Betta With Swollen Belly

[JasonU]

My betta has had all kinds of health problems over the past two weeks.

He now has a swollen belly. He does not have any 'pine coning', I am hoping it is not dropsy.

I have tried feeding him peas in the hope that if he is constipated this will help. Problem is that he has lost his appetite, had a bit of the pea but it does not appear to have made any difference.

Other than that the the other thing that concerns me is that he is sitting about on the bottom of the tank almost constantly and has had very little to eat over the past 5 days.

I have attached a couple of pics.

 

[tom130691]

what do you feed him?
water stats ect?
and he could just be bloated and will go off food for a few days then be fine again

 

[JasonU]

what do you feed him?
water stats ect?
and he could just be bloated and will go off food for a few days then be fine again

It is a 35 litre tank, water temp is 27c.

The water test was:

pH 7
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0

I feed him a mix of frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp and a pea once week.

When he started getting ill two weeks ago it did correspond with me getting his live blood worms from a new supplier. When he got ill the second time, this monday, it was a day after I fed him the live blood worms. I immediately stopped givng them to him and went back to the frozen food.

 

[WILDER]

Don't over feed bloodworms they can make fish bloat up.
Only feed a few once a week.

Don't feed him anything for aday.
Only peas.

 

[JasonU]

His swollen belly is increasing in size. He is also know swimming at a 45 degree angle.

He has pretty much been sitting on a plant on all day at the top of the tank, he does occasionaly turn around.

I did a 50% water change an hour ago, since I did this he has been a bit more active but I think this is because he cannot get comfortable.

Any suggestions as to what it may be or how to treat it?

This is the best pic I can get of him.

 

[LongS]

Same is happening with my girlfriends fighter, I think we will treat with internal bacteria medicine soon.

 

[WILDER]

Epson salt baths to help draw the fluids out.
Bacterial med.

 

[JasonU]

It's a week now and he still isn't showing interest in eating and still has swollen belly. He has managed to get himself upright but just sits at the top of the tank on the leaves. Any suggestions?

 

[WILDER]

Have you tryed epson salts baths, and used a bacterial med?

 

[loraxchick]

get yourself some epsom salts right away! you can purchase epsom salts from any pharmacy or where they sell medicines. the active ingredients are magnesium sulfate. if he is alone in the tank, treat the tank by adding 1 tsp per gal. if you separate him, use tablespoon/gal up to 30 mins twice a day. give him up to 4 days without food(watch to make sure he poos). after up to 4 days with epsom salts and no food, if his belly is still swollen (honestly he dosent look bad in the photos) consider other factors. live foods/frozen are actually better than dry pellets//flake/freezedried.
my suggestionea, fast a day and see if it helps. next is 5 days epsom treatmet, if STILL no improvement time to consider bacterial/parasitic infection. in the meantime, watch for his poo. if stringy/white mucousy, let us know.
cheers

 

[JasonU]

I have used an anti-bacterial med. I am now trying epsom salts.

Was a nightmare getting hold of epsom salts. When I did find a chemist that found stocked it they found t funny that I was using it for treating a fish.

I take it I add this directly to the tank? It is a 35 litre tank, just over 7 gallons. I understand that US measurements are different to UK ones.

I understand that for this size of tank I should add about 1/2 tsp.

How often do I need to add this? It is just every time I do a water change?

His poos have been normal so far.

 

[WILDER]

Here a link to salt for you.

http/www.fishjunkies.com/Treatments/salt.php

Only water changes removes salt.

 

[JasonU]

Still no change and very concerned he hasn't eaten in a long time as even when he was really ill a year ago he still managed to eat.

 

[WILDER]

Soak his food in garlic juice to stimulate appetite.
Has the swelling reduced.

 

[JasonU]

Soak his food in garlic juice to stimulate appetite.
Has the swelling reduced.

think slightly but difficult to see. Will try garlic but showing no interest at all in food, which is not like him at all.