Now Lava is sick too. It looks like the same thing Phlox had. His swim bladder is infected and he is floating at the top, unable to stay at the bottom. (unlike Phlox who was a sinker and couldn't stay at the top) He tips sideways a little too. He has a lump on both sides of his body, down near his tail area. Is that where his swim bladder is or what organs if any are there? His belly is normal and as far as I can tell, he is not constipated. He is still eating and I've fed him pea last night for supper.
I did a 50% water change and started him on Maracyn 2 right away. I just hope I can save him. I couldn't bare it to lose another fish!
Really sorry to hear that Lava has taken ill. It seems that what you're doing (pea treats and M2) is a good approach to dealing with the problem. I thought the swim bladder was near the stomach area. But any swelling anywhere in the body will affect surrounding areas, and with Bettas not having much real estate to begin with, swelling in the tail area (depending on how far back) could be enough to affect the swim bladder.
Good morning....I am just catching up on the threads. I am sorry to hear you fish is sick too. I had no idea Bettas were plagued by so many things. Stay strong - there is so much help and support on this site. I hope Lava stays strong too and everything works out. Val
His belly looks bloated now too. It wasn't last night but has gotten a lot bigger. There are tiny baby pond snails in the tank and I am worried he may have eaten one. They are slightly smaller than his pellets. He won't be able to digest the snail shell and if he did eat one, it may kill him. I have given him some pea this monring and am going to fast him now for a few days.
I removed his bridge ornament for now because I am worried he will get stuck in there and drown. He keeps swimming down to it and going under it and then he floats and gets stuck under the bridge. If he is weak he may not have the strength to get out and he will drown. He's upset over losing his bridge and keeps looking for it but I can't take any chances now.
The SwimBladder in a betta is directly next to the stomach right behind the head area and to the bottom. When their swimbladder becomes affected they look like a little marble with a tail sometimes as it progresses. The swelling at the back on each side is I believe the kidneys. It sounds like he is getting a kidney infection if he has not been on meds. Sometimes when they have been on meds that area will swell due to the filtering of medications from their systems.
I know that Lava has not been on medications, I just threw that comment in for informations sake. I do hope that he did not eat a snail! The poor little guy must think he is being punished for something and mommy took the bridge away. I know how he is acting, Alexander lost his log because of the crack in it being sharp. He is still upset with me although he is doing okay in the new tank.
If fasting and peas does not help, the books say that Swimbladder Disorder is treated with increased heat and antibiotics. You may want to try raising his temperature a couple of degrees. The Manual on Fish Health suggested that warmer water would help to shrink the Swimbladder.
I do hope that he is okay. I will keep you both in my prayers.
I am sorry to hear now Lava is sick. I hope he can recover.
Hmmm...could medicated foods help with this? I don't know if his ailment is due to a bacterial infection or not, but if it is maybe something like this could help (I also happened to see this at Petsmart today)... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...pc=1&N=0&Nty=1
Oh Phloxface I am so sorry to hear that lava is sick now too. I hope that it isn't anything too serious and that he makes a quick recovery.Lava, Royell and I are routing for you to make a full recovery. Natalie
If fasting and peas does not help, the books say that Swimbladder Disorder is treated with increased heat and antibiotics. You may want to try raising his temperature a couple of degrees. The Manual on Fish Health suggested that warmer water would help to shrink the Swimbladder.
I do hope that he is okay. I will keep you both in my prayers.
Rose
His temp has been at 86 degrees pretty much consistently for weeks. I don't think it would be safe to raise it any higher. He is on Maracyn 2 since this morning. No change in the swimbladder problem but his belly has gone right down and is normal. He seems in good spirits and swims right over every time I come to look at him. He even played in the filter current for a few minutes but I told him to stop as he is having enough trouble balancing. He's still looking for his bridge. Poor guy. I wish I could make him understand that he will get his beloved bridge back when he is well. All I can do now is hope the antibiotics will take care of his kidney infection and swimbladder.
Here is a pic I found online that looks exactly like the swelling Lava has. The red arrow is pointing to the spot. The swelling is symetrical (same on both sides). The site seems to claim this type of lump is not dangerous. It doesn't say what it is though...
This is the site I found it on: http://www.fishjunkies.com/Disorders/lumps.php God, those poor fish!
Blaze has the exact same thing and gets it whenever he is medicated. That is what LED me to believe that it had something to do with the filtration of medication throughout their system. I asked my vet friend and he also said that it is not a lifethreatening or serious condition. Didn't get much else...I am sorry.
I am glad to hear that his little belly went down and he is doing that much better anyway.
No I would not put the temperature higher, in fact you may have to bring it down. I do not know if they can handle that temp for as long a time as you say he has been in it. (Two weeks is the longest I have heard of keeping it up)
I wonder if the high heat was making him sick? I think his heater was malfunctioning. I kept turning it down but the temp just wouldn't get below 86 and if I had the light on it would heat it up to 88! I went out this afternoon and bought him the same heater I have in the 5.5 gallon tank that Noelle is in. It's made by All Glass Aquarium and has the temp settings. It's the same quality as the VisiTherm and has a lifetime warranty. That should help keep his temp steady. I got his temp down to 82F and now he's a lot more lively. He's still having trouble staying at the bottom and floats to the top but he keeps trying and seems a little better anyways. Hopefully he continues to improve on the meds and start to swim normally again.
