Think it's bloating?

[cjcool]

Housing
What size is your tank? 2 Gallon
What temperature is your tank? my thermometer is at 82
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? pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? once a day
Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?every two-three weeks
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? about 30%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? water conditioner and a couple of crystals of rock salt
Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? i havent tested the water

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He looks a little more pale than usual, no noticeable white spots, his body seems a bit bloated.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? he hasn't come up for food for the last two days, he is staying either in his cave or at the bottom a lot, he is Lathargic and also appears to be slightly on his side rather than upright
When did you start noticing the symptoms? two days
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? no
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no, he has always been healthy, active, and responsive to our voice, feeding time, etc
How old is your fish (approximately)? 1 yr. 3mos

[Oldfishlady]

Sorry your Betta isn't well....

It sounds a bit like the effects of long term water quality issues and sodium chloride use.....

What I would recommend at this point.....make some 50% daily water changes for 2-3 days to get the salt out and improve water quality....If this doesn't perk him up....He may need Epsom salt (Not aquarium salt) tannin treatment in a small QT covered with plastic veggie wrap floating in a heated tank.....

Can you post a pic.....

[cjcool]

Thank you for your reply. We already have removed about 50% of the water so it is easier for him to move to top to get air. He is "tipped" when he is resting, but has been coming up more often to get air. As we were emptying water we notice he seems to have used one of the plants as his preffered location to poop :) so I guess he has been doing that at least. Will try posting pic now. When he is breathing now, his gills are much more prominent though :(
not sure if adding an album is the right way to show pic or not, but here is tthe URL to my album here thru this site:

[cjcool]

http://www.bettafish.com/album.php?albumid=3984

[cjcool]

Upon taking the pics, I am noticing he has a more brownish color along the top that wasn't noticed before. Perhaps it is velvet.
He is definitely moving much less, and did spend a lot of time "cozing" into his cave (maybe that behavior was indicative of the velvet, which I didn't consider at the time to actually be like he was rubbing against the cave?)

[Oldfishlady]

I would go ahead and start a 10-14 day Epsom salt(Not aquarium salt) treatment on him.

Put him in a small QT container that can be floated in the heated tank to maintain temp in the 77-78F (attached to the side so it doesn't sink) and cover the top with plastic veggie wrap to retain the heat/humidity for the labyrinth organ.

Get a clean 1gal jug and fill with dechlorinated water-Add Epsom salt 3tsp/gal and a tannin source-either IAL (1 large crushed) or Oak leaf (20 crushed) and let this steep for 30min and use this for 25% water changes every 15min for 1 hour today.

Tomorrow start 50% daily with the premixed treatment water....
If you used a tannin source it should look darker everyday and this is what you want.

he needs to stay in the treatment water in the QT floating in the heated tank-covered with plastic wrap for the durations of the treatment period.
Turn off the lights and keep them off-especially if you think its velvet.

Nutrition-if you have access to mosquito larva-offer several rinsed a couple of times a day

Lovely Betta by the way...

Keep us posted....

[cjcool]

Thanks SO much for being so caring.
I have a couple of questions...and sorry if I sound so stupid, but this is my first fish of any kind!
1.)If I cover the qt container with plastic wrap, how does he breath? Can it be press&seal (the only kind I have) or does it need to be the cheaper saran wrap kind? And it covers the entire top?
2.)Does the qt container sit so that the top is just above the tank's water line?
3.) Another stupid one--if I am treating the tank water, but he is in the qt container--what water is in the container? the water he is in now? I an unclear at what point the treatment water actually touches him....
4.)What is IAL?
Really, I am an intelligent person, but rereading my reply and post, it is clear I am not when it comes to all of this! Blame my 9yr old daughter for wanting a Beta--but now I have adopted him of course and can't bear to lose him! So many friends told me he really was the coolest beta they'd seen, as he has always been super responsive when people come near the tank and talk to him! I love him!

[Oldfishlady]

Only stupid question is the one not asked......

The amount of air that is in the head space above the water is enough for them to use to breath and every time you open it to feed, make water changes...etc...this will take care of the gas exchange. You can poke a hole in it-but it really isn't needed.

The water he is in will be the premixed treatment water.

The water in the tank or the tank itself is just to hold the QT container with the Betta in it so that you can maintain the water temp. If your room temp will maintain the water temp in the QT you don't need to float the Qt container....

When in the small QT-he will start in the tank water-pour 25% of this out and use the premixed treatment water you mixed up in the clean 1gal jug (I use clean milk jugs) to add the 25% back-repeat this 3 more time-This will get him acclimated to the new chemistry and start the treatment.
Be sure and leave about half to 1inch head space over the water.

The small temporary cups most Betta are sold in-work great for a QT-It should float when you place it in the tank-but you want to attach it to the side so it doesn't sink-I use duct tape-but anything will work-your goal is to prevent it from sinking and to maintain the water temp while he is in the QT container for treatment.

IAL-Indian almond leaf-usually you have to get these online

I use Oak leaves from my Oak trees-naturally dried and fallen from the tree

The tannins have antibacterial/fungal properties, can help toughen fin/scale, can lower pH over time and can ease stress....

The longer the tannins steep the more tannins released the darker the water the more the Betta will like it.

[cjcool]

Perfect. Thank you for the clarification. Now, you originally said the treatment should be 10-14 days with Ep. salt.... so, he should stay in the small container the full time, yes?
Then, he can return to tank, and we will just be much more dilligent in it's cleaning (and it does not require nor should I put ep. salt in it, right?)
Is this treatment suitable for many conditions-- whether it is velvet or bloat or something else?
I will begin this immed. once I pick up the ep. salt and will definitely post on how our CJ is doing--you have been so kind.

[Oldfishlady]

Epsom salt is safe to use long term and sometimes with chronic buoyancy problems it is needed in lower doses 1tsp/gal-While aquarium salt is not good for this species long term and can cause kidney damage-with this you often will see bloat/buoyancy problems that can't be fixed/cured.

He need to stay in the premixed treatment water for the duration of the treatment period-Once you get him acclimated on the first day-then make 50% water changes daily using the premixed treatment water.

Epsom salt will work on buoyancy, bloat, constipation...internal issues as well as external....

It can take several days before you start to see any improvements....

Keep us posted....