20 Gallon Tank Bloat and popeye in betta

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 20 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 1 year
Does it have a filter? yes
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.) 1 male betta, 1 fully grown mystery snail, two baby mystery snails, two nerite snails

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? One a week
How much of the water do you change? 25%
What do you use to treat your water? I use either Topfin Water Conditioner or API Stress Coat depending on what I have on hand
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Vacuum substrate

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API Master Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0.50ppm
Nitrite:
Nitrate: 0ppm
pH: 7.4

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once a day with a fasting day but he's been fasting on and off for days at a time since bloat started.
How much do you feed your fish? Eyeball sized pinch
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Topfin premium betta crumbles
Do you feed frozen? A bloodworm every now and then
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 8 months
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 2 weeks ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Bloat and recently popeye
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Epsom salt baths
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? He's lethargic and color seems faded

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)
About two weeks ago, I noticed my betta was appearing bloated. I started fasting thinking it was consitpation and would go away. It didn't go away so I started doing epsom salt baths, but after his last bath (he's had three) I noticed that one of his eyes looks swollen and red. I checked water paramets about a week and a half ago and they looked fine with no ammonia or nitrites and nitrates at around 10ppm, but upon rechecking to fill out the template, it appears my cycle has crashed? I have no idea what's going on as I've made no changes to the tank except for weekly water changes and I recetly added a piece of cuttlebone to the tank for my snails. I also replaced the fliter, but kept the biomax I have in the filter tank and I also have a spone on the filter to preserve BB. Any help is appreciated!!

 

Some pictures would go a long way.

 

Some pictures would go a long way.

It seems like the swelling has pretty much gone away on his eye but the bloating is still there. He still seems interested in eating but I've only been feeding one small meal every 2-3 days in hopes it will help.

 

I would try fasting him 3-4 days. Should help quite a bit. Can feed again before that if it goes down a lot.

 

I would try fasting him 3-4 days. Should help quite a bit. Can feed again before that if it goes down a lot.

I fasted for 6 days already and nothing happened, I only starting feeding again after that because I didn't want him to starve. I don't know what to do at this point

 

I fasted for 6 days already and nothing happened, I only starting feeding again after that because I didn't want him to starve. I don't know what to do at this point

Maybe try some frozen daphnia. Often works as a laxative. Also those fins look kinda rough. Might want to step up a bit on water changes.

 

What stands out to me is your maintenance. 25% weekly for a betta and a lot of snails simply isn't enough. I know it's a larger volume tank but I have to think that you're having issues because of bacteria build up from insufficient water changes since you state your parameters are in check. You shouldn't be having ammonia spikes in an established tank unless something went awry.

 

What stands out to me is your maintenance. 25% weekly for a betta and a lot of snails simply isn't enough. I know it's a larger volume tank but I have to think that you're having issues because of bacteria build up from insufficient water changes since you state your parameters are in check. You shouldn't be having ammonia spikes in an established tank unless something went awry.

agreed

adult mystery snails can poo a lot

I sometimes do a 50% water change on my 20 gallon tall just because the snails can add so much to the bio-load.

after about a year, I found my tanks did not loo 'clean' despite Seachem Pristine, cleaning glass with clean paper towel and vigorous vacuuming of substrate.

I added 'Jungle Ammonia Clear' to my water changes instead of Seachem Prime 1x a month and it really made my tanks look much better. I have no idea the chemical compound used, but the overall tanks ( 38 Long and the 36 bow front I had previously) looked much clearer.

Also look into waste cleaner. I've used Pristine and now I'm using FluVal's version.

these animals live in their waste and sometimes it's hard to manage, especially if the animals has a lot of output. imo - it's a no brainier to use something to manage decay of 'organic matter' that vaccumming cannot always remove sufficiently.

* You only need a small amount, the Flu Val Waste management bottle treats 500 gallons so it will last a long time. It's like around $9.00.

 

Just to respond to everyone, this is my first tank and I read that 25% a week was pretty standard, so that's what I was doing. I thought regular vacuuming and my green killing machine (which is supposed to also help bacteria) would be enough. I didn't realize the bioload was considered large enough to need more, but now I suppose I know better. I didn't realize I had gotten more replies on this thread, so unfortunately I thought my poor betta was just constipated since his eye returned to normal pretty quickly. Turns out I'm pretty sure now it was the beginning stages of dropsy and I didn't realize soon enough so he passed away last night. I feel terrible. I've been administering Prime while getting ammonia levels back to normal and will definitely be getting some kinda waste management to help prevent this in the future. Thank you everyone <3

 

Just to respond to everyone, this is my first tank and I read that 25% a week was pretty standard, so that's what I was doing. I thought regular vacuuming and my green killing machine (which is supposed to also help bacteria) would be enough. I didn't realize the bioload was considered large enough to need more, but now I suppose I know better. I didn't realize I had gotten more replies on this thread, so unfortunately I thought my poor betta was just constipated since his eye returned to normal pretty quickly. Turns out I'm pretty sure now it was the beginning stages of dropsy and I didn't realize soon enough so he passed away last night. I feel terrible. I've been administering Prime while getting ammonia levels back to normal and will definitely be getting some kinda waste management to help prevent this in the future. Thank you everyone <3

I am so sorry you were misinformed. The amount of water that needs to be changed depends on the bioload and volume of the tank. Hopefully after researching the nitrogen cycle you can understand the process better. Best of luck!