Bloated Betta

[Mammabe]

Hello,
 
I have a betta emergency and need help. 
 
I have a blue betta, I will try to include a picture.  Over the last week, I noticed him laying on the bottom alot... when I would go over to see him, he would swim up to greet me as always and swm around and eat but would soon after allow himself to sink to the bottom and just lay there.....  I noticed that his stomach started to look bloated so I thought he might be blocked up so I gave him some skinned peas for the past 3 days but it has not helped.  Perhaps that is not the problem.  Last night he seemed even more bloated, his stomach looked bulging!, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
 
He is 3 years old, in a 10 gallon, heated and filtered - he has been in the 10 gallon for 3 years... I do 50% water changes every month... for 3 years he has been strong and healthy.  I feed him a mix of betta pellets, blood worms and betta flakes... I am at my wits end!
 
I hope someone can help! 
 
Thanks,
 
Be
 
I was not able to attach a pic - the pic is too large and I don't know how to edit the size. 

 

[RCA]

Epsom salts can sometimes help in an emergency, however, I used these years ago as a bath solution for a bloated Betta and do not know what the current thinking is on this - anyone?
 
Did he eat the peas, and if so how much?  Were the peas cooked or blanched at all?  I would suggest stop feeding him.  Not sure if there is a chance he could have worms?  I recently had an Otto bloat suddenly after a year, it was believed by the LFS by the pictures I took that it was worms.
 
Also, although he has done well with your routine, at 3 years of age, water changes are generally better, little and often than large quantities less often.
 
Do you normally soak his dried food before feeding?  Bettas are prone to this and especially more so I think as they get older.  I soak my fishes food in Garlic juice, just bought the Seachem product.  Apparently Garlic is good for them too.
 
Do you have PAINT in your applications?  Load the picture in there and reduce to 20% its size.
 
I have to dash out now, but hopefully you will get further advice.  Good Luck with him.

 

[Wildbetta]

I would fast him for a minimum of 3 days to see if that does any good.  Fasting is always my first recommendation when dealing with a bloated betta since they are so easy to bloat up and most of the time fasting is enough to fix the issue. 
 
I agree with RCA -- I would start doing smaller more frequent water changes.  25% or so once a week on a tank that size is sufficent and will work better for your betta.
 
Even though a lot of bettas can live up past 5 yrs if given optimum care, having one reach 3 is a milestone and he should be considered an older betta.  With an older betta be aware that you will start seeing things that is just signs that the betta is getting older and there is nothing much you can do except make sure that you are giving them the best care possible.  I second soaking the food for your betta as it helps cut down on some bloating.  I recommend cutting out the flakes and sticking to pellets only as flakes are known to also cause bloating. 
 
As for the epsom salt bath -- I only recommend it if you see your betta is starting to "pinecone" (his scales start sticking up and out like a pinecone) or if you know the bloating is caused by some kind of fluid build-up otherwise the salt bath really won't help any at all.
RCA -- as far as I know this is still an accepted and recommended way to battle fluid build-up.

 

[RCA]

I would fast him for a minimum of 3 days to see if that does any good.  Fasting is always my first recommendation when dealing with a bloated betta since they are so easy to bloat up and most of the time fasting is enough to fix the issue. 
 
I agree with RCA -- I would start doing smaller more frequent water changes.  25% or so once a week on a tank that size is sufficent and will work better for your betta.
 
Even though a lot of bettas can live up past 5 yrs if given optimum care, having one reach 3 is a milestone and he should be considered an older betta.  With an older betta be aware that you will start seeing things that is just signs that the betta is getting older and there is nothing much you can do except make sure that you are giving them the best care possible. ...[deleted text].
 
As for the epsom salt bath -- I only recommend it if you see your betta is starting to "pinecone" (his scales start sticking up and out like a pinecone) or if you know the bloating is caused by some kind of fluid build-up otherwise the salt bath really won't help any at all.
RCA -- as far as I know this is still an accepted and recommended way to battle fluid build-up.

 
Thanks Wildbetta, good to know.
 
I agree with Wildbetta ala the pellets vs flake.  Can you get him any live mosquito larvae (glass worm) for when he is feeling better?  They

these.
 
Mammabe, my oldest Betta is now between three and four years of age, so there can be many challenges with them as they age.  Do you use Indian Almond Leaves?  I would highly recommend them for your boy.  Also, check out my post on another product I am getting for my older boy http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/416131-betta-spa/
I have had trouble getting hold of it but the Ocean Nutrition rep is sorting it for me, I think it is generally easier to get hold of in the US?
 
