WHY ME?? I think my guy has SBD, but i don't know! =[

[dramaqueen]

Swim bladder disorder isn't always fatal. I had one that had it for 7 months and he's fine now. I added daphnia to his diet and somehow he got better on his own. The daphnia may have helped or it may not have, I'll never know for sure.

[DarthMaul]

well... does he actually have that? I mean he is SUPER bloated behind his 2 small fins as you can see in the picture. Well how exactly can his life be good when he cant even swim lower than surface level and he fights just to stay upright =[ that's not a good life, that's awful... i just do not get it. I AM AN AWFUL BETTA FISH OWNER. I do EVERYTHING their is to pamper/ give my bettas the best life and they die on me. Like i said, my friend at USF has that betta that is still alive! How?? ugh...

[DarthMaul]

Originally Posted by dramaqueen

Swim bladder disorder isn't always fatal. I had one that had it for 7 months and he's fine now. I added daphnia to his diet and somehow he got better on his own. The daphnia may have helped or it may not have, I'll never know for sure.

what IS this stuff and where do i get it?

[DarthMaul]

*bump* i am desperate here... i feel like no one cares and no one really wants to help me =[ i guess a fish actually has to be dying to get help around here =[

[reaperss06]

I know what your going through, I had fish die on me with no help at all as well. My problem was outdated food which no expert ever told me could be a problem. I don't think yours has that problem but you can check your food to see if it has expired.



Daphnia I think you can get at a pet store or online, I would think anyway. I honestly google a lot of things when I have to wait a long time to get an answer.

[kingb]

sorry to hear bout your betta Maul, i hope he gets better.

[DarthMaul]

well he is not bloated from food. I have been fasting him for 2 days now =[ and thank you for understanding where i am coming from. i am not blaming the forum or anyone on here.. it is my choice to take or not take the advice given. But that fact that when i knew just the basics if that, my past bettas lived for a LONG time..now i am lucky if get a couple weeks out of them =[ =[ =[ =[

[iamntbatman]

You should be able to find frozen daphnia at any good LFS or even the big chain stores. If the disorder progresses and the betta tends to sink rather than float, you might want to lower the water level so that it's easier for the fish to reach the surface for air. Try the daphnia out for a few days and see what happens. I've seen bettas that were much more bloated than yours, so it's definitely not the end of the road just yet.

[soleilvie]

I am not experienced with bettas (I have yet to start a fishless cycle of my tank for the first time) but I did a quick search and found that a bloated betta can be a symptom of a disease called Dropsy. Obviously your betta is not bloated from excessive food (you mentioned fasting your betta), so perhaps dropsy may be the problem? It seems that it is a disease that affects the kidneys. Likely, you did nothing wrong; your betta was sick to begin with.

I have no idea if this is what your fish has, that's just what I found from a quick Google search. I would wait about a week and see if anything improves. I have no idea about the daphnia, but it can't hurt so perhaps it's worth a shot. Keep us updated and don't give up!

This page is very helpful. It has a list of common betta diseases, symptoms, and treatments.

[aunt kymmie]

I'm not sure if this was covered previously (I may have missed it) but before you did the two day fast EXACTLY what did his diet consist of? How many times per day and how much per feeding??
Bettas are also prone to suffering from constipation so this can be contributing to the problem. Nothing like a case of constipation to make your gut swell.
As batman advises, try lowering the water level and if it was me (and it's not) I would fast one more day and find some frozen daphnia. Alot of people will suggest peas (mashed with the outer skin removed) but I prefer daphnia as it's much more a part of what their natural diet would consist of. I feed dahpnia twice a week as a preventative and never overfeed my betta. He always gets fed in the morning and occasionally he goes without dinner.
Good luck and I hope your fish recovers soon.