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Betta Fish Youth Swim Bladder

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beginner sick
1K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Oldfishlady 
#1 ·
My girlfriend just got a new betta fish 2 months ago and it was a baby. It used to be so happy but recently started to be more lethargic. Well, she hadn't done a water change in awhile so we did a change and cleaned out the tank and put in new decorations into the tank. She came home with me for my birthday weekend but when she got back he was resting on a leaf not moving. I attached a picture of him on the flower.

Well, she was really freaking out, so she moved him to his original container he came in and then cleaned out his tank and put in new water. I included him in this container. The water has be dechlorinated with betta conditioner. He has to work to swim and swims with his body much more vertical than previously. He still isn't getting better and we are really worried.

Just to give all info possible, we just recently got him a heater for his tank to make him happier but the problems didn't exist until after it was included. We own a filter but we were afraid it would hurt him. He just got new decorations and new water right before the weekend and he wasn't fed for 3 days. 2 of the decorations were fixed with nail polish remover, which may have made him sick. The symptoms of lying on the bottom and bad swimming seems to indicate Swim Bladder, but the symptoms appeared after fasting for 3 days, so it most likely isn't due to overfedding. She did not perform a water change for 3 to 4 weeks before so this could have made him sick. If he did get sick from his previous environment, how deep should the water be in his tank? currently it is only at about 2 inches to make sure he can get to the surface. It is probably around twice the height of the second picture attached. he is barely an inch long and probably only 0.25 tall. Should we increase the water level? What else can we do? Would it be bad to feed him? Please help!

I also included a happy picture of him for reference.

Housing
What size is your tank? 2 gal
What temperature is your tank? ~78 deg
Does your tank have a filter? no but we own one
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? yes, see above
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? flakes
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 once a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? usually once every 2 weeks
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? dechlorination

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Have not tested

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? slight redness on stomach
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? doesn't swim
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 2 days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? tried 24 hour fast and then a frozen pea.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? 2.5 months (was a baby 2 months ago)
 

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#3 ·
Alright, that was one of our next steps. We got him from PetCo and they haven't been very helpful. They said a heater would be overkill, that flakes were a great idea, etc. They probably just don't have a ton of experience so Im sure they were just helping as best they can.

EDIT: Fed him Monday evening, then fed him 1/4 a pea Tuesday evening. Would you suggest maybe starting Thursday morning/afternoon or ASAP?
 
#5 ·
See, thats the thing, as you can see from the pictures he doesn't look swollen at all (judging solely on pics I have seen online, never taken care of a betta before). That is why I am not sure it is from the food. But I hope it is just so it is easier to resolve.
 
#6 ·
It may be that he's not got a swim bladder problem, but is just suffering from very bad nutrition. The flakes are really awful for bettas. If his mouth is really small, you may have to crush pellets for him. Stay away from flake foods and freeze-dried.
 
#7 ·
Poor thing....A few things come to mind-but mainly labyrinth organ from too cool/dry air over the water, poor nutrition, water quality and possible too cool temp.....

What I would recommend-QT with increased heat/humidity and Epsom salt (Not aquarium salt) tannins and good nutrition.
Keep him in the small temporary cup he came in-cover it plastic veggie wrap to retain heat/humidity over the water for the labyrinth organ-Attach the cup inside the heated tank so it doesn't sink and you can maintain water temp in the 78-80F range.

Premix some treatment water in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water-Add Epsom salt 2tsp/gal and a tannin source if you have one-either IAL (1lrg crushed/gal) or naturally dried and fallen from the tree Oak leaf (20crushed/gal) Let this steep for 30min...Shake well before use

Using this premixed treatment water make 25% water changes every 15min for 1 hour today.
He needs to stay in this treatment water-in the covered QT for the duration of the treatment period

Then in 2 days-using the premixed treatment water make 50% water changes every other day for 14 days.
If you used a tannin source the water in the 1gal jug should look darker and this is what you want.

Don't worry about any leaf bits that fall in the QT with water changes.
Don't worry about him suffocating with the plastic wrap-but be sure there is at least half-one inch dead air space above the water. Every time you open it to feed 2-3 times a day-this will help with gas exchange.

Nutrition-good quality varied diet fed in small frequent meals-flakes, crushed pellets, freeze dried, and/or frozen foods and if you have access to live mosquito larva offer several rinsed a couple of times a day to boost protein intake to support the immune response.

Good luck and keep us posted...
 
#9 ·
You mention dry air in the first paragraph. He does live very close to a heater (within 3 feet). Could this make his air too dry and cause the issue?

A couple more questions: She usually fills up the tank to 1/2" but she never takes the cover off because she heard bettas sometimes jump. I will definitely suggest taking the full cover off. Can someone help me with the 50% water change? do you take him out, pour out half the water and then add another half? Do you need to clean the decorations and if so, how can you clean them without doing a 100% change?

Thank you so much everyone for your help. I have spent hours upon hours looking for answers but I finally get brave enough to make a post and everyone is so helpful and nice.
 
#8 ·
I would go natural for this too. OFL is the best one on this..

But as a general note, baby bettas need higher temps between 80-82 and also you should be changing your 2g far more often. AT least twice a week 50% and 100% but with a betta of this age I would do 50% every other day and 100% by week's end.
 
#10 ·
Especially with an already compromised Betta-too cool and dry air can really do a number on them-they kinda catch cold of sorts-not like us-but kinda....

Its best to leave them in the tank for water changes-just eye-ball it-remove half the water-then replace with like temp dechlorinated water/treatment water-what ever the case may be...

Too clean can be as bad as too dirty-You have both good and bad bacteria in the water/tank-By removing too much of the slow growing good the fast growing bad can take over-then you have antibody development that is also important.

What prevent the fish from getting sick or being affect by things-as well as the healing process itself-is their immune response and why it is so important to support it. Stress is a big factor that can compromise the immune response...
Until you remove or fix these problems it will be hard for the fish to get well and even then-sometimes its too late-the damage is done-sometimes it can be genetic related and/or poor care at the fish farm before we ever got them too and those issues can be a real challenge to deal with.
 
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