My Boys

[Fifi]

Excuse the poor quality pictures, still pratising :

Jimmy..........My 1st betta, he's so handsome.

Billy..........He's had a swollen stomach since I've had him, can't get rid of it, so, any ideas welcome.

Bobby......He's a fiesty fella

 

[archamfr]

my betta had a big gut.. dunno y.. but he didnt care.. i think he was just ' big boned '
nice fish do. takes ages for jimmys pic to load for me lol.

 

[MarineMoney]

I think if you want to get better picture quality, you need to put the camera on a macro setting. The reason why its blurry is probably because the distance from the camera to the subject is out of its focus range. Either try coming out a bit and using optical zoom to get in close or stay close but put the camera setting to the correct parameter. Then you can enjoy properly focused pictures.

 

[Tangerinefizz]

I think Billy is a She, and her belly if full of eggs!

 

[shaz3271]

I think Billy is a She, and her belly if full of eggs!

i second that

 

[Fifi]

Jimmy I can't get to flare at all, no matter how much I try...

I have put Billy jarred next to Bobby and this is the result..........I'm still not sure if he's a she

 

[Silvani]

I am 99.9% sure that Billy is a girl. In each of those pictures you can see the ovipositor (the little white dot on her tummy) clearly. She looks to be a crowntail female. And as stated above her tummy is full of eggs. You don’t need to worry about that though, they will be absorbed back into her body, she does not need to release them. Placing her next to a male will just encourage her to keep eggs though. Please please don’t think about breeding them unless you’ve done a ton of research. There are some wonderful articles at the top that tell you all that is involved.

I guess she can be called billetta now.

 

[zoekin8yg]

i think billy probably is female, she looks very like my female CT's

 

[Fifi]

MarineMoney - Thanks for the tips on photography


I have had Billy just over 2 months now and I was wondering how long they carry the eggs for, as I've read some horror stories about them bursting and I don't want this happening.


zoekin8yg - Are your girls from Max?

 

[zoekin8yg]

MarineMoney - Thanks for the tips on photography


I have had Billy just over 2 months now and I was wondering how long they carry the eggs for, as I've read some horror stories about them bursting and I don't want this happening.


zoekin8yg - Are your girls from Max?

Yes mine are from Max!

 

[Larry_the_lobster]

wow nice betta I cant remember ever seeing a green one before

 

[Fifi]

wow nice betta I cant remember ever seeing a green one before

Thanks for your comment on my Jimmy To be honest the photos do him no justice, he is one handsome betta and being my first betta he's definately something special

 

[RandomWiktor]

As requested
While Billy does look very much like an egg-laden female (though "he" DOES have quite a flare), there is always the possibility of a parasitic infection or tumor resulting in a dramatically swollen belly. If this is a male, the "ovipositor" could actually be a distended vent, which would be another possible sign of a problem.
I have heard of internal hexamita infections resulting in a hard, rounded belly like that - though it is fairly uncommon in bettas. I have only experienced one betta with hexamita thus far, and it was the external presentation; he was being kept in a tank of young cichlids, where hexamita is fairly common.
It wouldn't hurt to try a treatment if it would put you at ease, I suppose; I personally am a firm believer in running a round of anti-parasitics on all new fish, especially if they come from pet stores rather than breeders (unsure of the background on your guys, and I'm sure many people would disagree with me, so please note that this is just my personal opinion). I had a CT with a big belly like that, and a few rounds of anti-parasitics fixed the problem. Though, I've heard of using metranidizol with hexamita instead of praziquantel, so if you do select a medication, look at the ingredients and make sure it is specific to hexamita. The feeding of an anti-parasitic food could also be beneficial; I belive AP and Jungle both have these foods available.
Good luck! Hopefully this is just a whole mess of eggs that will be released on thier own some day soon.

 

[lisa_perry75]

Clean water and slowly adding a little bit of salt should cure most things. Using meds unecessarily can further stress a fish out after going through the whole importation and fish shop scenario could be enough to kill the healthiest of fish.

Metronidazole is an anti-fungal as I remember it so would'nt do much to a bacterial problem, in the uk you couldn't buy it without prescription anyways I dont think.

Your best bet fifi is to keep the water nice and clean, and add half teaspoon of salt every day until you have one teaspoon per gallon of water. If there are any problems that should sort it out, if not will do no harm. I agree that billy is a girl as even the best girls can flare, blow bubble nests and even have blackish gill flary thing.

My girl from joby fills up with eggs, bars up and flares with a big blacky beard!!!

 

[RandomWiktor]

Metronidazole is known when used in human medicine as Flagyl. It is used to treat bacterial infections, and has other applications for parasites. It may work on fungus as well, as it kills pretty much everything, but I am yet to hear of this particular usage. But, if this poster is in the UK, you're right that they can not get it anyways - too bad.

And while I agree that over-medicating or using meds when not needed can be harmful, internal hexamita infections kill. I am yet to have a single betta die from the use of an anti-parasitic, but I've heard of many bettas who have died from untreated parasites. Salt is not the cure-all it is made out to be by traditional aquarists; it is very effective for use in wound healing and killing external parasites, but it simply does not do the trick for internal parasites or serious bacterial infections.

Honestly, if the fish is healthy aside from the big belly and is definately a female, it is probably just very egg laden. But the person who started this thread PM'd me asking advice, so I figured I would not the possible disease state just in case.