Good Luck with him.

 

[4064123]

it may be dropsy you can treat this with drops you can find at the pet store

 

[Wildbetta]

As far as I am aware there are no such drops that cure dropsy.  I also don't really see how there could ever really be since dropsy is a symptom of various things and not really a disease itself.  

 

[RCA]

As far as I am aware there are no such drops that cure dropsy.  I also don't really see how there could ever really be since dropsy is a symptom of various things and not really a disease itself.  

 
On the whole I agree with you Wildbetta as I have never managed to save a Betta or any other fish from Dropsy, although when I was loosing a female to dropsy I was advised there was a treatment that if you were quick enough may help.
 
I think it is probably too late now based on the date of this post - any updates Mammabe?
 
I believe the treatment my LFS offered and said their had been success with it was the Waterlife Disease Treatment 18.  Sadly though I lost the Betta as she was too far gone by the time I heard of this treatment, so myself have never tried it to say if it would work.  I think with anything as severe as Dropsy the sooner you try something the better chance of survival.
 
There was someone on the TFF some time ago who said they had cured dropsy a number of times, I did at the time ask if they would share more info., but as yet there has been no response.  I will see if I can find the post and link it in here, and we can maybe bump it.

 

[Wildbetta]

Curing dropsy wasn't exactly what I was meaning since it is curable.  Curing dropsy just is just as easy as knowing what caused it which is the hard part and normally by the time they "pinecone" it is far enough advanced that it makes it hard to cure.  I was disagreeing that you could just go to the LFS and get some drops to cure it right up.     Sorry if that caused any confusion.

 

[CoryLover95]

Sorry to hear about your betta.
RCA, I did try some Epsom Salts with my betta Comet, and they didn't do much good; however, nothing did much good for his bloating .
The top three on my mind right now are constipation, SBD, or dropsy.  It doesn't sound like SBD since the fish is lying on the bottom, and the peas didn't work for constipation.  Therefore the one left in my mind is dropsy.  However, there are lots of diseases with bloating as a symptom, they're just less common.  So don't give up hope yet 

 

[RCA]

Mammabee, how is your Betta these days?
 
CoryLover95 by SBD do you mean Swim Bladder Disease?  If so we need to notify them in the Acronym post as it is not underlining at present and advising people what is meant.  I therefore want to confirm before notification to the Admin

 

[HayzH]

I have lost a female Betta to bloated/pineconing. She was feeding well, and swimming around fine.. but just continued to get bigger.
I currently have 2 others that are starting to bloat also.i feed them pellets, and do a 50% WC every 2-3 weeks. 
From my experiences too they also have a white protruding spot (anal) it doesnt move  (like worms) and they dont act poorly at all.
The one i lost previously i examined (PM) and nothing abormal was found inside her. (i posted about her at the time she was bloated, to ask if if was possible for a platy to mate with a Betta as she looked Gravid)
No answers then.......none now....
I just hope these two dont go the same way! x

 

[CoryLover95]

Mammabee, how is your Betta these days?
 
CoryLover95 by SBD do you mean Swim Bladder Disease?  If so we need to notify them in the Acronym post as it is not underlining at present and advising people what is meant.  I therefore want to confirm before notification to the Admin

Yes, RCA, I did mean swim bladder disease sorry if I caused confusion!

 

[RCA]

Mammabee, how is your Betta these days?
 
CoryLover95 by SBD do you mean Swim Bladder Disease?  If so we need to notify them in the Acronym post as it is not underlining at present and advising people what is meant.  I therefore want to confirm before notification to the Admin

Yes, RCA, I did mean swim bladder disease

sorry if I caused confusion!

Thanks I will notify tcamos to add it to the list of mouse overs.
 
If you need to notify him of anything else the Acronyms post is here.

 

[Chad]

SBD

 

[CoryLover95]

SBD

 
 

 

Mammabee, how is your Betta these days?
 
CoryLover95 by SBD do you mean Swim Bladder Disease?  If so we need to notify them in the Acronym post as it is not underlining at present and advising people what is meant.  I therefore want to confirm before notification to the Admin

Yes, RCA, I did mean swim bladder disease

sorry if I caused confusion!

Thanks I will notify tcamos to add it to the list of mouse overs.
 
If you need to notify him of anything else the Acronyms post is here.

Thanks RCA, tcamos!