lilswimmer

I fed my male betta a little less that 1/4 of a frozen pea a couple of hours ago. I just looked over at him and he's all bloated down by his anal fins andbehind his gills. What's wrong and what do I do

Wolfgang8810

you are supposed to thaw the pea for like 50 secconds in the microwave i think see what he looks like in the morning

ricktavious

Yeah, it needs to be thawed if you didn't. Just run it over some warm water for around a minute to make it nice and soft.

lilswimmer

I tried to post pics, but they were too big so I'll try again. I guess I didn't thaw it enough. Here' some before and after pics.

armadillo

Hi Lilswimmer. To be honest, the bloating doesn't seem that alarming to me, but the others might disagree. Really really really ill bettas would be desperately more bloated. My opinion (hope am right) is indeed that the pea didn't agree with him, and that once it is thawed, he will pass it.

One more thing, though. I only give mine 1/8 of a pea or something. A really tiny amount. Did you perhaps feed him too much? If so not a big deal, he'll eventually digest it, but in general not a good idea to overfeed a betta, as they get constipation problems.

Phloxface

I use one pea for all 10 of my Bettas and still have a little left. He just ate too much. His belly will go down when he digests. I microwave the pea for 30 seconds before feeding.

lilswimmer

Beethoven is doing better this morning. His stomach has reduced it's size by about a half. *whew* Next time I'll microwave the pea for longer and give him a smaller amount. This is my first betta and I really am trying to give him the very best life possible, but beginners make mistakes. They also freak out more when they make them. Thanks for all your help!

armadillo

he he he. Don't worry about it. Really glad it was a false alert. You do right to be watchful, you know. These things are better taken early.

ricktavious

The rule of thumb that I've heard for the size of a pea to feed, is make the piece the size of one of his eyes. Glad to hear it's going better with the fella, good luck

lilswimmer

Thanks all! He's back to normal...that little booger!

Wolfgang8810

im glad hope he stay happy

lilswimmer

As it turns out the little guy got bloated on my otos algae wafers. After putting a wafer in the tank recently, I walked away for a bit. When I came back he was all bloated. My otos can live on the algae in the tank so I'll just save the wafers for a rainy day!

COBettaCouple

our bettas did that too, which LED to us having to find a new home for the corys (no algae in the tanks for them). silly fish, they just love to eat what they're not supposed to!

armadillo

Ah well that's good to know as a precaution to other people mixing otos and bettas. So you've only got cucumber to give them, hey. (can we assume your betta won't gobble up the cucumber, Miley?)

phlox

I stopped trying to feed algae wafers to my Oto too. My Betta, LP, kept getting them first and eating all of it and getting bloated. There is not enough algae for the Oto all the time so now I give him slices of cucumber and zuchinni. Just remember to remove it after 24 hours and put in fresh slice if you need to. Bettas try to nibble the veggies but can't really do anything more. Mostly LP just lays on the slice. The Oto loves to eat it though.

lilswimmer

Yeah, I guess my little otos will have to live with cucumbers. Poor things...they're so mistreated.

armadillo

Well I plant mini pellets in my cucubmers (with a toothpick), and some bits of garlic. Am sure that would go down a treat with them, and vary their diet somewhat (apparently, they do need some proteins).

fry friend

i feed my fish a combination of grated friuts and vegies cooked with a bit of oatmeal and then freeze tiny portions. i take a portion out and let it defrost then feed them...my fish go crazy for it!! only give it once or twice a week.