Bloated Betta... how can I help her??

Hi!

I’ve posted on here before about my betta, but I figured I’d reach out again.

My betta has been bloated for months now, you can visibly see that her abdomen is extremely full of fluid as she is very light pink almost translucent, and she looks like a water balloon. She started getting bloated when she developed a small tumor on her abdomen, thankfully the tumor is in a spot where it doesn’t affect her organs and it doesn’t seem to bother her aside from causing bloat.

She is still eating, swimming around, she gets excited when I come to the glass to see her, she’s full of energy (getting old though so she’s not as energetic as she once was).

I know it’s not dropsy or a swim bladder problem, I’ve just kind of “diagnosed” her with “unresolved bloat”.

I’m just wondering what I can do to help with the fluid in her abdomen, to make it more comfortable for her and easier to swim around.

I know I can do an Epsom bath but I haven’t tried and I don’t know if that would help with her case. I’m also considering manually draining the fluid with a needle/syringe (aspirating?), but this is my first time owning a fish and the thought of messing it up when she’s otherwise perfectly healthy is super scary.

Any advice would be welcomed, thanks

 

Hi!

I’ve posted on here before about my betta, but I figured I’d reach out again.

My betta has been bloated for months now, you can visibly see that her abdomen is extremely full of fluid as she is very light pink almost translucent, and she looks like a water balloon. She started getting bloated when she developed a small tumor on her abdomen, thankfully the tumor is in a spot where it doesn’t affect her organs and it doesn’t seem to bother her aside from causing bloat.

She is still eating, swimming around, she gets excited when I come to the glass to see her, she’s full of energy (getting old though so she’s not as energetic as she once was).

I know it’s not dropsy or a swim bladder problem, I’ve just kind of “diagnosed” her with “unresolved bloat”.

I’m just wondering what I can do to help with the fluid in her abdomen, to make it more comfortable for her and easier to swim around.

I know I can do an Epsom bath but I haven’t tried and I don’t know if that would help with her case. I’m also considering manually draining the fluid with a needle/syringe (aspirating?), but this is my first time owning a fish and the thought of messing it up when she’s otherwise perfectly healthy is super scary.

Any advice would be welcomed, thanks

Do you have a picture of your betta?

 

Do you have a picture of your betta?

There’s some photos of her

(We’re battling spot algae right now so the tank isn’t lookin too pretty)

 

View attachment 676978View attachment 676979


There’s some photos of her

(We’re battling spot algae right now so the tank isn’t lookin too pretty)

I’m not an expert with this stuff, so I would consult someone else as well, but it looks like your betta might be constipated? Again, I would consult someone else as well if it is constipation, and if it is, how to treat it.

 

I’m not an expert with this stuff, so I would consult someone else as well, but it looks like your betta might be constipated? Again, I would consult someone else as well if it is constipation, and if it is, how to treat it.

Unfortunately, I've been able to rule out constipation. I've fed her peas, fasted her for a few days, to no avail.

 

On a side notion, please try non-invasive things (like epson salt baths) before going to invasive (like aspiration), since invasive ones might cause considarable harm if needle grazes somewhere critical. I wouldn't do anything invasive unless fish would suffer considarably and that would be only choise left.

 

This happened to me recently with my betta. She was bloated from December to March until I had to put her down with clove oil. I did the pea, the epsom salt baths, medications, never worked until she started pine-coning and then I knew it was dropsy. Which is highly fatal, since it's organ failure and all.
I wouldn't feed them with the pea anymore. And try the epsom salt baths for now. If they start pine-coning there's really nothing you can do. It's sad but true