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Hungry ALL THE TIME!

2K views 33 replies 6 participants last post by  ChoclateBetta 
#1 ·
Lil Sano, my blue veiltale, is hungry all the time. I know he is hungry because he always flares at me when he wants food. I don't mind feeding him, but he will get bloated if I feed him too much. He was constipated for a while and I fasted him, gave him epsom salt baths, and fed him green peas. After bout 2 weeks, I didn't fast him the whole time, everything came out. Sometimes it looked normal, but other times it looked white and stringy. I know that is a symptom of an internal parasite. I have been treating him for it using Prazipro. The white stringy stuff quit coming out. He has never been wanting to eat so much. What do I do? Is it another symptom of the parasite?
 
#2 ·
He acts fine, and his color is fine. He is just sooooo hungry. I feed normally a few crumpled up flakes 2x a day. Every once in a while he will get a freezedried bloodworm or a fourth of a baby shrimp for a treat.
 
#6 ·
What size is your tank? 1.5 gallons
What temperature is your tank?79f
Does your tank have a filter?no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?no
Is your tank heated?yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? BettaMin tropical medley, tetrabetta floating mini pellets,tetramin tropical flakes, green peas, tetra freeze dried bloodworms, and tetra sun dried baby shrimp. The last two are given as a treat 1x a week.
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2x a day. 1 day a week he is given a green pea and fasts.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? everyday
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? jungle start right and tetra easy balance

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? no
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? just tries to eat everything in sight.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? a few days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill? yes
How old is your fish (approximately)? 1 and a half years
 
#7 ·
Maybe the flakes dont fill him up, I would get some of the Betta pellets for him, the New Life Spectrum are great and have garlic in them mine loves them. Also unless he is really bad bloated I would not feed him the peas.
 
#8 ·
#15 ·
If he has internal parasites, it would make sense for him to be extra hungry. How long have you been treating him with prazipro? If you're in the middle of treatment, it would be best to finish it so you don't end up breeding drug-resistant parasites.

If I were you, I'd remove the gravel for a couple days. First of all, he can't eat the gravel if it's not there, and it will also make it easier to get rid of parasite eggs and larva, which can hide in gravel.
 
#16 ·
You are changing the water an awful lot. Any particular reason for this? One 100% and one 50% a week is good for 1-4 gallons. Too clean causes more harm than good.

As for being constantly hungry, bettas are always on the hunt. They are predatory fish. As long as he looks healthy I wouldn't worry about it.
 
#18 ·
And Meds like those kinda do more harm than good.
 
#20 ·
Again, too clean does more harm than good. The frequent changes might actually be part of the problem here. There are a lot of chemicals (safe, yes, but in low quantities), and it is just plain stressful to be plucked out of your home every day. Frequent changes also don't let the fish easily maintain a healthy slime coat and the beneficial bacteria that is on every living creature's body.
 
#22 ·
I've been doing 100% changes because he had some fin rot. When that goes away for good, I will go back to cleaning 50%. How can 1/4 a pea hurt him like 2 weeks later? He only ate it once. I am in the middle of treatment. I don't see how anyone's answers are answering my question besides letsgetkracken. The way I am cleaning and the medicine I have been giving him are all things dozens of people on this site have suggested, plus research of my own.
 
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