Bloated betta

799 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by VivianKJean, Jan 26, 2015

AviatorJosh

Discussion Starter · Jan 24, 2015

I have a female betta sorority and they are all doing great with each other. One of my girls is very bloated right now however the other girls are just fine. I've noticed that after she eats my flake food she swims down and trys to eat the corycat's food. I know she's bloated because she's eating too much and i'm taking measures to stop it. I turn the tank lights off when the catfish eat so the others cant see it and the corys can still smell it. I've also started putting her in a smaller floating "holding tank" while the cory cats eat. I vary their diet so I don't think constipation from one type of food is the problem. However if constipation is the problem are there any remedys I can give her where I don't have to leave my house? I'm sick and don't want to go out into public. Iv'e heard a small piece of a boiled pea can help but I don't know if I want to feed that to her right now in her present condition. She looks like she's about to pop.

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KitDewStein

· #2 · Jan 24, 2015

Most people don't respond until all these questions are answered. I am still inexperienced so I will let other people help out.

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

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

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

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AviatorJosh

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 24, 2015 (Edited)

Housing
What size is your tank? 36 Gallons
What temperature is your tank? 76 degrees F
Does your tank have a filter? yes Penguin 200
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? 5 red wag platys 6 other female bettas 3 cory catfish

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? I vary my food from Omega1 flakes, tetra min tropical flakes and once in a while I grind up a freeze-dried shrimp ( once a week)
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? 10-20%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? water conditioner and a small amount of bacteria supp.

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

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 10ppm
pH:6.8
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? very bloated
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? no change
When did you start noticing the symptoms? after feeding
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? smaller amounts of food. Isolation while others feed
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? unknown maybe a few months old
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PurpleJay

· #4 · Jan 24, 2015

First off, you want to fast the bloated betta for a minimum of 3 days, and if the bloating doesn't go down she may have Dropsy or some other disease. Note that fasting means not giving her ANYTHING to eat. You might have to put her in a separate tank or bowl if you let her out of the "holding tank" when the others are done eating, because she can go down to the bottom and eat sunken food.
Don't fast her for any more than a week or two, but if you will fast her you'll need to do it for at least 3 days for the swelling to go down a bit.
DO. NOT. FEED. THEM. PEAS.

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VivianKJean

· #5 · Jan 25, 2015

actually fasting alone does not always get rid of bloating and just because fasting doesn't work doesn't mean that she has an other disease.

First you should separate this girl and put her him a tank with 1 teaspoon of Epsom Salt per gallon of water. Dissolve it first before you add it to the tank. If after 10 days you see no improvement then move on to meds.

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PurpleJay

· #6 · Jan 25, 2015

Ha I forgot about the Epsom salt (I don't know how I did).
Then again I am no expert so you should listen to what VivianKJean says. Although I go for 2 weeks as the maximum instead of 10 days.

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VivianKJean

· #7 · Jan 26, 2015

You should not use Epsom Salt for more than 10 days because you can dehydrate the fish.

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