hoshi sinking. =(

[orphansparrow]

hoshi has something wrong with his swim bladder. =(

i came home from work today to see hoshi sliding around on his belly on the rocks in his tank, instead of swimming back and forth in the center/front of his tank like usual.

i then tried to get him to swim to the surface - he can, but it seems to take him longer than usual, and when he does get to the surface, he immediately sinks back down to the bottom. =(
also, his swimming movements/patterns are odd, but it's difficult to explain because it isn't too obvious. just different than normal.

recently i bought him topfin color enhancing betta bits. i bought them for the higher protein content, and for variety.

the first day i fed him this food, (about a week ago), i could tell it didn't set well with him. he acted weird and lethargic, and a few minutes later, sort of burped up the remains of the food.

i thought it was just a one time thing, but still, i have given him just one
of these pellets since then.

so this morning before i left to work, i gave him 3 of these topfin pellets, instead of his usual 2 hikari pellets. i just thought it would be a nice change. he ate one, spit out the other, and i had to leave before i could see if he ate the 3rd one.

well, when i got home from work, i could see the one he had spit out laying on his rocks. (i removed it). so i guess he doesn't actually like this food.

but i have a feeling that is what messed up his swim bladder.

how long will this last do you think?

what should i do? should i lower the water?

i have no access to a store that carries daphnia here. i have already checked.

EDIT: i just remembered about epsom salt. i will get some tomorrow and start a treatment in his hospital tank. 1 tsp. per gallon right?

thanks for any help.

and here's a photo of him, just because:

[Canuck Fins]

What a beautiful fish! Sorry to hear you are having issues. Can you give us more information; there's a sticky at the top of this forum that is really handy to copy and fill out. (Tank size, heated, filtered, additives, tankmates, cleaning and feeding schedule, etc, all that stuff is good for us to know to try to help.)

[DarkMoon17]

At first glance I would say it is food related but we can be more helpful if you fill out the sticky... Hikari's new recipe doesn't have enough real fish product for bettas and contains so much wheat that it can cause bloating/swim bladder issues and he doesn't like the color enhancer pellets so I'd get him a better food. Is there no Petsmart near you? They sell daphnia.

[orphansparrow]

Originally Posted by DarkMoon17

At first glance I would say it is food related but we can be more helpful if you fill out the sticky... Hikari's new recipe doesn't have enough real fish product for bettas and contains so much wheat that it can cause bloating/swim bladder issues and he doesn't like the color enhancer pellets so I'd get him a better food. Is there no Petsmart near you? They sell daphnia.

i woke up this morning and hoshi is swimming normally. he looks and acts the same as always. =)

i know hikari's food is not good, that's why i bought the topfin. its first ingredients are fish. however, i think i may throw it out, as the only times i have fed it to him, it has caused him problems or he spit it out. i will look for something more high quality. he has never had any problems (visible to me) with the hikari, but i want him to have a good diet.

oh, and the petsmart by me does not have daphnia. i looked for it before just to have on hand. :/ maybe i'll order some online.

thanks so much!

[Sakura8]

You know what? I think Hoshi got indigestion. It can happen with fish and I really think the food disagreed with him so he was lethargic and not himself . . . just like we are when we have indigestion. Poor guy, too bad there's no fishy Alka-seltzer. He's a real stunner, such gorgeous coloring. Glad he's back on his, er, fins . . .

Try New Life Spectrum. Although I haven't been able to find their betta formula in stores (it's available on Amazon.com though), you can also give their Small Fish Formula. Just be aware that the pellets are so small they're like coffee grounds so finding the right amount to give is a little trial and error. It's about 48% protein, so it's high-quality. Uhm, lessee, their betta formula are 1mm pellets, the Small Fish formula is .5mm pellets.

[DarkMoon17]

So glad to hear he is doing better :)

You can ask Petsmart to order it in for you. They might do it. It can be expensive to order frozen things online.

There are a few good foods out there. New Life Spectrum is good, and my personal favorite is Atison's betta pellets.