Does My Betta Have Diarrhea

[holger-manu]

Hello,
we have two Betta fishes in two separate tanks for a year now. Everything was very easy. We cleaned the tank weekly (sometimes we forgot and gave them fresh water and they were fine even after more than a week) and once when we were on vacation an older couple cared for them and after coming back from the vacation the water was still very clean (after more than two weeks). The fishes were always super active, healthy and beautiful. We do not feed them too much (three pellets once to twice a day) and they were doing very well.
On Christmas I thought it is time for some special treats for them and bought freeze dried worms. Then the problems began. The tank got dirty very easy and very fast. They seemed not to like the worms either, so I stopped feeding them regularly. But even after stopping to feed them the worms at all, they seem to have a problem. I asked in a fish store and they said that this can make the tank really dirty (leftover worms or even the poop from this). But now I did not feed them the worms for weeks, almost three month and they still spoil the tank extremly quickly. While I cleaned them today I kept them in their second and third bowl a little longer and saw that they do not poop regular poop anymore. The poop has the same color (brown) but is not these long strong curls it is super fine flakes. And it spoils a bowl in a matter of hours. Looks almost like diarrhea. What should I do ? I am worried, because my kids love the fishes so much. And I can not imagine being without them anymore as well.
As I said, I did not change any habits, but they have a problem with their poop and a really dirty tank in hours. Thanks for helping me !!!!!!!

 

[Katty]

I've never heard of a fish getting diarrhea before, but I guess anything is possible. You could try feeding the bettas a tiny piece of shelled, cooked pea. Put a frozen pea in a cup of water and microwave it for a few seconds, remove the shell, crush the inside or cut off a tiny piece, and after it cooks feed a little bit to the bettas. It adds fiber to their digestion, it might help.

Are their tanks filtered and cycled?

 

[holger-manu]

I've never heard of a fish getting diarrhea before, but I guess anything is possible. You could try feeding the bettas a tiny piece of shelled, cooked pea. Put a frozen pea in a cup of water and microwave it for a few seconds, remove the shell, crush the inside or cut off a tiny piece, and after it cooks feed a little bit to the bettas. It adds fiber to their digestion, it might help.

Are their tanks filtered and cycled?

Thanks you Katty, I will try that today. Their tank is still very clean today (no wonder I cleaned it yesterday and put them in the water just a half day ago) and I also found some regular poop in their tank.
The tank is just a big bowl and has no filter. I was told Betta do not like moving water and they would do good in that specific bowl. And as I said, they did very well for a year now and they are still very active, very excited when you go to the bowl and try to get in touch with them...
Since the bowls are standing next to each other they even seem to be friends (even if they just attempt to fight). And they also do bubble nests - all good signs I think.
But I did give them less to eat (kind of like with a sick person, when you stomach is upset, go on a diet). Again, thanks for the pea hint. And yes, I did read fish can get constipation and diarrhea.
Manuela