Betta Overfed, Not Doing Well

[Lauren McBride]

I went out of town for the weekend and left the pet sitter specific instructions on how to feed my Betta. I came back a few days ago and it was very clear she fed him WAY too much. The water was completely cloudy and gross. I did a full water change but he doesn’t seem to be doing very well. I didn’t feed him for 24 hours after that, but tried to feed him yesterday and he didn’t go for the food. He’s been lethargic and not moving much. He just sits at the top of the water. His fins are starting to turn white/losing color as well.
Any idea if these symptoms will pass or if there is anything I can do about it?

 

[SeanyBaggs123]

50% Water changes daily.
Dose at least double the recommended dose of prime.
Stop feeding for a week or so.

That's what I'd do anyway.

 

[Guppygirl88]

Hello and welcome to Fishlore! Sorry about your little guy, do you have a photo? How big is his tank? Is he the only one in it? After the fasting did he poop? The lethargy and paleness point to constipation - Try offering him a piece of green pea(thawed with hull removed) that may loosen him up I hope this helps- so let us know

 

[Lauren McBride]

50% Water changes daily.
Dose at least double the recommended dose of prime.
Stop feeding for a week or so.

That's what I'd do anyway.

Thank you, I’ll try that!

 

[Lauren McBride]

Hello and welcome to Fishlore! Sorry about your little guy, do you have a photo? How big is his tank? Is he the only one in it? After the fasting did he poop? The lethargy and paleness point to constipation - Try offering him a piece of green pea(thawed with hull removed) that may loosen him up I hope this helps- so let us know

Thank you! He hasn’t pooped yet that I have noticed at least. He is the only one in a 3 gallon tank. He is moving around a little more today, but still floating a little crooked towards the top of his tank. I just took this photo of him—now it looks like the scales around his tail are falling off and his tail has deteriorated quite a bit. I’ve tried to research what it could be but I can’t find anything online that explains that.

 

[potter]

If your betta has been overfed, fast him. I fasted mine 3 days and then try 1-2 live or frozen daphnia. Peas unfortunately aren't suitable for bettas. You can also soak freeze dried daphnia if you can't find the live or frozen. It took mine 11 days to be able to swim upright again from his overfeeding and I didn't feed him that much.

Mine is still isn't 100% cured but he's 80% better. He can swim and control his floating and sinking. I did lower his 5 gallon water level to 3 gallon to ease the pressure on his swim bladder as well as he was getting frustrated.

Keep his water clean as well with temperature of 78-80 degrees. It'll take a while to correct the swim bladder be patient but you'll get there. As for his fins issue it's likely from water quality issue when he was overfed. Keeping his water clean and warm will fix a lot of things.

I did a write up on what I did for my betta with swim bladder issue. If you look into my posting history you should find it. I'm too lazy to retype it's long.

I'm also very careful of what I feed now. His previous owner kept him a bowl and fed low quality flakes. No more of those. I have cultures of live daphnia going and I feed them to all my bettas 3 times a week. I also feed gently soaked Nutrafin pellets and Bug Bites. Gently soak means not soaked for too long otherwise the food loses all the nutrients. Do not feed your betta those big bloodworms that are frozen. If your betta has swim bladder issue, skip bloodworms especially the big ones as the have exoskeleton that make digestion very difficult.

 

[CheshireKat]

Peas unfortunately aren't suitable for bettas.

As part of their daily diet, I wouldn't say so, but to relieve constipation and such, I see nothing wrong with it. I feed all my fish peas weekly. I don't give the bettas a whole pea each or anything, just a few slivers. Bug Bites has "green peas" listed in the ingredients.