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.

 

[WILDER]

What do you normally feed the betta?
I would try some peas.
Have you seen the betta go the toilet, if so what does it look like.
I would add a bacterial med and increase aeration.

 

[georgi611]

What do you normally feed the betta?
I would try some peas.
Have you seen the betta go the toilet, if so what does it look like.
I would add a bacterial med and increase aeration.

I was feeding the betta pellets, but ran out and could not find the same ones in the store, so I bought new pellets that he wouldn't eat. The past few months I've been giving blood worms.

I'm going to try the pea tonight because I haven't fed him since Friday morning (I read that doing a fast before the pea sometimes helps if it's constipation).

He's swimming around more, but can't seem to stay still in a regular upright position. He just kind of slowly tips sideways again.

I will report back in a little bit after I give the pea.

And oh, I haven't seen the betta use the bathroom in a few days. When I cleaned his tank when we got back from vacation, I noticed it was actually pretty clean...not lots of poop in the bottom. Hmm.

and you said increase aeration? How do I do that? I have a pretty powerful airstone in there now. (Not super powerful, but it lets out lots of bubbles.)

 

[WILDER]

You turn filter flow up if you can, or run and airstone with pump.
To many dried foods and blood worms can cause bloating and constipation.
I would get some frozen daphnia thats very good a digesting a fish food.
Need a variety of frozen foods and veg in there diet.

 

[georgi611]

So I tried the pea thing...it didn't work! They sunk too fast before he could get them. I gave a bloodworm (because he doesnt like the pellets I have and it's the only thing he will eat...I don't want him to starve to death!) and he munched it right up (I had to help out with a clean chop stick...they kept getting away from him and he has a difficult time chasing after. I kept scooping it and putting it in front of him and he CHOWED down.)

What else should I do?!!! I didn't know peas sunk.

Gah. I feel horrible for him.

 

[WILDER]

Don't feed bloodworms when a fish has swim bladder.
Peas are the best.
Did you mush the peas into small peices.

 

[georgi611]

2 months later and my betta is still floating on her side at the top of the tank. Feeding is hard for her. I watch and she has lots of trouble turning around to get her food. She also has a bump on her face, right next to her left eye. It started off white, turned red, and is still red. I'm using betta fix, doing a water change every few days. I'm not sure what else to do, but she's still here 2 months later. Any suggestions on what is going on? I just don't want my little HAP to be in pain.

 

[WILDER]

The lump bacterial if its red.
Sadly she sounds in a bad way.
Have you seen her go to the toilet.