My lovely betta Euphrates has been acting strange lately, and it's really worrying me. I sought help about a week ago here, and someone reccomended a site that had treatment for SBD (swim bladder disorder, I believe). The symptoms of my betta's not feeling well were being listless and not moving around, except some frantic swimming to get to the top to get air, which either resulted in him getting and floating back down the the bottom where he lay, breathing heavily, or him floating at the top, barely moving. He had, just a few days before that, been "choking" on everything her eats, meaning: I'd soak the pellet and break it into smaller pieces, since the pieces are a tad too big for my betta, even though it is food specifically for bettas. He's eat it, then proceed to "choke" which his gills would not go back in and he would swim eratically then float to the bottom of the tank. Someone said it sounded like SBD, and gave me a link to a website with instructions on how to help my betta.
I followed all the directions, which included:
1. Giving the betta a hospital tank that was shallow, so the betta could reach the surface to breathe easily
2. Fast the betta for 4 days, on the 4th day giving him a frozen pea that had been unfrozen
3. Keep the tank to 79-80 degrees
I did all of this, hoping that it would help him out. He seemed to be better after a day or two, but quickly got worse again. I fed him the frozen pea (after it was unfrozen, of course) and he ate it, but it didn't seem to help. Now he can barely swim, doesn't move all too often, and when he does swim, it looks like a great effort, with his fins moving quickly , but resulting in him getting almost nowhere. I'm really worried about him, and I really would like some more advice.
Here are the questions that might help diagnosing him easier:
Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? it stays around 76-78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? yes
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? Wardley Advanced Nutrition pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Usually one pellet in the morning, one or two at night
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? One 80% per week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 80%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water conditioner
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia: N/A
Nitrite: N/A
Nitrate: N/A
pH: N/A
Hardness: N/A
Alkalinity: N/A
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He's gotten paler, but nothing else has really changed.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He's been listless and not moving, "chocking" on food, including small pieces of bloodworm. He has to frantically move his fins to get anywhere.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? The choking I noticed about a week and a 1/2 ago, and the listlessness and frantic swimming about 6 or 5 days ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes, by following the directions stated above.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No, he's always been a pretty healthy fish.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I'm not sure, he's from the pet store. I got him 5 months ago.
I followed all the directions, which included:
1. Giving the betta a hospital tank that was shallow, so the betta could reach the surface to breathe easily
2. Fast the betta for 4 days, on the 4th day giving him a frozen pea that had been unfrozen
3. Keep the tank to 79-80 degrees
I did all of this, hoping that it would help him out. He seemed to be better after a day or two, but quickly got worse again. I fed him the frozen pea (after it was unfrozen, of course) and he ate it, but it didn't seem to help. Now he can barely swim, doesn't move all too often, and when he does swim, it looks like a great effort, with his fins moving quickly , but resulting in him getting almost nowhere. I'm really worried about him, and I really would like some more advice.
Here are the questions that might help diagnosing him easier:
Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? it stays around 76-78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? yes
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? Wardley Advanced Nutrition pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Usually one pellet in the morning, one or two at night
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? One 80% per week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 80%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water conditioner
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia: N/A
Nitrite: N/A
Nitrate: N/A
pH: N/A
Hardness: N/A
Alkalinity: N/A
Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He's gotten paler, but nothing else has really changed.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He's been listless and not moving, "chocking" on food, including small pieces of bloodworm. He has to frantically move his fins to get anywhere.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? The choking I noticed about a week and a 1/2 ago, and the listlessness and frantic swimming about 6 or 5 days ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes, by following the directions stated above.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No, he's always been a pretty healthy fish.
How old is your fish (approximately)? I'm not sure, he's from the pet store. I got him 5 months ago.