# What is wrong with my betta?



## taz81 (Jul 13, 2009)

He's got this bloated look going, like he's carrying a sack of who knows what just at his front lower fins. I don't remember seeing it before today, but I'm not the observant type so who knows. What I have noticed though is that he is acting more aggressive to the other fish, chasing them off and whatnot, no maiming though. Any ideas anyone?


----------



## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

check his appetite. is he eating well?
could be bloat. watch out for the pinecone effect.

the whole hyperaggressive thing might just be a phase characteristic and not necessarily related to the bloating.


----------



## taz81 (Jul 13, 2009)

Is "bloat" a disease or what? What do I do? I usually only feed once a day, when I turn on the lights, and he knows to come up for food...otherwise its sorta hard to get his attention...:\


----------



## Riverboa (Jun 26, 2007)

I used to keep a lot of bettas, from my experience it looks like your betta is constipated. Constipation itself is not a disease, however as indicated by amphirion, if not treated it could lead to other diseases that are deadly.

Treatment is relatively simple, stop feeding the food that you have been giving the betta. Boiled some pea (remove the shell) and feed this to the betta - this should help with the constipation. Keep this up until the bloating disappear.

Here are some sites that have more information. 
http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/constipation.php
http://bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=930

Good luck and keep us updated on your betta.


----------



## taz81 (Jul 13, 2009)

Well I fed my tank some bloodworms a few hours before I noticed the bloating issue. But I didn't seem him eat any of them except maybe one. The rainbows kinda did their spazzy thing and zoomed all over the tank to eat them up, until I added some while their backs were turned and most made it down. But even then the betta only half looked at them, and went after maybe one. Today he is looking a litle better i think...that or its just me being hopeful.


----------



## mayanjungledog (May 25, 2009)

Hi taz81,
I had a similar situation with a 3+ year old female betta a few months ago. She all of a sudden appeared really bloated and I thought she was constipated too. I restricted food for a few days, then started the pea thing for another few days. That didn't help. I started her on some antibiotics (prescribed by a veterinarian) - enrofloxacin injections and metronidazole in the water. A sample was obtained from her belly and submitted to a lab for analysis. The final diagnosis was ascites, or her belly was filled with fluid presumably from organ failure (liver and/or kidney). We were able to keep her alive and happy for about 3 weeks after the diagnosis by removing fluid from her belly 2-3 times per week.
I hope your guy is not as bad as my girl was. I would definitely try the pea method. I took a frozen pea, pealed the skin off and chopped the two halves into fourths. I ran it under hot water from the tap, then fed it by hand. Good luck.


----------



## jaidexl (Jan 20, 2007)

The problem with Bettas is the physiology and anatomy of their digestive system. Their entire gut is smashed up behind the gill plate the way a person with dwarfism has their rib cage packed up into their neck, it isn't hard to accidentally overfeed them and get this result. A good rule of thumb is to remember their stomach is the size of their eye, and they should get no more than that at feeding time, once a day. It's also a good idea to fast them one day a week, as in don't feed at all, and set one day a week strictly for blanched peas as Riverboa stated, they're like fish laxative. Aside from possibly helping the current situation, it can also help avoid it happening twice if it's a permanent part of his weekly diet. Some Bettas have a way of continuously becoming constipated no matter how hard you try and control it.

I'm not surprised after you said you fed bloodworms, they will eat as many as they can and don't know when to stop. Better to target feed them one worm or only a portion of one. This is the main problem I've had with keeping them in a community, and why I don't bother anymore.

Mayanjungledog, sounds like your fish had dropsy, it isn't a disease in it's own but always has an underlying cause, usually kidney related. If that ever happens again, try Kanamycin, it's the only med I've ever successfully cured dropsy and severe pineconing with. I soaked some Betta Gold in it and administered it in the food and also in the water column. Can't say what was they underlying issue, kidneys, bacterial or whatever, but swelling and pineconing like in that particular case is usually a sure bet the fish won't make it.


