Swim Bladder Disease.

[Lordsameth]

Hi guys, it sure has been awhile!

Here's what's going on:

Housing
What size is your tank? 1.5 Gallon quarantine
What temperature is your tank? 77 degrees give or take based on weather
Does your tank have a filter? no
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? Blood worms and Betta Pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? twice daily, two each feeding

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? daily
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? Betta water conditioner, Aquarium salt.

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He's a little fatty
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He is lethargic
When did you start noticing the symptoms? Wednesday morning
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Aquarium salt and fasting
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Fin rot from tail biting.
How old is your fish (approximately)? one year




On Tuesday I moved long distance. I fasted my two Betta for a day before bagging them for the move. Both were placed in the sleeves of fleece pj's in a box and rode the whole way on my lap. After we arrived I prepared a pair of quarantine tanks for them to recover in, complete with heaters. The bags were floated inside the small tanks and left open. The new heated water from the tank was gradually added over the next two hours. Both fish were a tad bit lethargic, so I didn't feed them for that day either. The next day when I went to feed them, I noticed my very precious Biscotti was floating sideways on the top. He wasn't responding to anything, but he also didn't look dead, as his color was very vivid. After some time he flailed about. The other one was fine, just a little lethargic, but he's always been a little emo, so I fed him some blood worms and he dug in. I gave Biscotti one so I could watch how well he swims. Very bloated, and cannot even make it to the bottom of his tank. He pops back up like a cork. He's extremely lethargic today, and hasn't had anything substantial to eat in three days.

I'm changing his water daily and using aquarium salt, as well as fasting. I'm not too sure how long it is safe to fast him, the bloating has gone down over night, but he's also kind of just lying there... Any suggestions?

[Oldfishlady]

Change the aquarium salt to Epsom salt 2tsp/gal along with the 100% daily water changes in the QT.....

Pre-mix the Epsom salt 2tsp/gal in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water and add tannins if you have any and use this water for the 100% daily water changes....

Keep us posted....

[Lordsameth]

Well, my room-mate's cat found a solution to the problem.

She discovered the tanks (Both are covered) and was slowly raising her paw to bat at poor Biscotti, and as she was raising her paw she must have brought her face too close to the tank because Biscotti suddenly jet his way in her direction and scared the living hell out of her. I've never seen a cat jump so high with fright. Biscotti's stomach shrank back to normal, and he's back to his old self again.

I put some epsom salt in his water change, and I'll keep that up over the next few days, and I'll soak his pellets before feeding him. He looks like he'll make a full recovery :) *Was so worried*