Betta throwing up?? Possibly? HELP!!!

[jennaalexismiles]

Hi everyone. After a lot of trial and error I’m finally turning to a fish forum to see if anyone can help me because I haven’t seen anyone with my situation. I added pictures of the “throw up”, my fish and the food he eats. I noticed what looked like maybe throw up, but I haven’t seen him deposit whatever it is so I cannot say for 100% that it is throw up. He doesn’t act sick at all, he’s doing amazing. Still his spunky self! I just don’t want him to be depositing everything that is in his stomach and slowly starve or something. I was feeding him what was recommended on the bottle (4 pellets, twice a day), but what he started throwing up I moved it to 2 pellets, twice a day. And then I still noticed throw up, so upon further research I came to the conclusion that maybe his food isn’t squishy enough, seeing as he eats the dry, hard food as soon as I give it to him. So, now i give him 2 pellets, twice a day and I soak the pellets for 4 minutes. All was going very well until I noticed yesterday that the mysterious deposit was back. Does anyone know what in the world is going on?!
PS:::: don’t mind the dirty tank, I clean it once every two weeks and it’s about time to clean again!

 

[RedSarah]

Hi! Sometimes a fish's poop will be hard and lumpy when they are constipated; If you haven't seem him throw up these masses, is it possible that this is poop rather than something he is regurgitating?

If this is the case, you can try fasting him for a couple of days and see if his system regulates itself. If that doesn't work, frozen daphnia contains a lot of fiber and can act as a laxative. Some people feed a small piece of blanched and de-shelled green pea to help with constipation, but I haven't tried this method myself.

 

[KevinZ]

Not the best at betta but you should soak any pellet you feed bettas And I heard that betta only need 5 - 7 Piece of Big Size Pellet.
If you didn't saw he throw up then I bet it's poop.
Fishes can eat almost everything and if they can't digest the thing, they will spit it out immediately instead of eating it and throw up.

 

[Essjay]

It is most likely poop.

When bettas spit their pellets out the do it several seconds after taking it into their mouths. They spit food put if it's too big for them to manage, or if it's too hard for their liking. You woild see him do this if you watch for a minute or two after putting the pellets unto the tank.

As the other posters have said, if you didn't actually see him spitting the food out, then it's poop.




As another issue, the tank should be cleaned every week, and around 50% or more of the water changed.

 

[jennaalexismiles]

Hi! Sometimes a fish's poop will be hard and lumpy when they are constipated; If you haven't seem him throw up these masses, is it possible that this is poop rather than something he is regurgitating?

If this is the case, you can try fasting him for a couple of days and see if his system regulates itself. If that doesn't work, frozen daphnia contains a lot of fiber and can act as a laxative. Some people feed a small piece of blanched and de-shelled green pea to help with constipation, but I haven't tried this method myself.

I have actually tried fasting him for a couple of days already as well as used the de-shelled green pea method. It didn’t stop the problem. I hope he doesn’t have a digestive issue!

 

[Back in the fold]

It is now that time of year when you can collect some small bugs to feed him. Swat mosquitoes lightly so they aren't quite dead. Mayflies with the wings pulled off. Any really small flies. And especially mosquito larvae when you can find them. Bettas really respond to live food. They thrive on it.

 

[Tez_20]

@jennaalexismiles if you don't mind me saying but to keep an healthy betta they love a clean environment and the tank cleaned 2-3 times weekly and also as @essjay suggested.

You may have to change out 30-50% of the water every few days and clean the tank once or twice a week. Larger tanks with filters need less frequent water changes and even fewer cleanings. It's a good idea to change out 10-15% of the water every week or two, and your tank can go several weeks without a full cleaning.

 

[RedSarah]

I have actually tried fasting him for a couple of days already as well as used the de-shelled green pea method. It didn’t stop the problem. I hope he doesn’t have a digestive issue!

You could try soaking the food longer (some dry foods can take up to 10 minutes to completely saturate with water) or switch to another type of pellet. Betta thrive on a varied diet of high quality frozen foods and pellets!

I'm not familiar with the Top Fin brand food, but there are a few other good foods that contain whole fish and little filler. A few that I use are New Life Spectrum pellets, Omega One pellets, and Fluval Bug Bites. Hikari frozen foods would be an even better addition to his diet. Live food is ideal, but it's not always accessible/practical and he will be perfectly fine without it if that's the case.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Do fish actually throw up?

 

[RedSarah]

I'm not sure if they ever regurgitate food after it reaches their stomach, I've only seen them spit out food while they're eating. I am curious as well though lol!

 

[Colin_T]

Do fish actually throw up?

If they eat something bad they can.

If they eat a lot of food and are handled by people they will puke food up.

There's a post on here recently about a red tail catfish that ate a clam. It puked the shells up a few days later.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Interesting. Goldfish don’t have stomachs so I guess I just assumed . Horses can’t vomit... neither can I.

 

[Colin_T]

All fish have stomachs, it's part of the digestive tract separated by the intestine by a sphincter. Some fish can extend/ stretch their stomachs when lots of food is available.

 

[FishGuest5123]

All fish have stomachs, it's part of the digestive tract separated by the intestine by a sphincter. Some fish can extend/ stretch their stomachs when lots of food is available.

@Colin_T Wrong! From “The Goldfish Tank.“
This is one of our favorite goldfish facts! ... Whereas humans (and many other animals) have stomachs to digest their food, goldfish don't have any stomach at all!

You May know a lot about fish but don’t try to outdo me on goldfish! Lol

 

[YewBush]

If they eat something bad they can.

If they eat a lot of food and are handled by people they will puke food up.

There's a post on here recently about a red tail catfish that ate a clam. It puked the shells up a few days later.

My betta threw up before when she ate the debris that came up when water was put into her tank.