 5% fiber, far superior to prepared food for an insect eating Betta. When they swallow a fly, it goes in hard parts and all, and they need roughage. Frozen bloodworms are only 0.5% fiber, so need to be supplemented..

I can't use bloodworms because I am now allergic to them, but for 10 or more years they were a staple for insectivores in my multi-tank set up, and I simply never had any bloating problems. I would never use a pellet food for Bettas - they were developed for our convenience.

Most constipation issues are in the first few weeks after purchase, as the extensive use of antibiotics on fish farms to quicken growth gives us fish with minimal gut flora and resulting digestive issues.

After that, well, they're pets and many people overfeed them.

In my first 25 years of always keeping at least one betta, constipation, bloating and peas weren't even on the radar as problems. Over the last 25 years, it's something keepers talk about a lot, and this, I suspect is from changes in how they are raised.