Betta has swim bladder disease?

My betta fish, whom I've had since February of this year, has been displaying the symptoms of swim bladder disease. He does like to hide in general, but recently I've noticed that he's been languidly floating at the bottom of the substrate without moving at all. This morning I saw him just floating almost completely vertically (again without any movement), looking up at the surface of the tank. He is currently in a 30g with a school of glowlights and cardinals. I've heard I should fast him for a few days before feeding him peas but is this feasible in a community tank setup? I'd really appreciate any advice on how I should proceed.

 

My betta fish, whom I've had since February of this year, has been displaying the symptoms of swim bladder disease. He does like to hide in general, but recently I've noticed that he's been languidly floating at the bottom of the substrate without moving at all. This morning I saw him just floating almost completely vertically (again without any movement), looking up at the surface of the tank. He is currently in a 30g with a school of glowlights and cardinals. I've heard I should fast him for a few days before feeding him peas but is this feasible in a community tank setup? I'd really appreciate any advice on how I should proceed.

Please fill out the emergency template so that we can get a better understanding of your situation.

 

Hi, my apologies. I really should have started with this!

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank?
A. Roughly 29 gallons.
How long has the tank been running?
A. March 2019; roughly 19 months.
Does it have a filter?
A. Yes.
Does it have a heater?
A. Yes.
What is the water temperature?
A. 25C; 77C.
What is the entire stocking of this tank?
A. 5x Cardinal Tetra, 5x Glowlight Tetra, 4x Feeder Guppies, 1x Betta; I currently have a snail infestation in my tank (came with the plants I bought, I guess) that I haven't really dealt with. There's quite a number of them and although I'm not 100% sure what type they are, they look like red-rimmed melanias.


Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
A. Once every two weeks.
How much of the water do you change?
A. 25%-30%.
What do you use to treat your water?
A. Tetra Aquasafe.
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
A. Just the water.

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
A. Yes.
What do you use to test the water?
A. API testing strips.
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.5ppm
Nitrate: 15ppm
pH: 7.5, possibly 8.

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
A. Once a day. I skipped yesterday because of the suspected swim bladder disease.
How much do you feed your fish?
A. Roughly two dozen flakes? I crush them up before putting them into the water since the cardinals don't seem to be able to take the whole thing down.
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
A. Tetra Pro Menu.
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
A. I recently started feeding them the occasional live bloodworm. No frozen or freeze dried foods.

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
A. February 2020; just past the 8 month mark at this stage.
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
A. Two days ago but he likes to hide and has always been somewhat lazy. Could have happened earlier.
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
A. I've noticed that he's been languidly floating at the bottom of the substrate without moving at all. This morning I saw him just floating almost completely vertically (again without any movement), looking up at the surface of the tank. When I say without moving, even his fins are not moving. I just saw him swim up for a breath of air, and it is clear that he's not swimming comfortably.
Have you started any treatment for the illness?
A. Withheld food from the entire tank yesterday, but have not started any treatment.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
A. No.
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
A. Possibly a bloated stomach but this could be a cognitive bias. Although he has always been one to hide and is quite lazy, he would always come out whenever I stared into the tank for more than a couple of minutes (probably in anticipation of food). Recently, this has not been the case as he just lounges around at the bottom of the tank, or floats almost completely vertically. 50-50 on whether he is in plain sight or hiding behind a plant/ornament. This might suggest the other fish bother him when he's stationary in a very obvious place, but I can't confirm that.

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
A. Two days ago, I went to feed my fish and noticed that my betta was nowhere to be found even after putting the food into the tank which is very uncharacteristic (it turned out he was hiding behind a filter). The day after, I noticed he was simply floating at the bottom or near the bottom of the substrate without movement; he was so still that I genuinely thought that he had passed at some point. I began my research online and came to the conclusion that it was probably swim bladder disease; he has shown the relevant and symptoms and every other fish in the community tank seems to be fine. It is worth noting that my betta is the most voracious eater in the tank. He is the only one who will swim to the surface for food while the others don't really eat until the food has settled down to the middle of the tank, or near the bottom, or if it's within their vicinity. With this in mind, I think it's very possible that I've overfed him. Thanks for listening, and any help is appreciated.

 

Hi, my apologies. I really should have started with this!

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank?
A. Roughly 29 gallons.
How long has the tank been running?
A. March 2019; roughly 19 months.
Does it have a filter?
A. Yes.
Does it have a heater?
A. Yes.
What is the water temperature?
A. 25C; 77C.
What is the entire stocking of this tank?
A. 5x Cardinal Tetra, 5x Glowlight Tetra, 4x Feeder Guppies, 1x Betta; I currently have a snail infestation in my tank (came with the plants I bought, I guess) that I haven't really dealt with. There's quite a number of them and although I'm not 100% sure what type they are, they look like red-rimmed melanias.


Maintenance
How often do you change the water?
A. Once every two weeks.
How much of the water do you change?
A. 25%-30%.
What do you use to treat your water?
A. Tetra Aquasafe.
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water?
A. Just the water.

