How long to withhold food when swim bladder disease is present

[jadaBlu]

I've read a a variety of advice on swim bladder disease from various sites. I'm on 72 hours of withholding food. I've read you can go up to 10 days (scary thought!). The fish (Julius) seems to be improving somewhat. He is not flopping on his side. He is moving around the top of the aquarium more. I've added more plants to make moving easier. He spends alot of time in the corner near the heater. He didn't leave it all previously. I feel really bad not feeding him but I don't want to reverse the littler progress we've made.

[callistra]

More info please:http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=49233

Plus what color is his poop and photos would help.

[jadaBlu]

I still have never seen him poop and while I have taken photos I can't find my thumb drive so I can post them.

[jadaBlu]

Housing
What size is your tank? 5.5 gal
What temperature is your tank? 78
Does your tank have a filter? Not yet but I have bought one and I am having issues getting it to work Posted about that too
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? Not feeding but if I did I have Tetra betta bits color enhancing- When I did feed him it was another brand of color enhancing food. That seems to be all they sell at Petsmart.( I took back the one that resulted in this problem) I also have Aqueon Freeze dried bloodworms. Which I have not fed to this fish yet. I have only had this fish since 10pm 2/14. It was already sickly in appearance and in dirty water in the plastic cup. I set up the tank on 2/15 and fed it 3 pellets at the same time.
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I am due to make my weekly one in few days. The water level is lowered to about 2.5 to 3 gal to make getting air and reaching plants easier.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? I plan to do a 50% change
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? I have Prime and also a Aloevera slime coat type of declorinator.

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

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:7.2
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Seems darker brown in appearance light orange on fins is not visible they are opaque and not clamped. The tiny fins below the gills move very rapidly and were doing so at the store also.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Shy and hides from me at store it seemed sociable.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About 8 hours after I fed it.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Epsom salt bath.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Don't know but considering the filthy condition I found it in I would not be surprised
How old is your fish (approximately)?Not sure.

The only other thing worth noting is that I planted a live plant in the tank which had gel on the roots I rinsed most of it off but there were a few tiny bits that floated to the top later after installation. There's always a possibility the fish could have eaten some. The package said the gel is harmless to fish and aquatic animals.

I have another betta I bought the same day he is doing great in another tank. Same set up, plants ect. I feed him once a day. Two pellets.The temp on his tank is 84. He is active, he comes looking for me. He made a bubble nest by the 2nd day. The room the sick one is in is cooler room thus the lower temperature.

[callistra]

Why do you think he has SBD? I don't see any signs in what you have described..

How did you acclimate him to the new water?

You should be testing daily for ammonia and nitrite using a reliable drops kit and doing an extra 50% change any time you see traces of either. In addition a regular weekly 50% change should include a siphon to clean the water. If you have a few plants, siphon around the plants and don't disturb them. You will see ammonia spike first, then you will see some nitrites. Ammonia will eventually fall and stay at 0 even after a full week of no water changes, and then nitrites. At this point the weekly 50% change with siphon should keep nitrates <20ppm. Cycling can take up to 2 months.

Tetra is really poor quality food. It is mostly wheat and fillers. Look for a pellet whose first two or three ingredients are whole fish, not fish meal and wheat is the worst. Whatever you feed he should get two small meals a day and one fast day a week. Exactly how many to feed depends on your betta and the size of the pellet you find. If you wish, you can feed the a worm once a week in replace of the pellet meal. Anything freeze dried should be thoroughly soaked at least 10 minutes in separate cup with some conditioned/tank water before feeding.

Sounds like your plant is melting. What kind did you get and what light do you have for the tank?

Clean warm water and that stress coat will do wonders.

[jadaBlu]

I didn't save the package for the plant. It has lance shaped leaves that are spread sparsely on the plant and it's a bit twig. Almost like a tree. No lights yet I having trouble finding a cover for my 5.5 gallon Tetra tank. Even though they have one on their website they can't seem to tell me where to to find one. I am testing the amonia level as we speak.

[callistra]

I would take a photo and post on the planted forum and get help there. You can't just get any plant and pop it into any aquarium. They have needs and if those needs aren't met they can mess up your water very badly.

[jadaBlu]

0 ppm for the ammonia

[jadaBlu]

I acclimated floating him in his cup for one hour. When I first set this fish free it was able to swim all parts of the aquarium no problem. He can not descend to the bottom of the tank and be horizontal. At this point he is able to be angled previously he was vertical or sideways. He does not try to go down unless he spots me and then he tries to get away and go to the bottom.

[callistra]

Yeah it won't be right now because the water is new. But that's good you know your tap doesn't have ammonia in it.

So just keep up on the water changes, get the new food and follow up in the planted forum for the new plant and he should be ok.