Swim Bladder Disorder?

[helwergles]

Hi, I have a male betta, also with a "bubble" on the side, like someone posted below.

I've had him for 5 months now and he's very active and cheerful, always swimming around his 20L tank (with filter and heating).

Once, in December, he started to swim sideways. I knew it could be swim bladder disease, treated him with epsom salt and he was fine the next day.

Everything was fine until last Monday. He once again had the same problem. I thought I might have accidentally overfed him, since his belly was huge. It was just after I fed him with the very same flakes he eats most of the times.

Ok, treated him again with epsom salt, he got better the next day. I changed 40% of the water, cleaned the tank and added some more epsom salt just to keep up with the treatment. I didn't feed him on Tuesday and fed him frozen brine shrimp on Wednesday.

Since he ate well and he was still on treatment, I didn't feed him yesterday (Thursday). He was fine until this morning, when I fed him just a couple Bettamin flakes. Really, like not even 10 little flakes. And there he is swimming sideways again!!!!

He's not 100% of the time laying sideways. He stands still a bit, sideways, then he starts swimming a bit tilted, than he rests a bit. His belly is HUGE right now. Too bad my camera is broken and I can't post a pic =(

All the water stats are fine and the temperture is about 28ºC.

Maybe the flakes are bad? Is there any other way of treating him?

Help me and my really happy guy!

Thanks,
Helena

 

[-FighterFishh]

Hi, I have a male betta, also with a "bubble" on the side, like someone posted below.

I've had him for 5 months now and he's very active and cheerful, always swimming around his 20L tank (with filter and heating).

Once, in December, he started to swim sideways. I knew it could be swim bladder disease, treated him with epsom salt and he was fine the next day.

Everything was fine until last Monday. He once again had the same problem. I thought I might have accidentally overfed him, since his belly was huge. It was just after I fed him with the very same flakes he eats most of the times.

Ok, treated him again with epsom salt, he got better the next day. I changed 40% of the water, cleaned the tank and added some more epsom salt just to keep up with the treatment. I didn't feed him on Tuesday and fed him frozen brine shrimp on Wednesday.

Since he ate well and he was still on treatment, I didn't feed him yesterday (Thursday). He was fine until this morning, when I fed him just a couple Bettamin flakes. Really, like not even 10 little flakes. And there he is swimming sideways again!!!!

He's not 100% of the time laying sideways. He stands still a bit, sideways, then he starts swimming a bit tilted, than he rests a bit. His belly is HUGE right now. Too bad my camera is broken and I can't post a pic =(

All the water stats are fine and the temperture is about 28ºC.

Maybe the flakes are bad? Is there any other way of treating him?

Help me and my really happy guy!

Thanks,
Helena

How are his scales around his bloated area? Are they sticking out like a pine cone or normal?

 

[helwergles]

Hi, Fighter, the scales are quite normal, i really don't think it's dropsy (thank god!)

I really wish I could post a pic. He's constipated alright, but how can it be with just 10 flakes - flakes he's always eaten since I've had him and never once rejected them When the first flake touched the water, he jumped on it! I'm puzzled =(

 

[lilfishie]

try him on some de-shelled tinned peas (non-salted ones) you will probably needs to cut it up or squash it, don't feed anything for a few days then feed pea again see if that helps

 

[-FighterFishh]

Hi, Fighter, the scales are quite normal, i really don't think it's dropsy (thank god!)

I really wish I could post a pic. He's constipated alright, but how can it be with just 10 flakes - flakes he's always eaten since I've had him and never once rejected them When the first flake touched the water, he jumped on it! I'm puzzled =(

Okay. Even if they aren't pine coned now, just keep an eye on it for good measure
Have you tried feeding him cooked chopped up peas to try and relieve his constipation? Make sure that they're small enough for him to eat easily though, as when I tried giving my female some she had a massive piece and nearly choked on it! Thankfully she was all right though

 

[helwergles]

Sometimes I do feed him peas - those ones that come in a tin. I think they're pre-cooked, so I don't cook them again. He loves them, really!

If he does get better, I will feed him peas tomorrow. And just in case I'll buy new flakes. Maybe these are rotten or somehting =(

And just for you to see how smart and active and healthy he is, when I feed him peas, I stick some small bits above the water line, just to play with him. He targets them, then swims from a distance, jumps and drops them in the water and eats them.

He's soooo smart and playful... i really hate to see him floating on the side like that. =(

 

[helwergles]

Ok, one question: is it possible that he swallowed too much air while eating?

Because, except on rare ocasions, he always starts his meal by jumping avidly and swallowing his flakes, sometimes even going above the water line, as he did today.

He's still lying there, a little lower already, but still floating high up =(

Cheers,
Helena

 

[loraxchick]

sometimes there is no cure for SB disorder. As long as he can eat and get to the surface should be no problem. You need to get the bloating under control tho (can cause a "flare up" like you are seeing. Epsom salt is the way to go along with the pea feeding and fasting. Flake is a fine diet so i wouldnt worry about that. Dont feed freezedried foods (like freezedried bloodworm for example). Just make sure he is pooping really. severe constipation can kill them and or cause irreparable damage (such as SB disorder).
lastly, dont panic if you do see the scales raising around only his belly while hes bloated. Very bloated fish can have pineconing in the tummy area simply from being so fat! (so dont jump to a dropsy conclusion right away if you see that happening).
cheers

 

[helwergles]

Thanks, loraxchick!

He's doing better today. He's no longer floating, his belly is much smaller and he's swimming a bit around - not as much as usual, but he's not just lying down all day, thank god!

I'll feed him peas later today, and I bought another kind of flakes just in case.

Something I noticed - maybe I'm just a bit paranoid - is that he spends most of his time a bit "tilted upwards", the head and chest mostly a bit higher than his tail. Maybe it's also because of the swim bladder thing? It doesn't stop him from swimming normally, but anyway, maybe there's something to it. =/

Really, guys, thanks for all the help =)

 

[loraxchick]

Glad hes doing better. The tilting may also just be from the weight of his tail if hes long finned, not necessarily from sb. Keep us posted
Cheers