rip_van_winkle

OK I need help. Here's the story in a nutcase. My (male) betta, Rip (Van Winkle) went over to a friend's house this past week in a 5 gal. filtered and heated tank. He was perfectly healthy before he went, now his eyes are a little bit bigger than they used to be (pop eye?) and when she gave him to me he was swimming on his side at the surface, and his belly was a bigger. Could it have been the car ride that made him do that or is there something wrong? Also, he is an turquoisey-blue fish, and now starting at the bottom of his body, he has some red spreading a little into his fins. I'm sure its his body that is red, not blood or anything. Why is this happening?

Now Rip is back in his 10 gal. filtered and heated, about 78 F. He is acting fine now, swimming normally. He hasn't flipped on his side again after that first time.
Thanks I'd appreciate all help.
~

rip_van_winkle

Oh, I do have a digital camera, but i've tried and I can't figure out how to get the pictures on here. If I could e-mail somebody the pictures and they could post them for me

Also, just for future referance, what does a constipated betta look like and act? And for the peas - should I give him peas regurlaly, like once a month or so? Just to be safe?

thanks
~

COBettaCouple

Do you have a pic that you can post? .. if you email it to me, i'll upload it for you.. did you click "additional options..." below the message box? That's where the add photo is.
dave_cable@hotmail.com

Bettas can change colors at times, but i'm not sure if that's the case here without looking at him. How do his eyes look now? It does sound like he might have been constipated, his belly is normal now? A constipated Betta will look big around the stomach and can have the usual range of behavior.

nmwierman1977

Pop eye is a condition that they get usually when the water is dirty. With water changes and maybe some medicine like maracyn/maracyn 2 can help clear it up.

With constipation they're belly's get a bit round and fatter.Sometimes they show signs of being uncomfortable and could sway back and forth and sometimes will even just lay on the bottom once in awhile. Pea treats will help clear out their digestive system. I usually give my Betta pea treat once 3 times a week.


To upload picures when you got to post them just go to addition options click on add photo and it will take you to where your photo's are click on the photos and it will upload it. If you have more then just click add more photos and repeat. Natalie

rip_van_winkle

Ok i figured it out... maybe. You guy's tips helped. thanks.
Rip didn't really want to pose... and boy are tanks mirrorry. It was hard to get some decent pictures, these two were the best.

Nope it didn't work, the files are two big. Any idea on how I could resize them??

rip_van_winkle

I think I may just be worrying over nothing. Still, his colors are changing and that is a bit wierd.

o - I forgot to tell, the front fins on his belly, are (abnormally small?) and red, and always have been since I got him.

Thank you all.

rip_van_winkle

I have just given him a "pea treat" just in case constipation is the problem. Maybe my friend over fed him a little, even though I said strictly 6 pellets a day? Is that too much? That is what he has been eating a day since I figured out the whatever they can eat in a minute rule is not right.
~

chickadee

The front two fins on some bettas can look like they are rolled up or a little short on some bettas. It is not a problem as long as they are both the same size. If they are uneven it could mean they have been chewed on. 6 pellets may be too much for him if he is prone to constipation. Try cutting him back to 2 pellets in the morning and 2 at night right before the lights go out and only give him one at a time and make sure he chews each one up and swallows it before you give him the next one otherwise they swallow them whole, the little stinkers and they clog themselves up major time. I have seen them come out in the same condition they went in. OUCH!

Once a betta has been constipated they are all the more likely to be in the future so you will have to really watch for tummy aches from here on out and give peas maybe 3 times a week.

Hope this helps him. I would not give regular food for a couple of days, nothing but peas until Thursday.

Rose

rip_van_winkle

Ok, I only gave him one piece of pea tonight - half the size of his eye ball. Should I feed him one in the morning and one at night? Or like two per meal?
Thank you so much
~

COBettaCouple

When we feed our Bettas a pea meal, we thaw the frozen pea in the microwave for about 40 seconds, remove the peel and then mince one half of it for each betta. Then we feed the little pieces to the betta one at a time like pellets, waiting for him to chew & eat each piece.