----------



## taz81 (Jul 13, 2009)

That seems like a silly adaptation!  Thankfully my rainbows are fast and even push my betta outta the way so i can still feed on a community level...aparently not bloodworms though...
although I gave them a ton of those because by the time they got home some were already melted and i just wanted to get it out of the opening of the bag. 
My betta is back to looking normal though!!!! YAY Mr. Betta! 

I got really freaked out though because the day after I took him out of the community tank, the other tank mates started acting crazy. The rainbows turned deeep deeeep colors, and the otos started bumping into things. But now they're all acting ok...so i dun know.


----------



## tranr (May 20, 2009)

jaidexl said:


> The problem with Bettas is the physiology and anatomy of their digestive system. Their entire gut is smashed up behind the gill plate the way a person with dwarfism has their rib cage packed up into their neck, it isn't hard to accidentally overfeed them and get this result. A good rule of thumb is to remember their stomach is the size of their eye, and they should get no more than that at feeding time, once a day. It's also a good idea to fast them one day a week, as in don't feed at all, and set one day a week strictly for blanched peas as Riverboa stated, they're like fish laxative. Aside from possibly helping the current situation, it can also help avoid it happening twice if it's a permanent part of his weekly diet. Some Bettas have a way of continuously becoming constipated no matter how hard you try and control it.


Thanks for the great information on betta physiology and anatomy, jaidexl! I have grown up with bettas, but never experienced this constipation problem. It's good to know what measures to take for when it does happen, and the reasons behind them.


----------



## taz81 (Jul 13, 2009)

Well now i'm confused. He's getting a bit more bloated again, but I haven't fed him ANYTHING. wtheck?


----------



## jaidexl (Jan 20, 2007)

Are there any livebearers or other possible baby factories in the tank? I had an issue with Betta + Endlers once, He left the babies alone for the first few weeks, then they all disappeared and the Betta looked like a basketball. If it isn't constipation from eating something then he may have an infection. 

I'd quarantine him and keep feeding shelled peas in hopes that it goes away and isn't something that needs to be medicated. Then if he gets better for a few weeks then goes back in the main tank and becomes bloated, it's more probable there's something in the tank causing this. Then you'll be like me and never want put a Betta in a community again. :doubt:


----------



## taz81 (Jul 13, 2009)

*sigh* no...no baby factories. No livebearers whatsoever. Only otos, boesemani rainbows, and honey gourami


----------



## jaidexl (Jan 20, 2007)

Well here's hoping it's just a stubborn case of constipation. I'd have Kanamycin on hand or at least Maracyn and Maracyn 2, just in case.

Have you been able to see if anything's leaving his "exhaust"?


----------



## mayanjungledog (May 25, 2009)

Mayanjungledog, sounds like your fish had dropsy, it isn't a disease in it's own but always has an underlying cause, usually kidney related. If that ever happens again, try Kanamycin, it's the only med I've ever successfully cured dropsy and severe pineconing with. I soaked some Betta Gold in it and administered it in the food and also in the water column. Can't say what was they underlying issue, kidneys, bacterial or whatever, but swelling and pineconing like in that particular case is usually a sure bet the fish won't make it.[/QUOTE]

My fish definitely did have dropsy. The pinecone effect of the scales were prevented by the belly taps 2-3 times per week. I thought about using kanamycin, but ultimately in this case, it wouldn't have mattered. A necropsy was performed after my fish died and there was a tumor in the coelomic cavity. What dosage of kanamycin do you use?


----------



## jaidexl (Jan 20, 2007)

Not sure of the actual dosage, just did whatever is stated on the bottle (supplied by flguppieplus). They're capsuled powder measured for one daily dose in ten gallons. I had to divide them into tenths for use in a 1gl hospital, 5 or 10 day treatment, can't remember. I'd have to find the bottle to be sure, I don't think there was any in depth info about the concentration or anything, they're a small time place that uses a cheap printed label stuck onto a pill bottle. It did include easy food prep instructions, though.


----------



## jaidexl (Jan 20, 2007)

Well, from their website I get the impression it's 150mg per 10gl. 

http://store.fastcommerce.com/flguppiesplus/cat-ff808081176dde4c01176ff883a54126.html


----------



## mayanjungledog (May 25, 2009)

Thank you. Good to know for future reference.


----------

