How to help Betta with swim bladder issue

Hello,

I recently purchased a Betta that has a swim bladder issue. I purchased him 4 days ago from the store where he was kept in a cup.
He floats up whenever he tries to swim down, and occasionally tips over slightly. Mostly though he can stay upright just fine. Otherwise appears to be in pretty good condition.

I've put him in a 3 gallon hospital tank and have slowly warmed him up to 79F. He was fasted for 3 days and today was fed 3 brine shrimp. He doesn't appear to have any swelling or bloating and appears to be healthy besides his swim bladder.

I live in Canada so I don't have access to any medication for him. Is there anything else I can do to help him recover? What are the odds of recovery from something like this?

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 3 gallon
How long has the tank been running? newly set up with established filter media
Does it have a filter? yes with gentle flow
Does it have a heater? yes
What is the water temperature? 79F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 1 Betta

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Small water change every couple days
How much of the water do you change? 20%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime, equilibrium
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? both

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? No but added established media from tank that's been running since 2019
What do you use to test the water? API liquid test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia:0ppm
Nitrite:0ppm
Nitrate:10ppm
pH:6.8
GH: 1
KH: 1

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Fed only once since purchase, will feed small amount once daily
How much do you feed your fish? small amounts, a few flakes or 2-3 brine shrimp
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Bugbites
Do you feed frozen? yes
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? no

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
QT Used….Yes/No, ……if Yes, how long?
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Since purchase 4 days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Floats up and cant swim and stay down
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Just providing clean warm water for now
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? yes
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Not really though he seems to be settling in a bit more

Nice picture !
There is not all lot you can do other then continuing to keep clean water at a temp close to 80 F. possibly try adding almond or catalpa leaves or drift wood to create tannins. Try live, frozen or freeze dried daphnia that has been soaked in tank water for a few minutes. Fasting the fish will not help, the swimm blader and the stomach are seperate body organs. Your betta can survive for a good long while if the conditions are good, Thank you for helping this poor guy, good luck!

Hi, thank you for the reply.

I did add a piece of driftwood to the tank and will continue keeping good water quality. I fasted him just in case there was a constipation element involved. I will continue to feed him frozen brine shrimp and daphnia as well.

Fingers crossed for this little guy,

Thanks again for the advice.

I suggest that you limit the blood worms, they do not offer much nutrition, brine shrimp are a little better, Daphnia actually has much more nutrition then either. Im glad you can get these items for your fish and Im sure he will have a great life with you!

I suggest that you limit the blood worms, they do not offer much nutrition, brine shrimp are a little better, Daphnia actually has much more nutrition then either. Im glad you can get these items for your fish and Im sure he will have a great life with you!

Click to expand...

I haven't been feeding any bloodworms, though I'd agree that's good advice to avoid constipation. I will try daphnia again today though so far he doesn't seem to know they're food. He is enthusiastic about the brine shrimp though so at least he's eating something.


MORE ADVICE NEEDED!

I was actually able to get my hands on some Kanaplex and need further advice as I've never used it before.
Does anyone know if his buoyancy issues are likely to be due to an infection? What are the other possible causes of swim bladder issue?
What are the chances the medication will help?
Is it best to use Seachem Focus to administer this or should I just dose the water column?

Help is much appreciated

Its possible that kanaplex could help. I have never used seachum focus, mostly because i have never heard of it before. it sounds good in theary, I would ask Fishfur.