Help! Betta Fish Lying On Side At Top Of Tank!

[georgi611]

So, my boyfriend and I went on vacation 2 weeks ago. We brought my betta to his sister's house so she could feed him while we were gone. We emptied a little water out of the tank and drove over to her house (it was about a 10 minute drive not even). Once we got there, we cleaned the tank and added more water. We noticed he was kind of tipping on it's side, and I had never seen him do that before! We figured maybe he needed a little time to adjust and get settled after the car ride. Well, we have since come home from vacation and picked up the fish, and he's still doing it.

I cleaned the tank again, put a pinch of aquarium salt in there, have put the fish on a 3 day fast and am giving him a pea tonight to see if it's because he's kind of bloated.

I don't know what else to do! I put some betta fix in there to see if that would help. He's still on his side!

Anybody have any idea what could be wrong?

I've had the betta for a year and a few months now. He's in a nice tank with an air filter, so he's getting bubbles and such.

What more can I do? I feel horrible and it scares the crap out of me to see the fish lying on it's side at the top of the tank! As soon as I go over to the tank, though, he swims around, but when I move away, he goes back to floating on his side.

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
Although not much help, but lying to one side can sometimes indicate a swimbladder problem. If no one can advise here, give it a while though, put it in the fish emergency section.

Best if you have all your tank details - size, filter, temp, and water stats

 

[bronzecat]

Hi me again
Just been looking through some other threads. Laying on its side could be bacterial or parasite problem, but being at the top of the tank could be swimbladder See how the pea goes. Does he look pale or darker than normal??

 

[devon_charm]

ounds like swim bladder to me. What you are doing so far is right, th you may need toget some swim bladder treatment if he doesn't improve in the next 24 hours.

best of luck with it and keep us posted

 

[georgi611]

He doesn't look any more pale than he already did (his coloring was that way when I got him).

I tried the pea thing, and the pea mush sunk before he could eat it.

I gave a bloodworm just because I've been fasting him for 3 days and know he is probably hungry. He snarfed it!

Other than the floating on the top, he's acting the same. He gets all excited when I walk over to the tank and run my fingers on the glass. The only thing different that he is doing is just tipping sideways. I don't want him to be in pain or anything. I feel horrible.

 

[bronzecat]

HI
I personally wouldn't give him anything else for a few days. It could make it worse if it is swimbladder. Dont worry about him starving cus they can actually go over a week without food! I'd try and get a small piece of pea to float or have it stuck on your finger

 

[devon_charm]

you do need to try and get some pea in him if you can and as Bronze said don't feed him any thing else for a few days