Merrick's Bloaty Problem Update

[fishyblue]

My beautiful betta fish has been bloated the past few weeks and I don't know what to do for him!

I've had him for 2 years, he had been previously living in a 1-gallon tank and been happily active and grown rather large over the years. Recently, I noticed his belly was very swollen a couple weeks ago. He also appears heavy and finds it more difficult than normal to swim to the top of the water. If he isn't actively and vigorously swimming around, the moment he stops or slows his pace he'll begin to fall to the bottom of the tank like a rock. Other than that, he appears normal. His colors are vibrant, he breathes normally, his scales look fine (they aren't raised and there are no sores) and his fins haven't changed.

I cut back on his food intake but he was still bloated. Fearing something might be horribly wrong with him, I put him in a smaller tank about half the size so I could keep a better watch on him. I began to put more variety in his diet and introduced freeze-dried brine shrimp (he was previously fed off of pellets mostly but he'd also been fed blood worms in the past). I continued to cut back his food intake and feed him very minimally everyday, but after over a week of that he's still as bloated and heavily sinking to the bottom as ever. What could be wrong with him?

EDIT: Here's a picture of him hanging out by his rock:

 

[Maxsmom]

Awe... poor guy - he really looks uncomfortable.

How long has he been like this? Can I ask how much you are feeding him? I know it's hard to not over-feed them b/c they do wiggle dances for food (I can attest to that!) And it's very hard to resist.

I'm not an expert - but your boy looks heavily constipated and/or has swim bladder issues (possibly caused by overfeeding and constipation.)

A betta's stomach is the size of their eyeball to give you a point of reference, incase you weren't aware. Most betta keepers feed 4-5 pellets a day and substitute some of that with frozen (and thawed) bloodworms. Most bettas don't tolerate freeze-dried anything very well (constipates) and should be avoided.

I think you need to fast your little guy for a few days (3-4??) It's very hard to do - but I'm told they will be okay. At the end of the fast, I would give him a small piece of pea (from frozen and then thawed in some of his tank water... you can microwave it but don't serve too hot.) I include a small piece of pea in my betta's weekly diet to "keep things moving". This is advice I was given when I asked some fellow betta keepers about Max and how he looked like he swallowed a small marble. Since then... I have been careful not to over-feed and give him some pea once a week (also Ruby, too.)

I would also lower his water level if he's having a hard time getting to the top of the water line - so he can still get his gulps of air. Make sure his water stays very clean... hopefully, he'll recover! If he doesn't - then something else is going on... Good luck!

 

[liz2]

are his scales ok? my fat boy has raised scales..I think it is dropsy..

 

[fishyblue]

Awe... poor guy - he really looks uncomfortable.

How long has he been like this? Can I ask how much you are feeding him? I know it's hard to not over-feed them b/c they do wiggle dances for food (I can attest to that!) And it's very hard to resist.

I'm not an expert - but your boy looks heavily constipated and/or has swim bladder issues (possibly caused by overfeeding and constipation.)

A betta's stomach is the size of their eyeball to give you a point of reference, incase you weren't aware. Most betta keepers feed 4-5 pellets a day and substitute some of that with frozen (and thawed) bloodworms. Most bettas don't tolerate freeze-dried anything very well (constipates) and should be avoided.

I think you need to fast your little guy for a few days (3-4??) It's very hard to do - but I'm told they will be okay. At the end of the fast, I would give him a small piece of pea (from frozen and then thawed in some of his tank water... you can microwave it but don't serve too hot.) I include a small piece of pea in my betta's weekly diet to "keep things moving". This is advice I was given when I asked some fellow betta keepers about Max and how he looked like he swallowed a small marble. Since then... I have been careful not to over-feed and give him some pea once a week (also Ruby, too.)

I would also lower his water level if he's having a hard time getting to the top of the water line - so he can still get his gulps of air. Make sure his water stays very clean... hopefully, he'll recover! If he doesn't - then something else is going on... Good luck!

He's been like this for about 2 weeks now. Poor Merrick.

Currently, I'm feeding him a single freeze-dried blood worm every day that I chop into about 3 or 4 tiny bite-sized pieces for him.
Before, I fed him about 7-8 pellets everyday. Now knowing his stomach is about the size of his eye (wow!) I can only imagine how big 7-8 pellets must have been in his stomach after they expanded in water.

He definitely gets excited over his food (doing the food dance) and always eats it all. So before he got bloated, I never thought he might be overfed.

I did fast him for about 2 days on suggestion of my sister but he was still bloated. Maybe another 4-day fast will do him good. I'll also try that pea thing, lowering of water and reducing the amount of freeze-dried food. I didn't know bettas could eat peas!

Thank you!

are his scales ok? my fat boy has raised scales..I think it is dropsy..

Nope his scales are ok! They are flat and smooth. I hope he's just constipated.

I also hope your betta recovers from dropsy!

 

[KageBunshin]

In the wild, betta rarely come by a meal, so it is healthy to skip 1-2 days a week of feeding. Now, I know this is quite a hard task, because everytime you see your betta swimming around, you just want to plop in a pellet or two.

The days of fasting, should clean out your betta's system. Also try feeding it boiled peas. The fiber will encourage better bowel movements... the trick is getting him to eat it.

Also, when you feed him, keep in mind that his stomach is about the size of his eye. So feed accordingly. So fasting, peas, and smaller portions should do the trick. Also maybe add a little bit of salt to encourage electrolytic processes. Good luck!

 

[fishyblue]

Merrick's swollen stomach seems to have receded a bit! I'm very happy!
However, he's still sinking to the bottom. His bubble nest right now is a bit feeble too, but I'd have a problem building a nice-looking nest if I kept sinking to the bottom whenever I tried to build it...

He's very active right now, swimming about the tank. If only he didn't have that sinking-to-the-bottom problem!

After days of fasting, I just fed him a little bit of pea 10 minutes ago. After dropping two other little bits in (he missed getting at them) he finally noticed the third bit and ate it. He didn't spit it out but appeared a bit confused like he wasn't sure what he just ate.

Well, here is an updated picture, taken just 10 minutes ago! (those aren't flecks on his side, they're just little remnants of peas he missed and kicked up when I moved the tank into the light). His stomach is still bloated, but not quite as badly as last week!

Thank you all for your help and advice! Hopefully he'll be back to normal by next week!

 

[faithless1294]

I think the sinking probelm is probaly swim bladder but it sounds as if it is going if he is swimming more. Glad to hear he is getting better though few more days and he'll be back to normal

 

[liz2]

if he still has sb probs. you can still keep him happy. One4 of my boys always had it...he had his own tank with really low water...nice and clean with a smidge of aqua salt in. I used to feed him twice a day with tiny bits of food....I had him quite a while. I used to heat his container by keeping it on top of another tank with a heater in and the water was warm...keeping it shallow meant a heater didnt fit.


Good luck with him keep us updated...