Unusual Swelling in Betta

[Neez]

Hello, I'm seeking help to figure out what is happening to my betta fish Rainbow. I got him about 10 months ago. He was being kept in very poor and inadequate conditions and was roughly already a year old. Since the beginning, I've always noticed he had a whiter and slightly larger belly then other bettas I've seen but at the time I thought it was from being in a tiny 'betta cube' and thought with better conditions it would go away. But it never has but has never seemed to cause him any troubles. I should also mention he's always seemed a bit bigger then other bettas. It's really hard to explain or show but when I look at other bettas at the pet shops he's always seemed physically larger then them but it could be nothing.

Anyway, a few weeks ago his swelling was becoming bigger. I don't have any photos of it then but after a few days of salt baths it went down and I found some larger poops in the tank so I assume that was just constipation. Afterwards I started feeding him less pellets (he is very picky and hard to feed so he mostly has Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets which are tiny). He went from having roughly 9 of these pellets a day (I wasn't sure how much to feed and since he always seemed bigger I though he might need more) to about 4 or 5.

But in the last week, his belly has begun to swell even more but I don't think its constipation this time. For one, he is regularly pooping and they look healthy as far as I can tell. Also he seemed to slim down a bit along his body when viewed from above which I'm guessing is from the lower food amount. I've given him 3 salt baths in the last few days but there has been no visible change to his stomach. He is behaving normally - he still eagerly eats and comes up for food, he is still decently active (although he has been gradually slowing down the last few months from what I've assumed is age), he is curious. He seems a little stilted when swimming (almost like bending his belly is hard for him) but doesn't appear to have any bouyancy issues and doesn't have any trouble reaching the surface. He's not pineconing either - I had a betta pinecone before and while he def looks bloated from above I dont see any pineconing. His breathing seems fine, he handles the salt baths well and hasn't passed out but does seem a little agitated at times. The swelling seems equal on both sides but it is very hard to tell and my partner thinks the swelling looks slightly larger on his right side but I can't tell. Also, when he swims up near a light his belly is slightly see-through and a light pink if that makes sense - it's not literally see-though but the light helps you see through it a bit.

I tested the water parameters and they are -
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 10.0 ppm
pH: 7.4

He's kept in a 10 gallon heated, filtered tank. The temperature has been fluctuating a bit lately because of the climate and can be between 25 - 26.3 C (77 - 79.34 F). He is fed twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. 2 - 3 pellets each feeding, he was previously fed 3 times a day and fed more but I thought it might've been too much so I recently changed. He has Hikari Bio-Gold pellets, Hikari Vibra Bites and very rarely Tetra freeze-dried bloodworms. I clean his tank once a week with a 30-40% water change. I've recently had brown algae issues but with increased cleaning its been settling down.

In the past few days I've taken as many photos as I can when he's in the recovery tank, I apologise if theyre not the best but he gets very anxious when I try to get photos as he doesn't like my phone. Also the photos might have a slight brown or yellow tint to them, that from his tank water having tannins from Indian Almond Leaves. I only started adding these in recently - could they be causing this? Please let me know what this could be, I'm suspecting a tumour but I don't know. I'm not the most experienced betta fishkeeper but I love Rainbow very much and I want to help him. I don't think he's in pain but I am worried from not knowing what is going on or what to do. Also please feel free to ask any questions, I hope I can sort out what's happening to him.

 

[Naughts]

Can we see the tank the Betta normally lives in? If he lives alone in the normal tank there is no benefit in the "recovery tank". A larger planted tank with plenty of fresh water will be better for it.
You could increase the temperature very slightly to between 78-80°.
Epsom salt baths can reduce excess fluid temporarily. Aquarium salt baths do not. These treatments are very stressful on fish due to repeated capture, transport and the use of small containers. I don't recommend it here.
Your betta being large may be that you are comparing it to juveniles, who will be underfed due to transport, or he may just be a large specimen. It is not a concern.
Almond leaves are beneficial, certainly not harmful.

The swollen stomach may be a blockage, tumour or other health issue. It would be rare for a betta to have worms due to them being solitary fish. Hopefully others will have more specific insights.
I recommend concentrating on a good diet (your feeding sounds good). Generally avoid blood worms (their head is hard and somewhat indigestible so only use as an occasional treat at most), avoid dried foods that can swell in the stomach, and use quality live foods as they are not processed.
Feeding a blanched shelled pea is said to add fibre. I would try that.

 

[Neez]

Can we see the tank the Betta normally lives in? If he lives alone in the normal tank there is no benefit in the "recovery tank". A larger planted tank with plenty of fresh water will be better for it.
You could increase the temperature very slightly to between 78-80°.
Epsom salt baths can reduce excess fluid temporarily. Aquarium salt baths do not. These treatments are very stressful on fish due to repeated capture, transport and the use of small containers. I don't recommend it here.
Your betta being large may be that you are comparing it to juveniles, who will be underfed due to transport, or he may just be a large specimen. It is not a concern.
Almond leaves are beneficial, certainly not harmful.

The swollen stomach may be a blockage, tumour or other health issue. It would be rare for a betta to have worms due to them being solitary fish. Hopefully others will have more specific insights.
I recommend concentrating on a good diet (your feeding sounds good). Generally avoid blood worms (their head is hard and somewhat indigestible so only use as an occasional treat at most), avoid dried foods that can swell in the stomach, and use quality live foods as they are not processed.
Feeding a blanched shelled pea is said to add fibre. I would try that.

Just to clarify, he's living in his regular tank (picture below) but after his salt bath in a seperate container the website I'm following says to put him in a small recovery tank of mixed tank and salt water for a few minutes just to recuperate. That's what I meant by a recovery tank, it's meant to just help him readjust back to salt-less water. I've been using epsom salt for the baths as well, not aquarium salt. Thanks for the advice, I'll see if there's any better food options available nearby.

 

[Colin_T]

Salt (sodium chloride) is not going to do anything to help with this issue.

The fish either has a tumour or cyst, neither of which can be treated. Most people let the fish live until it stops eating or can't swim properly, then euthanise it.

You could try deworming it. It won't hurt. I would try Levamisole for round worms and see it it makes any difference.

Section 3 of the following link has information on treating fish that have intestinal worms.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Neez]

His poops have been normal so would parasites still be an option then?

Fasting hasn't changed anything so I might go into epsom salt treatments. I went shopping and bought Aquasonic Bio-Tet tablets just to have on hand incase epsom salt doesn't work, not sure if theyre any good though. Couldn't find any Levimisole. I definetely don't think its constipation at least

 

[itiwhetu]

This is only a small fish he will eat very little, like one pellet a day. He needs lots of floating plants and zero nitrates.

 

[Neez]

This is only a small fish he will eat very little, like one pellet a day. He needs lots of floating plants and zero nitrates.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought nitrates under 40 ppm were OK?

 

[itiwhetu]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought nitrates under 40 ppm were OK?

In my opinion nitrates should be at zero, if possible

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought nitrates under 40 ppm were OK?

Nitrates at 20ppm is absolute max and even that is pushing it....and Betta are seriously sensitive to bad water chemistry

 

[Colin_T]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought nitrates under 40 ppm were OK?

You want nitrates as close to 0ppm as possible, but most people aim to keep them under 20ppm. However, it also depends on your water supply. In the UK they regularly have tap water with nitrates around 30-50ppm. This means their tanks will always have higher than recommended nitrates.

 

[Naughts]

I might go into epsom salt treatments.

Epsom salt baths can reduce excess fluid temporarily. Aquarium salt baths do not. These treatments are very stressful on fish due to repeated capture, transport and the use of small containers. I don't recommend it here.