Betta Bloating after feeding

[laurenkaye]

Hello!
My Betta Fish, Zeus, is becoming bloated after every time I feed him. I have 3 Betta fish all in the same size tanks and the other 2 are fine. I feed them a pinch of flakes (tetracolor) every 4 days about. I have been feeding them this for years and it has always been beneficial so I do not see it as a problem. My fish are in 2.5 gallon tanks.

When Zeus gets bloated, he cannot swim normally. He lays on his side and appears "dead" but moves every so often. Each time he gets bloated I give him half to a whole of a peeled pea, which has helped. I just don't want this to happen every time I feed him.

Would anyone know why this is occurring? It only happens to my one fish which is confusing.

Thank you so much!

 

[Colin_T]

He could be swallowing air when he feeds and that is filling up his stomach and intestine and causing him to float about and have trouble swimming until he farts the air out a few hours later.

Have you tried feeding him on frozen but defrosted foods like frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp or raw prawn? You offer 1 or 2 small bits of this food at a time and the fish eat them as they sink through the water. This stops them swallowing air.

You can also buy live brineshrimp from most petshops and offer him a few of those. They swim around the water for a while or until they get eaten.

And if you have any mosquitoe larvae in water containers outside in the backyard, he would take them too.

A caution note when you feed frozen foods, the ammonia level in the water can go up very quickly. So you need to remove any uneaten food within a couple of minutes after the fish has stopped eating. And if you don't have a filter on the tank then do a big water change (75%), 3 - 4 hours after feeding them.

 

[laurenkaye]

He could be swallowing air when he feeds and that is filling up his stomach and intestine and causing him to float about and have trouble swimming until he farts the air out a few hours later.

Have you tried feeding him on frozen but defrosted foods like frozen bloodworms, brineshrimp or raw prawn? You offer 1 or 2 small bits of this food at a time and the fish eat them as they sink through the water. This stops them swallowing air.

You can also buy live brineshrimp from most petshops and offer him a few of those. They swim around the water for a while or until they get eaten.

And if you have any mosquitoe larvae in water containers outside in the backyard, he would take them too.

A caution note when you feed frozen foods, the ammonia level in the water can go up very quickly. So you need to remove any uneaten food within a couple of minutes after the fish has stopped eating. And if you don't have a filter on the tank then do a big water change (75%), 3 - 4 hours after feeding them.

Thank you for the reply!
I will check out the different defrosted frozen foods for him the next time I get to the pet store. I'll make sure to keep the water clean as well.
Thanks!

 

[NickAu]

I feed them a pinch of flakes (tetracolor) every 4 days about

How much is a pinch?

You should be feeing them high grade pellets and feeding daily.

Each time he gets bloated I give him half to a whole of a peeled pea,

Do not feed him peas. Daphnia is much better.