constipated - one last try

[bettacrazy]

hi everyone,

since i didn't get much response to my post in the 'betta and gourami' forum, i thought i might try again on here. i'm really desperate and thinking of euthanizing my fish if he's still constipated. so here's a synopsis of what's happening...

my male magental crowntail betta has been constipated for a while. he's on a strict bloodworm diet because i have tried daphnia and hikari pellets and he is just not interested at all (even after the 14d hunger strike when i first got him). he was going to the washroom on and off after giving him epsom salt baths. however, that ceased to work. it has now been almost a week and a half that he hasn't pooped. i've tried the pea thing and it doesn't work. he's also losing his magenta colour and has become a pale pink-white. he's now on bettamax as a last chance to revive him.

i've also noticed that my other crowntail (the blue one), is starting to become constipated too. blue crowntail has only been on hikari pellets and occasional bloodworms as treats (maybe once every two weeks and i only give him 1 or 2 at one time). so my questions are:

1) what else can i do to alleviate their constipation (especially the magenta crowntail)?

2) could it be the genetic of this particular strain?

Here's a summary of the regime of what i do:

magenta crowntail, manobi
- lives in a 1 gallon, non-filtered tank
- tank gets cleaned once a week with 100% water change
- water always get preconditioned with aquaplus and aquarium salt
- no gravel, 2 cloth plants
- only allowed to eat 2-3 bloodworms per day
- fast one day per week
- has been giving epsom salt bath for a week
- now on bettamax
- near 3 other tanks which house - one female, Molly; one blue crowntail, zoolander; and one blue veiled tail, boo
- has been actively swimming and flaring at others until 1 week ago
- constipation has been ongoing (and off) around 1 month
- bloated and losing colour, colour is now near pink-white

zoolander, blue crowntail
- lives in 0.5 gallon, non-filtered tank
- tank gets cleaned at least once a week with 100% water change (usually will clean it when it start getting messy)
- water always preconditioned with aquaplus and aquarium salt
- eats 2-3 pellets per day
- fast once a week
- has been actively swimming and flaring until 2 days ago
- not losing colour
- bloated

other two fish are fine... very happy and active!

i would really appreciate it if anyone can help me out!!! i really don't want to euthanize any fish. however, if their welfare continues to decline due to this disease, i will have to take the next step.

please help!!!!!

thank you!!!!!!

 

[reg2k2]

peas, epsom....only other thing I can think of is brine shrimp.
Tetra makes a frz-dried 'Baby Shrimp'...bit large, but I usu. crumble a couple up for my tetras.

 

[The-Wolf]

Live bloodworms are also good for constipation, but peas are the best imo.

 

[black angel]

this might be a silly question, but is your water heated? there might be internal bacteria problems going on.

 

[bettacrazy]

hi~

thanks for your replies. the tank is not heated... i don't know how to heat it since it is a 1 gallon bowl and not your regular rectangular size tanks. i haven't seen any heaters that are that small when i went to the pet stores. any other suggestions on how to heat the tank up?

i've tried peas already. he simply won't eat them.

sigh.....

 

[black angel]

maybe he has stopped eating because the temperature has gotten too cold. i think it needs to be at least 24 degrees. can u put a thermometer on and checkas you cant find a small enough heater then i dont think there is anything i can suggest. the only thing would be to heat the room to the temperature he needs.

 

[Aquascaper]

i haven't seen any heaters that are that small when i went to the pet stores. any other suggestions on how to heat the tank up?

You could try a heat-pad, they're normally used for reptiles but may work if you sit the bowl on it
Or a lamp shining on the bowl (bit hard to regulate the temp though).

 

[bettacrazy]

thanks for all the suggestions!!! the thermometer beside the tanks has been hovering around 24C so i'm suspecting that the water is just a bit below. i'll definitely see if i can find a heat lamp.... i think i can buy a hot light at the local hardware store for $5.... will that do??

thanks again!!!

 

[black angel]

can you not stretch the money and get the heat mat? the light will not give a stable heat source and at night the temperature will fall again. the heat mat will keep the bowl at a steady heat all the time. maybe you can get him a bigger tank and get a heater with it?

 

[bettacrazy]

HORRAY!!

Thanks everyone for your advice. Both my crowntails have finally pooped. I don't exactly know what happened - was it the bettamax or was it the lack of aquarium salt?! Basically I didn't add any aquarium salt to their last water change (still added the AquaPlus) since the salt help it to absorb which really has the opposite effect that I want. The bettamax was just for precaution. I shall continue to monitor them!!

I'm so happy!!

Thanks again!!!