Why does he keep getting so bloated?

[noellezim]

Originally Posted by vilmarisv

neollezim got it right. Flaring will help them poop. I used to have a male with the same problem and I had to exercise him regularly to get him to poop.

Thank you

[noellezim]

Originally Posted by PaintingPintos

+1
I make my betta poop every day by leaving a mirror in front of his tank for a few minutes :)

thank you for agreeing!
btw just for the record your cute

[Seki]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Possibly try switching his food to a different, higher quality pellet. Look for a pellet or food that has fish products as the first two ingredients. The less wheat germ or wheat meal, the better, as these are undigestible by bettas and can be the cause of his bloating. I know when I once fed a very unhealthy pellet to my halfmoon, he swelled up like a bubble right after.

Good brands to try are New Life Spectrum (both betta formula and small fish formula work well) and Omega One pellets.

I will look into it, although my local pet store does not have too much variety in betta foods. I have seen Nutrafin, Top Fin, Aqueon, and maybe one more? I'm not sure... Anyway, I looked at the ingredients on the Aqueon pellets and it says the first ingredient is whole fish meal, followed by whole wheat flour, soybean meal, then shrimp meal... and it goes on from there. This is a bad brand to get, then?

EDIT: Forgot to include... today he got two bloodworms instead of pellets and he didn't puff up at all. :)

[Sakura8]

It's not a super brand, no. The protein is somewhat high but the whole wheat flour being the second ingredient means a lot of it is indigestible for the betta. Try Nutrafin. That might be okay.

Yay! I'm glad the bloodworms agreed with his belly. :)

[mkayum]

I recommend New Life Spectrum betta formula , I feed my six bettas two times a day only monday & friday. it does help them fast up in three days till friday.

My crowntail, Chief Chowig always had problem trying to get it out of his system & but always came back to normal.

Did you check at petco? Try looking for fish food section, not just betta section.

[Seki]

@Sakura8 - I will check for that food the next time I have a chance to get to the petstore. I swear, I have been there every week since I got my little dude hahaha. The staff there finds it amusing, and they're trying to talk me into another tank and another betta hahaha.

@mkayum - The Petco here is absolutely awful, sadly. I got Sheik there, but they told me he would be fine in a 1/4 gallon bowl and that he was good with a 50% water change once every week or two. Their "betta section" has about a dozen bettas in cups, one shelf of tiny little betta starter kits, and one shelf of food and conditioner. I asked if they had anything else and the woman said no, everything I needed was right there. They didn't even have lights or heaters! I have had much better luck with Petsmart :)