Any help appreciated

[bamsuddenimpact]

My betta has been hiding under the filter- And I got a close up look at him tonight- he is pale in his facial to gill area and seems to have a distended area near his gills. Seems to be swimming ok. Any ideas/treatments?

[LittleBlueFishlets]

Please fill out this form so we have more information:

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

[bamsuddenimpact]

Housing
What size is your tank? 5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 80 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? Omega One Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2x day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I replace evaporated water
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Conditioner

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Bloaty stomach/discolored
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Swimming/laying under filtet
When did you start noticing the symptoms? this morning
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? Had since October 2012

[bamsuddenimpact]

Thinking possible dropsy, so going to treat for that. Cant hurt.

[sainthogan]

So, you never do a water change, you only replace the evaporated water? If that's the case, it could be ammonia or nitrate poisoning. You should be doing a 25% - 50% water change at least once a week, even with a filter. Find a way to test the parameters on your water and see what the levels are.

[bamsuddenimpact]

According to OFL reccomendations-
5-9gal with a filter
Weekly 50% with vacuum
Filter media needs a swish/rinse in old tank water a couple of times a month.
I change 75% once/twice a month w. biweekly vaccuums and replacing evaporated water

[sainthogan]

ok. You may still want to find a way to test the parameters, just in case.

[bamsuddenimpact]

And got ammonia test strips when I just ran to the store. Just tested and color between safe and ideal

[sainthogan]

hmm... constipation? Have you seen him pooping at all? My male gets a thick round spot right behind his gills when he's backed up (this is usually followed by an unusually huge poo). It could also be dropsy. Treating for it probably is a good idea.

Has anything else changed that might be stressing him out? My female becomes very pale and hides when something is wrong with her filter flow. My male pales and hides whenever there is a change anywhere in his surroundings, including outside the tank - if I move around the decor on the outside of the tank, he'll hide for a whole day solid (he doesn't deal with change very well). He hid for 2 days straight when I moved him to his bigger tank.

[sunstar93]

+1 to sainthogan on the first paragraph...my males get like that sometimes, especially when they eat their pellets too fast before they have the change to soak up water (I used Omega One as well). Try not feeding for 2 or 3 days and see if his stomach shrinks up any.

It's probably not a likely cause, but he may have gotten scared by something. Sometimes my girl will go and hide and wedge herself between things if I scare her (like the other day my iPod slipped and fell on the desk where her tank is...it shook the water and scared her so much her fins went from red to pale pink!!). You could try adding a few drops of stress coat, if you have that; or dissolve 1 or 2 tsps of Aquarium Salt in a cup of water (scooped out of the tank) and add that one the salt has been completely dissolved. It might help a little.