Beta's abdomen swollen like grape, is nose down in gravel.

[Troy]

My Beta spent 5 hours in a 1 gallon jar with one small Algae Eater & one small catfish, while their 10 gallon tank was cleaned. I am so sorry their air bubble supply failed & the two small fish died. The Beta appeared to have suffered no ill effects at the time & was returned to the 10 gallon tank. About one week later I noticed that the Beta was lying at the bottom of the tank & was nose down in the gravel. His abdomen area directly aft of his gills has swollen up like a very plump grape. While the Beta's normal color is deep red with blue fringes, this swollen area is very white in color. Every ten minutes, or so, he goes into regular swim mode & raises himself up to the surface, & can swim around the whole tank for a minute, or so, before sinking back down to the bottom. The Beta's appetite does not seem to be interuppted. I feed, I introduce 5 Beta Bites into the water in the morning & in the evening. He always sees the falling Bites & he moves to consume some. He also sees floating Bites & moves to the surface to consume them. Is my Beta suffering a slow, painful, fatal illness that he cannot recover from? Do I need to treat the Beta with some medication, or will he recover on his own? I hesitate & refrain from euthanasia because he always eats, & he always seems to be trying to be alive. Thank you so much for your care & consideration. I am TROY in The I. E.. E-Mail: troyawalker22@yahoo.com

[zerlinafish]

Have you tried fasting him for a couple of days? It could just be that he is bloated...It could be dropsy, but I don't know.

Z-fish

[dramaqueen]

If his scales are raised and he looks like a pinecone, then it could be dropsy.

[Blaxicanlatino]

Id say its swim bladder disorder. Try fasting him for 5 days if its bloat. If not then it could be a a bacterial infection

[Meatpuppet]

what are the tank parameters?
is it heated and filtered?

you should try giving him only 2 pellets twice daily for a while see if that helps any.
if it is dropsy the only way you can help him is a little salt, but without the info, thats jumping to conclusions

[Flashygrrl]

I'd say swim bladder. Do not feed him because usually the cause is constipation...see if he passes it by himself. Sometimes thawed daphnia will help make them pass this blockage but I'd fast for at least 4 days before trying it. Don't try the freeze dried stuff unless you can thoroughly rehydrate it in tank water first, I'd look for the frozen if you have a Petco/PetSmart.

I make a habit of feeding 3 pellets morning/night through the week and a couple reyhdrated bloodworms each 1-2 times a week in exchange for a pellet and then Sunday I don't feed them pellets but instead thaw out a cube of the daphnia and feed about 5 drops to each betta (using a syringe so I can do one drop at a time, they will literally grab onto the syringe if I'm not fast enough) and then the rest of my fishies get some instead of their regular food too. It's a hoot to watch them eat it.