Good to see you found the potential problem with Lava and were able to do something about it. Hope Lava gets better quick, we've got too many sick fish on the board.
Lava is doing a lot better today. I caught him several times at the bottom of the tank resting. That means his swim bladder is starting to work normally again. He still spends a lot of time floating at the top but he definately seems to be getting better.
I just glanced over to him as I'm writing this and he's at the bottom wiggling and showing me that he can control his swim bladder. He's looking at his bridge (I took it out because I was afraid he'd get stuck under it) and wiggling. I told him if he's still okay in two days I will put it back. I think he's trying hard to convince me that he's all better. He's swimming around mid-tank and looking longingly at the empty spot where his bridge usually is. He's quite a bit more energetic so I'm relieved. The Maracyn 2 seems to be working. He's got two more days on it. I think I caught this one in time.
Lava is finished his course of Maracyn 2 and is feeling MUCH better! His swimming is back to normal so his swim bladder was not permanently damaged, and he is feeling very feisty. He's been flaring at me and nipping me and attacking his food like a shark! This morning he's been trying to make a bubble nest but the filter current keeps blowing it away. He's got his bridge back and is very happy to see it. He swam right down to inspect every inch of it and then hid underneath.
Thankfully this time I was able to save him. I just couldn't bare to lose him after losing Phlox. I think the trick is to be very aware of your fish's behaviour. Anything out of the ordinary probably indicates an internal infection and should be treated asap for the best chance of survival. Never assume your fish is just lazy or tired if he suddenly seems to sleep a lot more. It usually means they are coming down with something and the sooner you deal with it the better.
I made the mistake of thinking Phlox was just trying to be cute when he was swimming oddly on the bottom of the tank. I waited too long to treat him and it cost him his life.
Glad to hear that Lava is better! I am glad to hear that he has gotten his beloved bridge back, too. It is funny the things they do to communicate their wishes to us.
Lava continues to improve. This morning he was frisky as a pup! I've never seen him so crazy! I watched and played with him for two hours. He was just so silly chasing my finger back and forth across the tank and zooming around almost as fast as my Krazy Karma! He just couldn't get enough attention and I was just so happy to see him all better I gave him all he wanted. He doesn't seem to know how to swim slowly anymore. He zips around like crazy and blows bubbles at me. He was even up to his old tricks this morning trying to get more food. I give him his pellet and he snaps it up quickly and holds it in his mouth without chewing and looks at me confused like "where did you drop my pellet?". I looked around to see if it was floating somewhere and then said to him "Lava! You're hiding it in your mouth aren't you?". He shakes his head like "Aw darn!" and then chews his pellet. Aenara used to do the same thing to me. It took me a while to get wise to that trick! Clever little buggers aren't they?
I think this is a con to get more from you and yes they are a clever little bunch. It is cute and clever and they can get by with it if you are not watching. Good catch!!! He sounds like he is back to normal. It is so great.
8) I am so happy to hear that Lava is back to normal. He sounds like he is so much fun to play with. Bettas are adorable and a lot more intelligent than I thought a fish could be. My four are always trying to tell me they are starving. LOL It's a good thing we know better than to overfeed.
He hasn't tried the food trick again but he's back to having spoiled tantrums. I bought him a nice big Oriental Sword plant for his tank. While I was putting it in he was swimming around my hand getting in the way and he accidently got slapped with a big leaf. He swam to the bottom and started huffing and puffing his gills, staring straight ahead and not responding to me for about ten minutes. That's his version of a tantrum I guess. After he got over it he examined the plant and discovered he could rest on the big leaves on top like a frog on a lilypad. He decided he liked the plant and he kissed it all over. That's his way of saying "I approve of this. It can stay".
Whisper also got a Bacopa plant for her tank. Her plant had to be thrown out because of an algae problem. She LOVES the plant. She burrows into the middle and peeks out, gently kissing the leaves. Bettas really let you know if they like something or not.
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He has a lump on both sides of his body, down near his tail area. Is that where his swim bladder is or what organs if any are there? His belly is normal and as far as I can tell, he is not constipated. He is still eating and I've fed him pea last night for supper.
He's still looking for his bridge. Poor guy. I wish I could make him understand that he will get his beloved bridge back when he is well. All I can do now is hope the antibiotics will take care of his kidney infection and swimbladder. 
I went out this afternoon and bought him the same heater I have in the 5.5 gallon tank that Noelle is in. It's made by All Glass Aquarium and has the temp settings. It's the same quality as the VisiTherm and has a lifetime warranty. That should help keep his temp steady. I got his temp down to 82F and now he's a lot more lively. He's still having trouble staying at the bottom and floats to the top but he keeps trying and seems a little better anyways. Hopefully he continues to improve on the meds and start to swim normally again.
He's got his bridge back and is very happy to see it. He swam right down to inspect every inch of it and then hid underneath. 
