Please Help! Emergency! Betta belly bloated!

[Leopardclaws]

Originally Posted by earthworm88

Leopardclaws,

Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear your little guy isn't doing well.

I suspect your betta may have some sort of chemical poisoning over long term due to very infrequent water change. Their organs can become slowly affected and damaged. If you said you underfeed your betta, so the obvious answer is that the bloating isn't really caused by food directly.

If it is a fish bowl, the common type is about a gallon? Try to use a gallon clean milk jug and fill it up with water, and pour into the bowl to measure the size. It is always good to know exactly what size tank you have, especially in the event you need to start treatment like now.

Because he has signs of bloating and unable to swim, you need to start him on treatment with Epsom salt. You can get this from Pharmacy, no scent, just plain. Here are the steps:

1) Clean the tank really well with hot water and hand
2) let sit until reach room temperature (I really hope your room temp isn't 60, as that is just too cold for bettas), you need to find a heater for the small bowl, it's more challenging to find, but they are out there.
3) of the 1 gallon water, take a little out and put it in one of those clean water bottle if you have (ie like poland spring disposable), then add 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt into the bottle and shake well.
4) after you check to make sure all salt crystals are dissolved, pour that salt solution into the tank
5) You also need to buy dechlorinator, you can't just use unconditioned tap water. Most people recommend Seacheam Prime conditioner.
6) repeat the above steps every day for the next 10 days or so while watching for other symptoms.

Once you figure out how big the tank is, and need clarification regarding the treatment, let us know.

The number one rule to making sure your betta is healthy and thriving, is to keep the water clean and free of abnormal level of unwanted chemicals.

Good luck!

Cheers

My bowl is half a gallon and my fish store guy told me to empty out some water so that it's easier for the fish to eat the pea if it sinks to the bottom.

Thank you so so so much for all your helpful suggestions everyone! I really appreciate it!

[Leopardclaws]

Good news! Shimmer is doing much better! I put in pieces of a pea, aquarium salt, and betta fix. Shimmer is not constipated, I feared he might be. I don't know if he ate the peas or if something just opened up! He is also swimming around more. His stomach is still swollen and he is still floating at the top but I think in a few days time he'll be back to normal!

[earthworm88]

It's good to hear your little guy is doing better. To help with the bloating and SBD, use Epsom salt, NOT Aquarium salt. For half a gallon tank, use half a teaspoon of Epsom salt then.

Be sure to change his water every 2 days in the future to keep him happy and healthy. Pea is not the ideal treatment, you should try to feed him frozen daphnia or brine shrimp if you want him to poop. If you don't have either, just don't feed him for the next 3 days or so. Bettafix is also not a recommendation as it contains tea tree oil which people believe can be damaging to their labyrinth organ.

[Leopardclaws]

Originally Posted by earthworm88

It's good to hear your little guy is doing better. To help with the bloating and SBD, use Epsom salt, NOT Aquarium salt. For half a gallon tank, use half a teaspoon of Epsom salt then.

Be sure to change his water every 2 days in the future to keep him happy and healthy. Pea is not the ideal treatment, you should try to feed him frozen daphnia or brine shrimp if you want him to poop. If you don't have either, just don't feed him for the next 3 days or so. Bettafix is also not a recommendation as it contains tea tree oil which people believe can be damaging to their labyrinth organ.

Really? Wow, ok I hope my fish is ok. What does the Labyrinth organ do? Sorry, I'm not a fish expert, I'm only 13.

[TaraVictor]

Oops, I meant Epsom salt. I was confusing aquarium salt with that.

Glad to hear Shimmer is looking up. Hopefully everything will continue to improve with him. =)

The labyrinth organ is an organ which enables them to breathe air. There is some info about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabantoidei

[Leopardclaws]

Originally Posted by TaraVictor

Oops, I meant Epsom salt. I was confusing aquarium salt with that.

Glad to hear Shimmer is looking up. Hopefully everything will continue to improve with him. =)

The labyrinth organ is an organ which enables them to breathe air. There is some info about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabantoidei

Is it always found to damage the Labyrinth Organ or is there just a chance? Will I notice symptoms or will my fish just die?

[Tikibirds]

I have never used bettafix but some people say its a wonder drug, others say it's very dangerous. If you insist on using it, i would use less then the recommended dose.

An d from what I have read on here, peas are also dangerous to bettas, although I dont remember why. I think it's a recommended treatment for goldfish