Mashed Pea for my Betta?

[sumopanda]

My betta has been floating on it's side for the past few days, and struggling with all the heart it can muster to get itself upright. I'm pretty sure this isn't dropsy, since it has no visible signs of any infections. It simply can't swim upright, but it's trying as hard as it possibly can.

Anyhow, a few boards have told me that it sounds like the betta has a problem with it's air bladder, or something along those lines, and has told me to feed it the mashed up inside of a boiled pea. My question to this is: How do I get it to eat it?

The poor thing hasn't eaten in days, and I know it can survive for a few days without it's food, but eventually it's not going to be able to deal. What can I do if the mashed up pea thing isn't the way to go?

 

[SPLiSH]

It sounds like your betta has a problem with it's swim bladder. This is an air-filled, sack-like organ that helps the fish swim, but sometimes problems can happen and cause the floating problem that your betta seems to have developed.

There are a few things that cause swim bladder disorders:

~Overfeeding
~Bad water quality
~Injury
~Bacterial infection

You say it doesn't look like a bacterial prob... if you do frequent water changes, that rules out the second option.... has anything stressful/injuring happened to your betta lately? If not then the problem isn't injury-caused.

My guess is overfeeding. As hard as it is, DO NOT FEED YOUR BETTA for a few days. The mashed pea method works for constipation, but since the problem here is probably too much food or too large meals, you should refrain from feeding him or her for a while.

Keep the water level low, it'll make it easier for the betta to breathe if it can't right itself. Make sure the water is warm and clean, and that's really all you can do. And when the problem is fixed (swimbladder disorder looks worse than it is, and is relativaly simple to cure but takes a while), you should feed your betta smaller, more frequent meals. A bettas' stomach is about the size of it's eye.

I hope your betta is feeling better soon!

 

[sumopanda]

It could actually be either the bad water, or the overfeeding. I'm leaning towards bad water, actually. My boyfriend was keeping my fish for me since i've been working so much lately that i'm not home much, and all he really knows about bettas is 'food = good'. I usually only feed my betta once, in the evening, but I think my boyfriend may have fed him more than that. Also, I have suspicions that he didn't clean the water as often as he should have. When I pulled all the rocks out of the water to wash them off, they were slimey, and there was a lot of crap settled at the bottom of the tank. Usually I don't let it get to that point. I mean, I don't know all that there is to know about fish, but I know that clean water is good

So thanks a million, I think you've solved the mystery! I'll lower the water level, and make sure to stop trying to convince the poor thing to eat. I put taller plants into the water last night hoping he'd rest on those, instead of half flinging himself out of the water trying to stay upright. Hopefully that'll help.

On a totally off note, snails work magic for pieces of mashed pea that's fallen to the tank floor

 

[SPLiSH]

You're welcome.

Yes, tall plants are good as he can use them as a bed and relax a bit.

Snails, eh? LOL, I might have to get myself some apple snails for my betta tanks.... and then when they grow I have an excuse for a new tank.

Anyway, hope your betta recovers soon.

 

[fishmom]

Great to know the size of the Betta's stomach!!! My betta could eat himself to death--he is always up there begging and wiggling his tail around. Now that I know he can't eat much he is not getting anything except his daily feeding.

 

[SPLiSH]

Great to know the size of the Betta's stomach!!! My betta could eat himself to death--he is always up there begging and wiggling his tail around. Now that I know he can't eat much he is not getting anything except his daily feeding.

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Hehe, I know what you mean... my female is the one who begs though. The grubworm pellets are next to her tank and she knows what they are and just stares at them, as if the bag is going to magically open and tip into her tank. I bet she half wants to develop popeye so her eye will swell and she'll get more food.