Help Betta Bladder Illness

[RamonM]

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank?

55 gallons

How long has the tank been running?

6 weeks

Does it have a filter?

Yes. 2 Fluval AquaClear 70 filters with Seachem Max, Seachem Purigen, and sponges. One has a skimmer. I run a UV green killing machine 5 hours a night.

Does it have a heater?

Yes

What is the water temperature?

78°F

What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)

Angelfish 6
Black Neon Tetra 10
Blue Ram 2
Bristlenose/Bushynose Pleco 1
Clown Pleco 1
Dwarf Gourami 2
False Spotted Catfish 1
Guppy 11
Neon Tetra 15
Siamese Fighting Fish 6 (1 male)
Threestripe/Leopard Corydoras 5
Nerite snail 2

Maintenance

How often do you change the water?

Once a week

How much of the water do you change?

30%

What do you use to treat your water?

Seachem Prime

I also dose with the following

Flourish
Flourish Advance
Flourish Excel
Flourish Iron
Flourish Nitrogen
Flourish Phosphorus
Flourish Potassium
Fresh Trace
Stress Guard

I pump CO2

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?

Mostly the water. It is a planted tank.

*Parameters - Very Important

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?

Yes

What do you use to test the water?

API Freshwater kit

What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: I don’t know
pH: 6.6

Feeding

How often do you feed your fish?

Once a day

How much do you feed your fish?

A small mixed amount of different foods. They consume it in a minute.

What brand of food do you feed your fish?

In other of most fed:
Thera+A regular formula
Bug Bites tropical formula
Hikari bloodworms
TetraMin tropical flakes
Wardley shrimp pellets (at 3am)
Sera catfish chips (at 3 am)
Tubifex worms (once a week)

Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?

Freeze-dried

Illness & Symptoms

How long have you had this fish?

5 weeks

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?

Immediately after placing her in the tank.

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?

She has the classic symptoms of bladder sickness, but I don’t believe she’s constipated.

Have you started any treatment for the illness?

No.

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?

Yes.

How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?

Not at all.

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)

Betta with bladder sickness . She lies on her side on the bottom of the tank, Java moss or plant leaves. Hides a lot. Her fins are normal. She has enough strength to feed and escape the other bettas, but due to the competition of other fish she does not feed excessively, I thin. She comes up for air. The other bettas are all ok.

 

[CheshireKat]

Could be stress. You have a looooot of fish in there, some that I don't really agree with putting together. I've seen bettas lying on their sides as if they have swim bladder disorder (it's not "bladder sickness"... I doubt we'd even know if a fish had bladder issues) but it was just poor conditions and stress.
Try removing her, putting her in another tank by herself for a day or so and see if she still exhibits this behavior. That way we can see for sure what's going on without influence of other fish.

 

[RamonM]

Try removing her, putting her in another tank by herself for a day or so and see if she still exhibits this behavior. That way we can see for sure what's going on without influence of other fish.

I will follow you advice… if I can catch her, she is the sneakiest of all my fish.

 

[CheshireKat]

I will follow you advice… if I can catch her, she is the sneakiest of all my fish.

Oh dear I know how that is.