Sick Female Betta

[LvBettas]

I have a female betta that has been extremely swollen for about a month now. First I tried fasting her and then fed her peas after a few days. I tried this twice. She just seemed to swell bigger. Then I thought perhaps some internal parasites and treated her with PraziPro. She got bigger. Then I used Maracyn Plus thinking she may have had some sort of bacterial infection, but still no help. She looks like she has swallowed a marble now and it is starting to affect her balance when she swims. She is a cambodian female and the bulge is a light peach color. Sorry, no camera, so I can't take a picture. It looks like she is filled with fluid. I have been expecting her to pinecone any day now, but so far no pineconing. I'm sure it's just a matter of time the way she is swollen, but I'm hoping someone may have some idea of another treatment I can try on her before it is too late.

She is in a 2 1/2 gallon hospital tank, heated to 76 degrees with an airstone. I do 100% water changes weekly. I have Indian Almond Leaf in her tank, and I added 1/8 th of a teaspoon of Epsom Salts to try to draw out some of the swelling, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[K.J.]

I have a female betta that has been extremely swollen for about a month now. First I tried fasting her and then fed her peas after a few days. I tried this twice. She just seemed to swell bigger. Then I thought perhaps some internal parasites and treated her with PraziPro. She got bigger. Then I used Maracyn Plus thinking she may have had some sort of bacterial infection, but still no help. She looks like she has swallowed a marble now and it is starting to affect her balance when she swims. She is a cambodian female and the bulge is a light peach color. Sorry, no camera, so I can't take a picture. It looks like she is filled with fluid. I have been expecting her to pinecone any day now, but so far no pineconing. I'm sure it's just a matter of time the way she is swollen, but I'm hoping someone may have some idea of another treatment I can try on her before it is too late.

She is in a 2 1/2 gallon hospital tank, heated to 76 degrees with an airstone. I do 100% water changes weekly. I have Indian Almond Leaf in her tank, and I added 1/8 th of a teaspoon of Epsom Salts to try to draw out some of the swelling, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

She could have swim bladder if you say it's affecting her balance - look for upside-down or sideways swimming. Then again, she could have eggs - any males around? What do you feed her? Or a tumor, although I have no experiance with this and I'm not sure of the symptoms.

 

[LvBettas]

Thanks for your reply, but I've already ruled all those things out. I'm sure her swimbladder is being affected by the swelling, but the balance problem has only started recently as the swelling has increased. She was swelling for several weeks before she started having balance problems.

I've had a betta with tumors before, and they didn't look like this. They are lumpy and are not uniform on either side of the body the way this is.

I've also ruled out her being eggbound. The location of this swelling is more to the front of her body than when they are eggy when it is more located above the ovipositor.

As for feeding, she gets Hikari pellets three or four times a week, on the other days she gets frozen foods such as bloodworms, daphina, brine shrimp and peas, each of them once each week. I do not feed any freeze-dried or live foods.

I do appreciate your response and if you think of anything else, please let me know. I started her on some tetracycline last night. It's a pretty strong med and I only use it as a last resort, but at the rate she is swelling, I don't think she has much longer anyway. She's a little fighter though, so I want to try everything I can to save her. Thanks again.

 

[WILDER]

Any trialing poo behind her.
Also look at egg binding and constipation.

http/www.bobstropicalfish.com/constipation.html

 

[LvBettas]

I haven't seen any poo whatsoever from her in ages. That's why I tried the peas with her, but although she ate them, hungrily, I still haven't seen any poo. The link mentions cod liver oil. I will try that with her and see if that gets things moving. Thanks so much for your help.

 

[WILDER]

If you are not seeing any poo yes not a good sign, hope the cod liver oil helps, good luck.