Help! Lethargic and extremely bloated betta!

[CharStarr]

Housing
What size is your tank? 8 Gallons
What temperature is your tank? 78
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Spray bar.
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 3 thorned nerite snails.

I do a water change every two weeks.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Betta pellets.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day usually three to four pellets. I fast my betta once a week as well.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once every two weeks.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Water conditioner to make it safe.

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

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

**I had an algae break out, a really bad one, when this tank was NPT and I have since removed all real plants and soil and SCOURED the tank fully. The algae has started to grow back though. Could this be a reason why he is SO bloated? I will be posting a pic shortly. He can barely swim, he rests on the filter or his heater.**

[callistra]

You should be doing at least a 20% weekly water change once the tank is cycled and before that you need to be doing much more.. I would invest in a good drops test kit to make sure everything is ok, especially since you've taken out all your live plants and have scrubbed down the tank. You could have crashed your cycle. Algae is not harmful to fish it all. It just looks ugly.

I would fast him and watch his poop to see what he looks like. You can also treat with epsom salt at 1/4 to 1 tsp per gallon predissolved.

Exactly what pellets are you using? I would suggest breaking up his feedings into 1 or 2 twice a day. Instead of 3 or 4 all at once.

[CharStarr]

Theyre called Betta Bites. I put him into a different tank, a smaller one so he doesnt have too much trouble getting to the top. Though he is EXTREMELY bloated.

[callistra]

Try switching to a higher quality protein based pellet instead of wheat based pellets. The first three ingredients should be a protein. Pellets like New Life Spectrum Betta or Omega One Betta Buffet are good ones to look for. 3-4 Omega One would be good like what you're doing now but NLS are small and 5 is minimum. Most feed 6-8, split up into twice a day feedings. I know PEtco carries them.

In the meantime fast until the bloat goes away.. he can go weeks without food so it's fine. Watch his poop (report back) and stick to the epsoms. Can you provide a photo? Is he pine coned?

[CharStarr]

I havent been able to get epsom salts =( Hes not doing well, his head is laying on the gravel because the bloat is too heavy to carry around.

[CharStarr]

These are the pictures of Spyro.

[sunlight]

Do you have hospital tank that you will be able to keep stable temperature? You really need to keep him in the lower water level so he can go to surface to breath air.
If you can get Epsom salt at any pharmacy.
Bloating can be due to overfeeding, internal parasites, tumor. Did he get like that soon after you feed him? When is last time you saw him pooped ? Did you see his poop? If it internal parasites his poop will be white,clear, wormy,string shape. How long he is like that?
Not sure how he can go breath air if he can't move.
I hope he will pull through. If he is buy Epsom salt at the pharmacy. Pre mix2 2tsp/gall make sure it dissolved and do daily 100% water changes. Make sure you introduce him to the new water slowly by adding new pre mix water in his changing cup and let him acclimate for a few minutes. Do it for about 3 times so he can get used to it.

[CharStarr]

Thank you. He's shown in the pic in his hospital tank, he was in an 8 gallon before but it was too much work for him to go the top. Ive had him for at least 4 months and he was fine during feedings before. His poop seems to be okay, not white.

[sunlight]

How long he is like that?

[callistra]

It looks like he's got some fin rot going on to.. that can be cleared with clean water and epsoms as well.

His poop is a normal brown color and also in short strings not super long or in a ball? Is he pooping daily? Keep fasting until the bloat comes down and he poops some more.

He needs epsoms. They should be in any grocery store, usually in the pharmacy section. CVS pharmacy also has them. At this point I think he's more than constipated and I'd be looking for Kanaplex or Maracyn Plus (not to be confused with Maracyn and Maracyn II).