[Kambria]

Betta fish sink when they die, sadly.
My fish, Phish, is floating.. floating, and floating. All day. :-?

He tries very, VERY hard to swim downward, sometimes he manages to swim inside the castle and that keeps him held down, but as soon as he pops out, he floats to the top.

I've dealt with Betta fish for some time now, and I'm pretty sure he has swim bladder.

My betta was in my mothers care for the past few days, so I'm sure she over fed him-His stomach was also HUUUUUUUGE.
So, I've been fasting him. Today was day THREE of his fasting, and there's little change, his stomach isn't AS big.

I can tell he's fed up with this, he used to love swimming through his toy and plant.. and now he cant reach them.


I've had Phish for about two months,
When I changed his water last-- his fins were massively torn, but i'm not sure how. No struggle in the net, no sharp objects.. So I'm worried..

Maybe there's something wrong in the tank?



FACTS :
-3 Gallon tank
-2 toys to swim through&a plant, but not crowded.
-2 months old
-looks constipated&can't swim down easily.
-diet consists of 2 pellets at 7AM, 2 pellets at 3-5PM.
-One-Two Days a week he gets blood worms instead of 2 pellets.
-TopFin Betta Water Conditioner is used
- "BETTA Plus" was added to help his fins he tore.. ):
​

 

[Kambria]

ALSO, He's been eating air bubbles like crazy.
I know Betta do this when theyre looking for food, and seeing
as I'm Fasting him I thought it was normal..

But, I got to thinking.
Eating air bubbles... could be what makes him float? :/ Lol..

Just an idea.


MORE FACTS:
-Tank is 78degrees
-I don't have a kit. :/
-the plant is a LIVE plant


​

 

[Romad]

He's probably blocked from being overfed. Fast him and try to give him some frozen daphnia (dissolve the cube in some tank water first) to help his digestion. You can always try a small piece of frozen pea (thawed first).

Keep him warm and give him a leafy plant to rest in so he can stay near the top of the tank to get air.

Keep us posted. Hope he gets better.

 

[Kambria]

I fed him a pea last night, he seems a lot more active, but is still stuck at the top of the water. He hides in his plant / castle to stay down, and pops up for air every once in a while. I'll attempt to purchase some frozen daphnia, thank you!

 

[fishmadcraig]

Oh no lets hope he gets better. Just dont feed him anything for the next few days then maybe a pea or two in a couple of days. Lets see how he does

 

[xxabc]

I didn't feed my betta for 2 days, and it went away fine. Then I slowly began to feed (1 pellet at a time, then 2) his meals and haven't seen the problem in 7 months.

(Weird, he was also seen eating air bubbles and was followed by SBD. I still don't understand that part.)

 

[Kambria]

I'm on day 4 of not feeding him, but yesterday he got bits of a pea, today he got daphnia, so... maybe it doesn't count as fasting, lol.
He seems happier, but still floats. :/

 

[xxabc]

Lol, I wouldn't consider that fasting, as daphnia and peas are indeed food. Try completely stopping. Not sure if others would agree with me, but let's try another approach. Restrict ANY kind of food. Are all the air bubbles gone?

 

[Kambria]

Yes, all the air bubbles are gone, for now, but they're still made when he thrashes around, lol. &I'm up for any idea that might help him.

 

[Kambria]

!!!!!!!!
HE'S BETTER, The daphnia made him better! (((((
Oh i'm so happy, lol.

But now, he's really calm.. floating around the gravel...
eating poo?
*goes to clean that*


Now if only his fins got better.

 

[FuulieQ]

Just so that you know, your thread title made me giggle like a three year old.

It seems weird to me how quickly SBD can come and go... When I first started out on this forum I thought it was a death sentence for a fish, but apparently it has a tendency to spontaneously resolve. :/

 

[xxabc]

It seems SBD is a bigger deal than I thought?? Lol, I had it once, it just came and go...I've never actually heard of death by SBD. Only death, with SBD as a symptom.

Glad he's better!

Good water changes, aquarium salt if you must, and the fins should be good as new. Don't use meds YET

 

[dramaqueen]

My Merlot had it for 7 months and he's got a touch of it right now. He's got himself wedged by the heater right now.

 

[xxabc]

Dramaqueen, that's really an interesting case. Have you ever actually known what the cause was? I could easily imagine physical damage, or birth defect (or early fry-damage) of some sort.

 

[dramaqueen]

I have no idea. He was fine for the first 3 months I had him. He was never injured or anything since I've had him. He had it for about 7 months then it disappeared. Then last night he was floating on his side but was able to swim down and wedge himself between the wall and the heater.