Please help! Betta going to explode and die!!

[CTBettaLover]

Hello all! I am really worried and would greatly appreciate any kindof advice on the subject. My fish has been bloated for about 2 weeks now and it keeps getting bigger and bigger although he still eats and poops. He is swimming slower than usual but I assume its because he is so uncomfortable. Im going out of town for 4 days and I have the feeling the bloat will have crushed his organs and killed him by the time I get back. Ive been treating with epsom salt but it keeps getting bigger. Im watching for pineconing but thankfully it hasn't gotten to that point yet. I can't really get a good picture because he faces the camera when I try and flicks away everytime I try to snap a picture blurring it. I love my fish and I dont want to kill him! I got him to save him from his tiny cup at walmart and now I feel like Im killing him! :'(

I think his bloat must be because of either internal parasites or internal bacterial infection judging from his poo. I treated him with 2-3 tsp/ gallon (8 when discounting decorations and gravel) epsom salt dissolved in treated water every day for the past week and it made him poo within two hours the first day.

Ever since day one I have had pest problems that may be contributing to his health issues. I brought home a live plant from Petco (bad idea!) and introduced all sorts of critters to his tank. I have found and removed a single very small snail. I had an outbreak of freeliving worms that wriggle in an S shape when in the open water a couple months ago. They hungout just above the surface of the water on the glass. This is how I first noticed them. Stanley likes to search for them in the gravel and happily slurps them up like spagetti when i point one out to him. I have since used a gravel vacuum for pwcs and they have greatly reduced in number. I only see one every now and then. A couple weeks ago I noticed daphnia looking creatures crawling all over the glass. They were white specks with very short pointy tails on one end. They have since subsided greatly as well. Just yesterday though, I noticed what seemed to be planaria (not many) on the glass. They were shorter than the other worms and seemed flatter as well. I dont know if maybe him eating these little daphnia and worms could have infected his tummy or not.

There has also been a recent bacterial bloom (i think) or algae bloom. There is white cobweb like stuff growing all over the glass and decorations even after taking them out and rinsing and scrubbing with hot tap water. It breaks apart very easily when i move the water much such as during water changes. It turns brownish in color and to a thick slime when removed from the water. Maybe this has made him sick? His symptoms showed up right around when this bloom started.

Here are my stats:

Housing
What size is your tank? 10g
What temperature is your tank? 82 F
Does your tank have a filter? yes aqueon
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? not installed waiting on gang valve.
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none other than pests

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? aqueon mini betta pellets and aqueon FD bloodworms on very rare occassions
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day. Normally around 6 mini pellets.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 30-40%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aq salt 1/2 tsp/g & stress coat

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:<.25
Nitrite:<.25
Nitrate:0
pH: 7.7
Hardness: Hard
Alkalinity: cant remember

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Very bloated
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? not much. slower. seems stressed. it might just be in my head but i feel like he looks at me through the glass like "PLEASEEEE help me! Don't just stand there and stare at me!"
When did you start noticing the symptoms? two-three weeks ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? yes epsom salt
Does your fish have any history of being ill? other than curled scraggly and holey fins, no
How old is your fish (approximately)? <1 year Ive had him for about 3 months and bought him from Walmart so that plus however old they are when given to the stores.

[Tikibirds]

Do you have a picture of him?

Maybe he is eating too many of those creatures you have in the tank? I don't think they are harmful - my sisters overstocked goldfish tank has hair like worms that surface whenever i clean the gravel and planteria as well.

[Mahachai]

6 pellets is a lot for a betta. 2-3 pellets should sustain him for a day. I believe he is enduring constipation. Put him a clean quarantine tank and let him be without food for several days and change his water daily. You can start giving him pellet size peas and slowly get him back to his regular food. I also think you should get rid of the worms from your tank and treat it with parasite preventives like Rid Ich.

[Tikibirds]

I depends on the size of the pellet. Some are quite small.

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aq salt 1/2 tsp/g & stress coat

are you using epsom or aquarium salt? the paragraph said epsom but that says AQ salt. you should be using epsom for bloating/parasites. You can use up to 3 teaspoons per gallon but you need to slowly work up to that amount. Start with 1 teaspoon/gallon then 12 hours later do a 100% water change and replace with 2 teaspoons - 12 hours after that do it again and replace with 3 teaspoons a gallon. Its easier to do this in a smaller tank or storage container as you should be doing 100% WC's every day for the length of treatment. Premix the salt and water and make sure its disolved before adding the fish. Do not feed him while doing the treatment.

isnt daphnia supposed to be good for bloating?

Keep an eye on his poo. If its white and stringy that indicates internal parasites

it could also be a tumor..?

[CTBettaLover]

Originally Posted by Tikibirds

are you using epsom or aquarium salt? the paragraph said epsom but that says AQ salt.

Ive been using both. Aq salt as a disease preventative and epsom for bloat. I have stopped using aq salt though because Ive been told it is bad for bettas fins? Also if I don't feed him while doing the treatment wont he die? Ive been told to treat for 10-12 days.

isnt daphnia supposed to be good for bloating?

I have no idea...

Keep an eye on his poo. If its white and stringy that indicates internal parasites

It is sometimes brownish orange and sometimes it is brownish orange bits connected by white stringy sections and other times its just white.

it could also be a tumor..?

Ive been told this as well. Ill post a picture. It looks to be pretty even on both sides of his body so Im not sure. I just got back in town from a 3 day camping trip and he is HUGE now!!! I don't know how he's alive. His belly really looks ready to pop. :'(

[CTBettaLover]

Originally Posted by Mahachai

6 pellets is a lot for a betta. 2-3 pellets should sustain him for a day. I believe he is enduring constipation. Put him a clean quarantine tank and let him be without food for several days and change his water daily. You can start giving him pellet size peas and slowly get him back to his regular food. I also think you should get rid of the worms from your tank and treat it with parasite preventives like Rid Ich.

Well there are large betta pellets and small betta pellets. I give him the tiny ones. When I use the big ones I only give him 2-3 a day. I just fed him half of a cooked pea hoping it will act as a laxative to give him some relief. I have Mardel coppersafe to treat ich velvet and other external parasites. This does not seem to be his problem though. He would be suffering from internal parasites if any at all. How should I "get rid of the worms from my tank"? I have been trying to keep it clean to get rid of them but it hasn't worked.

[RoxieStClaire]

Ooof, you don't want him to explode. My sister's fish exploded when I had to watch it a few years ago, and it wasn't pretty....

I suggest that since his poo does look white and stringy to just go ahead and buy an anti-parasite med like API General cure asap and put that in his water since it treats both internal and external parasites. I just used that on my new betta with them and it started working during the very first dose.

Hope he doesn't explode!

[Greekalphabet]

I just read something about "mystery bloat" on another site. It's where the betta looks like a tumor is growing only where his belly is and doesn't affect other parts of his body the way that bloat does, which involves the whole body. They act normally until the end...just look really uncomfotable. You might want to do a google search on it. I have a fish that's bloating now to and it is sure is hard to watch, so you have my sympathies.

[toad]

I've been told by members of this site that peas can be damaging to the digestive tract and should not be fed to these fish.

I suggest you PM OldFishLady and ask her opinion on your little guy :/ I hope he will be okay!

[CTBettaLover]

Here are some pictures from tonight. Poor fishy. :(