Sideways Betta

[suzyyy29]

Hi there! I am new here and just have a couple of quick questions. I am very concerned about my betta fish. I've had him for several years and he's been doing great.
I recently upgraded his tank to a 5 gallon with a small filter. The temperature is 76 degrees and I feed him 2-3 pebbles a day and switch every other day feeding blood worms.

Ever since I upgraded to his new tank he has been floating at the top. He tries to swim down to the bottom, but just floats right back up. When he's sitting still, he floats to the side and will just lay there until I go over to him. I did some research and thought he might be constipated, so I started feeding him small amounts of boiled peas. This did not seem to fix the issue. He stomach does not look overly bloated, yet he still floats. I added some aquarium salt to his tank and he seemed to respond positively to that, however, he is still floating. I did a water changed to clear the salt a few days later. I tested the water and everything seems to be in order. I don't know what else to do and I feel so bad for him. Is there anything I can do?

Thank you for your help! :)

[LeoTheLakerBetta]

It sounds like Swim Bladder Disorder, but I'm no expert on that so it might be helpful to do a little background search on that disorder and wait for someone a little more experienced than me lol. However the temperature is a little low. Not so dangerous but a tad cold for bettas. Do you have a heater in there? If you do is it adjustable or not? If you don't you should think about getting one so that you can maintain a stable temp so your betta can live a longer life, is less stressed and therefore much less prone to disease. :) If you already have and it is adjustable, just set it to 78. If it's not adjustable, most are already set to 78 and if it is then you might need a heater with more watts. Hope this helped a little :D

[LittleBlueFishlets]

76 degrees is slightly cool. Can you raise the temp a bit?

Has he pooped at all lately? If so, what did it look like? It should be red/brown. (If it's white, that could indicate an issue such as internal parasites.)

Aquarium salt is the wrong salt to use for issues like constipation and bloating. The rule of thumb is:

• Epsom salt for internal issues (constipation, bloating, etc)
• Aquarium salt for external issues (fin rot, etc)

I recommend discontinuing the Aquarium salt, and buying some Epsom salt instead. It should be 100% pure magnesium sulfate. (No dyes, perfumes or additives.) It's available at grocery stores, drug stores, Walmart/Target, etc.), and it's not expensive. It acts as a laxative (in people too).

Also, I'd suggest not feeding him for a day or two. One or two days without food shouldn't be a problem for him. And the Epsom salt should help relieve any internal bloating, if there is any.

I also don't recommend a pea, personally. There's a lot of controversy about whether using it for bettas. Plus, the Epsom salt will already act as a laxative.

[BettaGirl228]

Yea that's Swim Bladder Disorder Give your fish a 1 Green Pea for the Constipation it will eventually poop What i do is i Cut the pea up in little pieces then i give it to my fish. My baby betta gets sbd Just a pea and see what happens. :) Try It!

[suzyyy29]

Thank you everyone for your help! Is there a good heater that any of you would recommend?

I should have mentioned my fish is recovering from a spout of fin rot. Is it ok to switch back and forth between epson salt and aquarium salt if I am doing water changes in-between? Or is it best to just focus on one?

[Shadyr]

I would concentrate on just one. Finish the AQ salt treatment for his bout of fin rot. If he's still exhibiting signs of SBD, then turn to AQ salt. Peas, being veggies, are pretty useless for a betta nutritionally. I haven't had much experience with them yet, but I have read that daphnia are a much better laxative type food for bettas.

I got a little girl for my sorority who was showing signs of SBD. I put her in warm water with StressCoat+ and offered her a couple of soaked freeze dried dapnia (Bought from PetSmart in a little package called "Dial A Treat"). I can't say it was what fixed her, but with that little bit of care, she recovered her stability within a couple of days. If you can get hold of some daphnia, you could try them with him while he's doing the AQ salt treatment.

[AyalaCookiejar]

My Betta did this shortly after I upgraded him to a 5 gallon... It was internal parasites. Epsoms will also help fin rot. I treated him with Parasite Cleae by jungle and he was better within 24 hours (and he pooed out a few long white worms!) He also did not look very bloated. It was very, very slight bloating.

[suzyyy29]

Thank you for that information! I will go and check that out. And about internal parasites....I did notice about 4 days ago (after I fed him a bit of a pea) he had a long pale brownish colored poop hanging from him. It was probably about an inch long. It wasn't stark white, but I wouldn't saying it was very brown either. He was having trouble "ending" it as it was hanging from him for about a day or so. Is this a sign of parasites or is it just "back up" ?

[AyalaCookiejar]

My boys parasites were transparentish. Normal poo should be the exact same color as the food you feed. I would not be surprised... Since I never saw him in the act, I didn't notice the abnormal poo until after I moved him to a bare bottomed tank. Also, the Epsom salt alone didn't help at all and he was having those buoyancy issues for a week, WITH epsoms. I went out and got Parasite Clear from Walmart and his swimming went back to normal within 24 hours.

Everything you say here sounds EXACTLY like my situation, except my temp is 78. Upping the temp should help him pass it easier, and fasting him is not a good idea because feeding him will help him push out those parasites.

[AyalaCookiejar]

Also, please don't feed peas :/ feed him his normal pellets to help clear his system of the parasites and use epsom salt as its a laxative. If it is internal parasites, you should notice improvement quickly with Parasite Clear + Epsoms. General Cure by API is also similar, but is less harsh (it has two of the four ingredients in Parasite Clear but I couldn't tell you which of the four was responsible for his fast recovery). I'd also do another treatment 3 weeks after the first to follow up and get any parasite eggs or whatever (per Sakura8's advice).