EDIT: We feed our bettas AM & PM 6 days a week, even when it's peas. So we'd be feeding 1 pea per day split over 2 feedings.. storing the 2nd 1/2 pea in a container in the fridge or just thawing another one at the PM feeding.

COBettaCouple

Pictures of Rip

Attached Images

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rip_van_winkle

Thanks for doing those pictures for me.

It's hard to tell if his belly is bigger or not in these pictures, but in the middle one you can see the red on his body. I read on the Dr. Foster and Smith site that fish sometimes turn red when their food quality is too low, could that be the case? I use betta pellets specificly for bettas and he has always eatten them. This morning when I looked at him it look his fin is shredding. The bottom one it looks like - it is a slit in his fin and it goes to about a cm away from his body. Fin rot? I certianly hope not!

Thank you everybody!

COBettaCouple

you're welcome.

do you feed him any other foods? bettas do best with a variety and you can feed him a number of things besides the betta pellets.. they have betta pellets with vitamins, color-enhancing pellets, bloodworms, daphnia, krill, betta flakes and of course frozen peas. I'm not sure if that coloring is anything to be concerned about or not, but variety in his diet will be good for your betta.

on the fin rot question - from the pics, i can't say for sure either way. you could go ahead and treat him for it now or you can wait and see if his fins get ANY worse, then if they do start treatment. Also is there anything that might be tearing his fins in the tank? Check all the surfaces of any decor or plants for anything that would snag pantyhose.

rip_van_winkle

I think that I will go ahead and get the medication just in case it is worse when I get home. What kind do you suggest I get? I have never had a fin rot problem before so... But I do know how to medicate - take the carbon out and read the back of the bottle.
Thanks everybody!!

Oh, and I may buy some freeze dried bloodworms/brine shrimp while I'm at the LFS. I was thinking that I could like do brine shrimp and bloodworms and peas on tues. and thurs. and sat. and all the other days pellets. Would it be ok to switch back and forth like that? Ok just keep it to treats for the "meats".

COBettaCouple

it should be alright to rotate thru the foods however you want.

nmwierman1977

I usually feed my betta Pellets everyday, I'll feed him bloodworms or babyshrimp, maybe twice a week, and then usually I'll give him pea treats the day after I feed him the bloodworms/baby shrimp to prevent constipation ,plus I add one more day for pea treats just to make sure he is OK sometime during the week. I feed him twice a day.Also, with the bloodworms/baby shrimp I only feed them to him at one meal because I'm paranoid about him getting constipated, so he only get's them for 1 meal and he get's the pellets at the other meal. So far it's been working. I haven't had any constipation problems yet. Knock on wood. Natalie

rip_van_winkle

Thanks everybody but..

HELP!!!
I got home today, siponed his gravel, did a 50% water change just because there is something wrong with him. When I got home he was laying under one of the leaves of his java plant, just lying there. He doesn't usally do that. Then while I was cleaning his gravel, he went and layed down on the graval just below the heater (It is one of the over the side kind.) His tank is currently at 80 degrees and I haven't started medicating. What is happening? I gave him peas this morning and last night. Should I try and get some pellets in him to give hims strenght back? Somebody help!!

chickadee

Sounds like he was just scared of the syphon and will recover in a few hours. He should not have more pellets until Thursday. Peas only for a few days to get him cleaned out. He is not starving. You would be very surprised at how little a fish really needs to eat to live. Obesity is becoming a very large problem in tropical fish from people overfeeding and fish dying of heart failure due to overweight is becoming more frequent (read it in Tropical Fish Magazine).

Rose

rip_van_winkle

OK, OK

I am just really worried about him. My first betta, a red male, Cubix died like this, and I really don't want Rip to die.

Thank you though, I will keep him on peas until Thursday.

