Betta Very Bloated In Chest Area

[Majica8]

Tank size: Approx. 20 UK gal/90 ltrs
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
sorry don't have any of these from today at the moment but test regularly and they are always all fine/normal (Ph 7.5, Ammonia 0, nitrite 0-0.5, nitrate 10-15)
tank temp: Usually around 26.5C. It does change sometimes but not by much and not very quickly.

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): He's very bloated in his chest area, underneath his head/gills. Probably about 1cm in diameter now. It's the only place he's bloated so I'm guessing it's not dropsy. (His scales aren't sticking up either)

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 50% once a week.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Nothing

Tank inhabitants: The betta, 1 honey gourami and 2 red tailed black sharks (I know they shouldn't be together really, I don’t have much choice for the moment though)

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): Nothing recent.

Exposure to chemicals: Nothing that I know of.

Digital photo (include if possible): Got a couple of pics taken over the last week 1/2:
10th Sep (Last Thur) - http/i19.photobucket.com/albums/b188/maj...ms/P1000329.jpg
11th Sep - http/i19.photobucket.com/albums/b188/maj...ms/P1000406.jpg
19th Sep (About 10 mins ago) - http/i19.photobucket.com/albums/b188/maj...ms/P1000614.jpg
http/i19.photobucket.com/albums/b188/maj...s/P10006152.jpg

This tank has been running for about 6 months. I had a pearl gourami who recently died of the same kind of bloatyness, although a lot quicker (3-4 days) The betta has been bloated for nearly 2 weeks now.
Filter is a Fluval Plus 3, I'm not sure how many gals/hour it filters though.

I've tried not feeding them for a few days (twice) but it's either not changed in size or got bigger. I don't what to not feed him for too long because of the other fish in the tank. The bulge looks kind of transparent towards the bottom of it (can see the light through it a bit when he's at a certain angle) like a blister almost.
I have various tank treatments that I could try from when I had goldfish, and also have epsom salt, but I haven't treated him at all besides not feeding him. I think I need help as it's not getting better, and I'm new to tropical fish keeping.

 

[chrisrm]

how often were you feeding him before hand?

 

[Majica8]

Once every 1-2 days.

 

[loraxchick]

welcome to the forum.
could you answer some other questions
have you seen him poo at all? what did it look like?
any change in behavior at all (ie listlessness, loss of interest in food, change of color etc.)
does he have trouble maintaining balance in the water when he swims?
what are you feeding him. i see you feed him every 1-2 days (or did you mean 1-2 times a day?)

that is some serious bloat!! for starters i would cook up a few peas, pop them out of hte shell and chop them up. feed them to the fish making sure the betta gets more than his fair share-may need to section him off somehow to one side of the tank just to make sure he eats a bunch of it(all your fish will probably go crazy for peas. especially the betta). then dont feed them again for 2 days. see if that helps at ALL. keep an eye out for his poo(seriously). make sure it isnt long, white and stringy. holding a mirror up to the glass to make him flare sometimes stimulates them to poop. i know youve tried starving him, but give the pea a try and see if it helps. bettas are quite prone to constipation and it is good practice to feed a pea once a week or so.

im a bit suspicious tho. that is a VERY bloated little guy. keep your eye out for anything unusual in the anus area. worms, red and inflamed, white stringy poo.

second option might be an epsom salt bath. mix 1 tbsp/gal of water and plop the fish in for up to 30 mins 1X/day. this helps draw fluid out of the body if i nfact that is what is going on and NOT constipation.

if these all fail or if there is something strange about his poo (stringy/white/slimy) then he probably has internal parasites and needs to be medicated.

best of luck and keep us updated!!!
cheers

 

[Majica8]

I hadn't noticed any poo until last night, although it was very thin/stringy and white/yellow, and not very much.
No loss of interest in food. He's possibly slightly less virbrant colorwise than he was a few weeks ago, it's not much though. He does spend quite a lot of time sitting/floating around not moving much. He has spent all of today sitting on the bottom of the tank and has only just started swimming around. He doesn't seem to have much trouble keeping balanced, and swims normally when he does. I think his balance might be getting worse though.

I meant that I feed them once every 1 or 2 days (e.g. I'll feed them Monday night, then Weds morning.) So about 36 hours between feeds usually. Sometimes it is every 24 hours. I fed them last night, but that was the first time in probably 3-4 days, and the same again before that (so 2 feeds in 7-8 days) I feed him flake food. I do have some frozen food though if that would be better for him. I have bloodworn, brine shrimp and something else (I can't remember what, been a while since I used it)

I'll try feeding him peas, I should be able to seperate him enough to make sure he's eating them.

 

[pippoodle]

can you try and take a flaring and full side on picture please

 

[Majica8]

Managed to get side on picture but that's all. He hides a lot at the moment.
Bloating is possibly very slightly less this morning. I'll try again with the peas in 2 days.

Picture: http/i19.photobucket.com/albums/b188/maj...ms/P1000621.jpg

 

[WILDER]

Epson salt baths to help draw the fluids out.
Bacterial med in issolation.
What does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet.
Can you see any lumps in the bloated area.
is the anus enlarged or red and inflamed.
Feed some peas and frozen daphnia to flush the fish throw.
Get water tested.

 

[Majica8]

Hi guys,
No real change in him after a week. Not any more bloated I don't think but certainly not any less. Fed him peas twice but I don't think he ate many (if any) 2nd time. I've just put some flake food in for the others and he's eaten some of that. Possibly not good for him but it's very difficult for me to seperate him completely...I don't want to risk losing the others cause I'm not feeding them enough though.
Water params are still normal. It's possible that a few scales are very slightly sticking up. I can't tell properly cause it's not many, not very much, and possibly just down to him being so bloated.

What should be the next step? Epsom salt baths or treatment for dropsy/other possible illness?

 

[llamalord305]

Killing fish by not feeding them could take a long time, up to a 2 weeks. So don't worry.
Dropsy can look like this, and if it is, I'm afraid you can't do much. I think some meds treat it, but very few have had success (Me being one of them. =( )

Good luck.

 

[loraxchick]

you said you have frozen brine shrimp? fee him that for a few feedings in a row. they act just like peas in that they have a high "fiber" content. the little shells on the brineshrimp act as fiber as are indigestible and help to push food thru the system. if hes not too interested in peas, maybe he will like to eat the brine shrimp more readily. just a thought.
i wouldnt worry TOO much about "a few scales" looking pineconed as he is very fat! this would make some of the scaling appear raised. when a fish pinecones from dropsy, it is very obvious!
all the best. give those brine shrimp a try!
let us know how he gets on
cheers