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
A. Yes.
What do you use to test the water?
A. API testing strips.
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.5ppm
Nitrate: 15ppm
pH: 7.5, possibly 8.

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish?
A. Once a day. I skipped yesterday because of the suspected swim bladder disease.
How much do you feed your fish?
A. Roughly two dozen flakes? I crush them up before putting them into the water since the cardinals don't seem to be able to take the whole thing down.
What brand of food do you feed your fish?
A. Tetra Pro Menu.
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods?
A. I recently started feeding them the occasional live bloodworm. No frozen or freeze dried foods.

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish?
A. February 2020; just past the 8 month mark at this stage.
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms?
A. Two days ago but he likes to hide and has always been somewhat lazy. Could have happened earlier.
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms?
A. I've noticed that he's been languidly floating at the bottom of the substrate without moving at all. This morning I saw him just floating almost completely vertically (again without any movement), looking up at the surface of the tank. When I say without moving, even his fins are not moving. I just saw him swim up for a breath of air, and it is clear that he's not swimming comfortably.
Have you started any treatment for the illness?
A. Withheld food from the entire tank yesterday, but have not started any treatment.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase?
A. No.
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all?
A. Possibly a bloated stomach but this could be a cognitive bias. Although he has always been one to hide and is quite lazy, he would always come out whenever I stared into the tank for more than a couple of minutes (probably in anticipation of food). Recently, this has not been the case as he just lounges around at the bottom of the tank, or floats almost completely vertically. 50-50 on whether he is in plain sight or hiding behind a plant/ornament. This might suggest the other fish bother him when he's stationary in a very obvious place, but I can't confirm that.

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
A. Two days ago, I went to feed my fish and noticed that my betta was nowhere to be found even after putting the food into the tank which is very uncharacteristic (it turned out he was hiding behind a filter). The day after, I noticed he was simply floating at the bottom or near the bottom of the substrate without movement; he was so still that I genuinely thought that he had passed at some point. I began my research online and came to the conclusion that it was probably swim bladder disease; he has shown the relevant and symptoms and every other fish in the community tank seems to be fine. It is worth noting that my betta is the most voracious eater in the tank. He is the only one who will swim to the surface for food while the others don't really eat until the food has settled down to the middle of the tank, or near the bottom, or if it's within their vicinity. With this in mind, I think it's very possible that I've overfed him. Thanks for listening, and any help is appreciated.

I think he could be constipated. To combat this, I would fast him for two days and then feed him a pea. I would recommend you look more into this because I forgot the exact process that I did. Also, if I were you I would do a 50% water change to try to get the nitrite levels to 0.

 

Yeah, people have told me about the pea because its high in fiber. Will constipated bettas force themselves to eat or will they just ignore food? He is in a community tank and it might be dangerous if he decides to eat when I'm feeding the tetras and guppies. Isolation fish tank will absolutely have to be on my to-get list after lockdown...

 

Yeah, people have told me about the pea because its high in fiber. Will constipated bettas force themselves to eat or will they just ignore food? He is in a community tank and it might be dangerous if he decides to eat when I'm feeding the tetras and guppies. Isolation fish tank will absolutely have to be on my to-get list after lockdown...

You can distract the other fish by feeding them on the other side and then lore your betta into eating the pea. Does that help?

 

Yes, absolutely. It's been two days of fasting now and I plan on feeding him the pea tonight. The water parameters thing is strange to me, admittedly, since I only just did a water change on Thursday. Some people have told me that strips aren't very reliable so it could be a case of false positive. Either way, the other fish seem to be doing very well. Thanks for the advice!

EDIT: Upon further research, it seems as though there's quite a vocal group in the fish-keeping community that says we shouldn't give peas to bettas because their digestive systems are not able to adequately digest them. Should I only give my betta a very small portion of a pea?

 

Yes, absolutely. It's been two days of fasting now and I plan on feeding him the pea tonight. The water parameters thing is strange to me, admittedly, since I only just did a water change on Thursday. Some people have told me that strips aren't very reliable so it could be a case of false positive. Either way, the other fish seem to be doing very well. Thanks for the advice!

EDIT: Upon further research, it seems as though there's quite a vocal group in the fish-keeping community that says we shouldn't give peas to bettas because their digestive systems are not able to adequately digest them. Should I only give my betta a very small portion of a pea?

A small portion should be good. I used it on my betta with swim bladder and he got better right after it.

 

My betta fish, whom I've had since February of this year, has been displaying the symptoms of swim bladder disease. He does like to hide in general, but recently I've noticed that he's been languidly floating at the bottom of the substrate without moving at all. This morning I saw him just floating almost completely vertically (again without any movement), looking up at the surface of the tank. He is currently in a 30g with a school of glowlights and cardinals. I've heard I should fast him for a few days before feeding him peas but is this feasible in a community tank setup? I'd really appreciate any advice on how I should proceed.

That is odd my beta is showing the same symptoms