Swelling on male betta

[HILDISVIN]

hi,
can someone help me regarding my crowntail. I've had him for about 3 months. he lives on his own in a 20 litre aquarium, temp about 28 degrees with a box filter,two or three cabomba plants and 2 half coconuts and 2 pieces of bog wood with no lighting other than normal daylight, but he is not in direct sun. We feed him twice a day with a variety of either live food, frozen or betta pellets or tropical flake.
he seems to be a little fat its been like it for a while but my son noticed today that he seems to have a sort of semi transparent bubble on his little fat tummy like a blister.My son has put a female in with him to see if he will breed, he builds a bubble nest and embraces the female but after three attempts we have had no hatchlings.The female is still in with him at the moment. Does anyone have any thoughts about what i can do about this, it certainly doesn't seem to be normal. I have had other bettas and I have three females who are fine.
any info would be great
regards
colin

[Silverfang]

I can't really comment on a blister, but I do know you should remove the female now. Breeding shouldn't be attempted until all your research has been done. Either the male or female could be killed during a spawning, this has happened with both experienced and unskilled breeders.

IF you could fill out the sticky (the third post in the diseases section) we can get a better idea of what is going on with your boy. Oh, and if you can gt a picture, that would really help.

[HILDISVIN]

HI silverfang
thanks for the reply. i didn't know you could copy and paste the sticky
Housing
What size is your tank?
20 litres
What temperature is your tank?
78 degrees
Does your tank have a filter?
yes powered by an airstone box type
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
only the airstone for the filter
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?
betta pellets. frozen and live food and tropical flakes
How often do you feed your betta fish? twice a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 25%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? stress coat+

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

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5-10ppm
pH: 6.6
Hardness: Gh 8
Alkalinity: kh 2

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? he is alittle fat but now seems to have a semi transparent blister on his tummy
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? no he is still active and eating
When did you start noticing the symptoms? today
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? not yet don't know whats best to do.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no this is the first time
How old is your fish (approximately)? 6 months

i have afew photos but cannot seem to be able to add them when i click on the insert image button it asks for a url so i don't knoew how to send the picture.
i hope someone can help with this problem
many thanks
regards
colin

[SVC]

"i have afew photos but cannot seem to be able to add them when i click on the insert image button it asks for a url so i don't knoew how to send the picture.
i hope someone can help with this problem
many thanks
regards
colin[/quote]

Hi Colin, just wanted to address the picture issue.

Are you doing a Quick Reply or are you pressing the Reply button in the left hand side bottom of the last posted message? The quick reply button seems to only give you the option of a URL but if you press the Reply button, it will have a bigger menu of options at the top of the box where you type. There will be a paper clip picture and if you click there a pop up will open that says Manage attachments and a purple shaded box that says Upload File from your computer. Click on the browse button to the right of that and you should be able to go to any file in your computer and select from there. Once you have selected the picture you want from your computer and hit open the link should appear in the purple box and you would then hit the upload button to the right of the browse button and it will take a couple of moments to upload your selection. When it is done, you should see a little link there and you can repeat the process again until all the pics you want are uploaded. Not sure if there is a limit.

Alternately, you can go to the bottom of the page where it says Additional Options and go to the second box that says Attach Files and click the Manage Attachments button from there and the same pop up will appear.

Hope that helps you to upload your pictures. :)

[Silverfang]

Well it sounds like most things are good, in a 5 gallon tank (roughly what a 20L is) I'm not sure if one 25% water change is enough, hope someone else can advise on that. The food sounds great, a variety is good for them. Perhaps fast him for a day or two, and see if this improves him.

As for the blister I still can't really help you out I'm afraid. If it was an open wound then it would be clean water and aq salt treatment. But for swellings this can be counter productive, so for now just make sure to clean out his water more often.

Hope someone with more experience with this posts.

[HILDISVIN]

HI,
thankyou for the replies. I'll try and add a photo this time. I went to my lfs this morning and showed them a photo, they said it possibly was a parasitic worm but i should be able to see a long thread thing inside his belly but I can't see anything so they sort of ruled that out for now. Its very transparent so they don't think its a tumour or a rupture, they suggested leaving him alone and just observe him for a while rather than treat what may not be there.
but any thoughts from anyone would be welcome
many thanks
regards
colin

[Silverfang]

oh my, that is quite the bit of swelling. Parasites are a definite possibility. As is bacterial infection. Unfortunately I'm not too well versed with either. I'd PM OFL, she is the expert on most things fishy sickness related. Or darkmoon. She's our resident vet.