The Puffer Forum

Tank & equipment : used 10-gallon with Aquaclear Mini (similar to AC 20) and submersible heater, all scrubbed and rinsed, disinfected with bleach and allowed to air out for 24 hours, and rinsed thoroughly before setup.

Occupants: 3 assorted platies and one male betta

Cycling: Added mature media from another fully cycled tank, as well as a bag of gravel from that tank and several plastic plants from cycled tanks.

Water Parameters: Ammonia O ppm, NitrIte 0ppm, NitrAte 2.5 ppm (EDITED) , pH 7.6

Water change schedule: has not been changed in those past two weeks. Normally I do once a week 50%, but finals and other things have gotten in the way.

Feeding schedule: once every other day (didn't want to overfeed and crash the tank), with thawed frozen bloodworm, mysis, or dry Hikari Beta Bio Gold pellets.

The problem: Betta Boy is swimming very awkwardly and looks fatter than usual. He cannot stay upright and ends up flailing on his side. He is always right at the top of the water, sometimes even with a small area of his back raised up above the surface of the water. Please help!

Thank you in advance,
Puff

Well, I looked around online and found some info on betta swim bladder disease. They said it is caused most often by constipation, and two of the prime culprits for constipation are dry pellets and blood worms. I've been feeding him very sparingly, so I'm not sure it's a constipation issue, but I'll fast him for three days and give him some cooked green pea to be safe. I fed him 3 pellets today before I read about the constipation problem. Hopefully they won't make things worse.

However, swim bladder disease can also be bacterial in origin. Should I add Melafix/Pimafix to the tank to be safe?

I would try the peas first. If he won't eat it, you can use epsom salt to treat for constipation. Big water changes daily, too.

I also just noticed that he has fin rot around the edges of his fins, too.

How old is he? Commercial betta are not bred for long lives(though some do live stunningly long, longest I've heard of is 8 years), many are sold at nearly a year old to have very heavy finnage, that leaves you with a year or two before they're likely to slow down and die, which often involves loss of appetite and balance.

We've had him nearly two years. He was heavily finned when my mom got him. I don't doubt he's elderly for a pet-shop betta, but I think that since he's still happy to eat, and doing his best to swim around, there's hope and I want to do what I can for him. He's always been such a happy-go-lucky fish.

I would have to agree with Nick, he's probably getting on in age. Average petstore bettas usually live 3-4 years at most. I bought a betta from an LFS when it was just a few weeks old and it had its full finnage when it was about 6 months old. I wouldn't say he's necessarily close to death, but probably is getting a little long in the tooth, so to speak.

Yeah, he's getting to be an old man betta. He's a sweetie, though, always very personable and interested in his surroundings. He felt well enough to thoroughly investigate the siphon today when I did a 50% PWC, shimmying circles around it.

Three days of fasting seems to have helped, but not cured, Betta Boy's swim bladder problem. He's still floating. He's gained back a lot of his rich blue color, though, and is no longer on his side very often, which I think is a big improvement. He can swim a few inches below the surface if he struggles. He is also more active today than he was three days ago. Should I continue fasting for a few more days and see what happens, should I try the Epsom salts, or should I dose with Mela/Pimafix? the paleness (probably stress) is gone from his fin edges, but they still do look a bit ragged. It doesn't look like fin rot as much any more, though. I'll keep an eye on it.

I was not able to get Betta Boy to eat the pea. It was a frozen pea that I cooked in the microwave, cooled, shelled, and squished into betta-bite-size pieces. He was interested, but he has always had trouble eating food that sinks quickly, as the bits of pea did. I tried holding it at the surface of the water with chopsticks, but he wouldn't go for it.