Big Betta Belly

[karebear812]

I've had my betta fish for almost six months now, and he's been fine ever since, but about a few weeks ago, we noticed that he was bloated, not eating, not going to the bathroom, and hanging around the bottom of the tank. His eyes looked black and swollen, and under his body he lost color. Instead of red, he was a white/gray color. We used the epsom salt, he went to the bathroom, and he is able to eat now, but his swollen stomach has not gone down - maybe a little, but not a lot. His swollen stomach has lasted so long, we can't figure out why it won't reduce back down to it's normal size, since he is going to the bathroom and seems fine. We've even fasted him for a few days too...nothing. He'll eat if you give him flakes, and he acts normal, except that he can't swim due to his large stomach, and still hides at the bottom of his tank. I've read all of the information about swim bladder disease (which I believe is what he has), epsom salt, the antibiotics, etc., but I can't find out the cause of why his swollen stomach won't go down - any ideas?? Thanks :)

We've also tried the frozen pea when he was constipated, and he wouldn't eat it!

[lg5000]

Ok, well.. I would have guessed constipation, but you've already treated him for that. From what I can read, you're not over-feeding him either, which is good. the fact that he's eating is really good... however.. I'm a bit concerned about the bloating.

Are his scales sticking out around the bloating? (I'm not gonna be online when you reply to this, so I'm just gonna write what might be happening) If they are, you're looking at dropsy, which is about as curable as cancer. (occasionally, one survives) What it means is that one of his internal organs has gotten damaged. You've already done everything that's recommended if your fish gets dropsy, the epsom salt being one of them. You could try that again, and... while i have no real experience with it myself, someone has mentioned that colloidal silver can cure dropsy. Watch the dosage though, fish are more sensitive than humans.

As long as he's eating, there is hope, once he stops eating, you'll notice he'll go downhill and at that point, putting him down might be the nicer option.

I hope he's not suffering from dropsy and that he gets well soon.. good luck

[karebear812]

Thanks, lg...but no, his scales aren't sticking out. It's just that his stomach is swollen...it looks as if he swallowed two marbles, and that one is sticking out on one side, and the other on the other side...it also looks like when a snake swallows a meal that you can see sticking out of its stomach (that's basically what it looks like). Do you think we should try tetracycline (I think that's the name) or something similiar to that?? I can tell he's not too too sick...he still tries to play when we come by his tank, but he can't because his stomach weighs him down. His eyes have a nice blue color, and he moves them around a lot. I think he just stays at the bottom of the tank because he stomach is forcing him too.

[Maddog]

tetracycline is a human antibiotic, are you thinking maybe maracyn? ive used maracyn 2 to treat my betta before for fin rot, it worked pretty well though i am not sure what else it can be used to treat.

[shev]

try the pea again, did you remove the shell of the pea? and make sure its not frozen when you feed it to him.

[karebear812]

Yeah, I think I was thinking of maracyn II, maddog. Shev, is the pea just for constipation though? He's going to the bathroom fine now. We're just concerned about getting rid of his big stomach! Why is it lasting so long when he's going to the bathroom and he can eat? Do you think it's most likely swim bladder disease?

[lg5000]

Maybe feed him less? Just put him on a diet for a week to see if it'll make a difference. Swimbladder problems are normally indicated by him hanging sideways at the top of the water (although, I've only seen that happen in two of my fry, straight after over-feeding them)

Tetracyclin is an antibiotic, and quite readily available at the petstores around here specifically for fish. It might be worth a try, but I would exhaust other options first, especially if he seems happy.

[karebear812]

Yeah, we are feeding him less. I heard brine shrimp can make his bloat worse, so we are feeding him these other colored flakes that he has. We're just waiting for his stomach to go down...

[Cottontail]

Have you tried using Fungus Clear (Jungle product)? If he is swimming on his side or upside down then he could have something called "swim bladder disease." Fungus Clear worked for my fish when he had bloat. You can find it at Wal-Mart.
Hope this helps.

Leah

[shev]

I think when a betta gets constipated, there is pressure placed on the swim baldder, by using peas as a laxative it cleans out their system. and relieves the pressures on the swim bladder.

[karebear812]

Thanks Cottontail, that was really helpful! I'll have to check out Wal-Mart. Shev, I'll have to try the pea again and see what happens. Thanks again, guys! :D