COBettaCouple

Ok, he was lying there before you syphoned his tank right? is where he was lying, his usual sleeping spot?

Check http://www.klsnet.com/files/fishchart.htm and see if all of the symptoms for septicemia match rip's current condition. If so, treatment with one of the Gel-Tek antibiotics might be the course to take as septicemia needs antibiotics in food form. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113021

If not, Skin Flukes might be a possibility.. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113016 would be a treatment for that.

Does he swim around any or come over to the glass if you talk to him? Hopefully it's not either of those and he's just clearing his system of blockage. See what the other fishlore members think too. It's hard not to panic sometimes, we do too.

rip_van_winkle

Tonight when I came home he was up at the glass and now goes up to the surface as if to say "I'm hungry!" and he goes over to you when you are standing next to his tank, not laying down at all. As for if that is his sleeping spot, I don't really know, I have never seen him sleeping. I got Maracyn and it says It treats popeye, and tail rot - so may it help? Should I medicate him?
Also if I do medicate him, will it bleach the decor? And should I take it out or will that just stress him out more?
Thank you everybody!

COBettaCouple

Great, i was hoping that was it. Sounds like that's a sleeping spot for him & probably why he was lying there before you syphoned. Then like Rose said, he was stressed by it and now he's calmed down.

I'm not sure on medicating him now, how's his stomach, eyes and fins look now? and compared to a few days ago? his appetite is good and he swims around normally?

cherryrose

rip_van_winkle

I am almost 99% sure that he has popeye - his eyes are still huge. So I am going to medicate him and hope for the best. This morning he didn't eat anything (I have gone back to 3 peices of pellets and a piece of pea.) He wasn't eating any of the peas when I was just feeding him peas, and I don't think its constipation any more. He is also sitting on the bottom again, but not on a plant any more, now just the gravel.

thanks
~Hannah

COBettaCouple

well, i hope the meds do the trick for him & he perks up.

rip_van_winkle

HELP!!!!
He was curled around the filter intake tub until I turned it off. I thought he was dead! Then I poked him gently with a turkey baster that I use for left-over food, and he moved. He really scared me. Only, now he seems like he barley has the strenght to come to the surface, and when he does he just slowly sinks down onto the gravel. I don't think he is going to last much longer even though I started medicating him. What did I do wrong? Is there anything I can do to help him now?

COBettaCouple

ok, he needs some help to get better. he does sound weak and needs to be closer to the surface. do you have a smaller "hospital tank" that he could rest in and not have so far to swim (plus not have to fight the filter). if not then if you can adjust your filter, you might want to lower it. also if you have one of those breeder boxes they sell at the petstores made of netting that can be hooked to the side near the top, that would help him have less distance to go up for air. Right now, it's up to the meds to work on his illness, you can try to make him more comfortable or make it easier on him to get air & rest. You're doing your best, unfortunately fish get sick like we do - seemingly random to a degree.

I'm afraid to say that i'm still leaning towards him having septicemia. how many of these symptoms does he have?
Sluggishness, lack of appetite, fin damage, reddish discoloration, bulging eyes, clamped fins.
(If he has all of them, then get him the gel-tek med recommended earlier. Petco/Petsmart should have some in the fish meds section. If he doesn't have those symptoms, then just keep treating with his meds and we pray he pulls thru.)

rip_van_winkle

I have a plastic breader box, and a 3 1/2 gallon non-heater or filtered bowl that he was in before. The plastic breader box is about 5in. long and 4in. high. I can take out all the little traps and its just a box that can be stuck to the side of the tank. I think I will stick him in there with a java fern plant that was floating around. He's looking better this morning though, but I will still put him in the breader box.
Thank you everybody

COBettaCouple

I'm glad he's looking better. maybe he's past the worst of it now.

rip_van_winkle

Thank you everyone for your help, but unforchangatly it didn't hlep. Rip died sometime last night.


Hannah