A question about ......Poop

[SRC]

What does your fishes poop look like?

Mine look like a sunken betta bite. Small, round, and brown. Is this normal?

I had a few that I had not seen poop from in a day or so, so I fed each half of a english pea, which I read was good for clearing up constipation...but I felt a whole one was way too much for such a small tummy.

Some ate them, some ate a portion, and some others did not even give it a second glance after smelling of it. I don't like them either, so I can't blame the ones that did not par-take lol.

One of my fish now has an extremely swollen belly after eating the pea (he ate his whole half that I gave him). He is not one that I had not seen poop from, as he had some in his tank when I cleaned them all out prior to feeding them the peas.

Also, I read (just a few minutes ago) in another thread that if a fish gains weight all over that is a pre-requisite for dropsey. Well, one of the new fish I just purchased from Aquabid (Toy) is an extremely large betta. He is a very...how shall I put it... *thick* fellow. He makes me think of what a football player betta might look like lol. He is not fat in the gut...he is just a big, thick fish...is this normal?

I feel paranoid now..because I have one that won't swim right (he floats rather vertical, and lays on the bottom sideways some times), I have one that appears to have popeye, one with a slight case of fin deterioration, one with a swollen gut, 3 with damaged fins due to mis-handeling in the mail, and one of the 3 with damaged fins (my CT, he has 2 broken rays on his dorsal) I read could have signs on oncoming dropsey...NOT GOOD AT ALL .

ARGH! Am I just being paranoid or what?

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The 3 with damaged fins are in water treated with Melefix and salt.
The one with slight fin deterioration, and the one with suspected popeye are in water treated with Tetracycline and salt.
The rest are in water treated on with salt, as usual.

 

[AlexsDaddy]

Wow, sounds like you are having tough luck with your little buddies. Brown poop is normal. It's when it's white when you have to worry. White poop is a sign of an internal bacterial infection.
When you gave them the pea, was it frozen or canned. If canned, that's not good. Canned have preservites which isn't good for the little guys.
For the one with fin rot, daily water changes with 1 tsp salt/gallon and a little stress guard by Seachem should take care of that. I have had good results with this, but you have to watch out because the more you medicate for diseases that can be cured with salt alone (like fin rot), the more you risk them getting immune to the medicne. With fin rot you should only medicate with more severe cases.
The guy who floats verticle could have swim bladder disease. I have had no experience with this, but if he is laying at the bottom all the time, you might want to think about lowering the water level so there is only 3 or 4 inches of water so he doesn't have to struggle so much to get to the surface to breath. Do daily 100% water changes with salt and it might help him out. If you have substrat, take it out of there. It's easier to see all the waste and uneaten food so you can make sure you can get rid of it all ensuring you have a clean environment every time.
Have had no experience with dropsy, but keep an eye on him, and if he keeps bloating (gaining weight all over), I have read that myracin and myracin 2 is good for that, but you have to catch it in the early stages. once they start pineconeing, they are pretty much done for. It is extremely contagious and if he is in a divided tank, isolate him IMEADIATLY, and treat him. I would do some preventive treatment if it is divided.
I have read that popeye is mostly caused by poor water conditions and can be fixed most of the time by daily 100% wc's with salt, but once again, I have had no personal experience with this. Just do searches on this forum with keywords of the disease name, and you will come up with all kinds of of help. If you don't find what you are looking for, just ask. There are plenty of experienced people on here who are more than willing to help.

Just a note. I have only been keeping bettas for 4 or 5 months, but by doing research on this site, and various other sites, I have learned more than I could have ever imagined I would have. Good luck with your betta buddies!! Hope this helps!

 

[Kittycat]

I think my bettas' poop looks like that, too. But there was a time some of my boys had light colored (yellow-white) poop that looked like somebody grounded it into powder. I treated them for internal parasites.

 

[SRC]

They were frozen pea's. I used the microwave to boil a few.

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Well they get a 100% water change daily (sometimes more..just depends on the fish, I have a few messy boys), because they are in individual Beanie Baby boxes. No gravel or subtrate. They stay a comfy 80/82* and have salt added daily with their water change. So I know the problems they are having cannot be from bad water condition..as they aren't in it long enough to have problems lol. I also use Stress Coat, as my cholrine/chloramine remover, when doing water changes.

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See I dunno if the big one is fat or if he is just a big, thick fish. One of my other ones is kinda large framed like that, but he is alot older. This fish is supposed to be 4-5 months old..but he looks full grown to me..I think someone did a little fibbing on their auction listing on AQ imo. But it's ok..I still love him. If I can ever get my camera to focus properly I will post some pics..but I think I'm gonna have to take it back, because it just won't work like it used to for some reason. But then again he could just be fat, I dunno he came to me like that (and I haven't even had him a full weeked yet).

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I'm not so sure it's swim bladder as he doesn't do it all the time..just some times. He has no problems swimming around or anything. It's like he just hangs there sometimes in suspended animation. (he'll basiaclly be face to the sky sometimes, if you wanna visual). Then he'll right himself and swim off. Could just be his finnage..he's almost a OHM but not quite.

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I used the meds on the one with fin rot, because I add salt to their water already..so obviously that wasn't working.

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I think the one with popeye came to me that way..because he's always looked like he had *goldfish* eyes imo. But I didn't realize that was a problem until just the other day.

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What I really wanted to know about the poop was..is it supposed to be a little, round, brown ball? The best description I can give..is that it looks like a large betta bite (although I know it is not a betta bite..as they have not had one in weeks lol)

 

[Synirr]

The poo sounds normal... all my bettas poo little round brown balls

I think maybe you're being a little paranoid... I don't think a fish is going to get dropsy just because it's fat, if indeed your fish is fat. Truth be told, we're not completely sure what causes dropsy, and there are probably several things that could potentially cause it. Poor water quality is a contributor, and internal parasites could be another cause; overfeeding, too, can contribute, but I'm not sure if that's because it lowers water quality or because it messes with the fish's internal organs. Point is, so long as you're not overfeeding him and are keeping his water clean, he should be just fine.

As for the fish that hovers vertically sometimes, I think his fins might just be weighing him down. Several of my bettas with particularly large fins swim vertically sometimes, and lay kinda sideways because their fins prevent them from sitting straight . If he seems normal other than occasionally swimming vertically, I wouldn't medicate...

 

[SRC]

lol..I probably am paranoid. After my favorite fish died, from something I have yet to figure out how it happened so fast, what is was he contracted, or why he got it in the first place. I am afraid of another dying like that...so I watch them like a hawk. )

I wanted to be sure about the poop though...because I've never seen a fish poop a perfectly round ball before . To be honest, I'm still not quite sure how such a big object squeezes out of such little fish lol.

I haven't medicated the one that hovers at odd angles...except with salt, as they all get a little salt in their water, since I have to change it so often.

Thanks

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What language are your fish named in btw. Those are very nice fishes and very nice names. Foriegn names intrigue me greatly .