Bloated betta

What's wrong if a betta has a big tummy even if I've stopped feeding him for a couple of days? His tummy was big and round, like he was seven months pregnant. Some kind of obstruction? The betta died, but I'd like to see what y'all say in case my other two come down with the same.

 

Definitely sounds like an obstruction. Maybe constipated?
Carol

 

That would be my guess also. What you can do to try and prevent constipation is see if he'll eat peeled peas at least once a week, or try a once a week feeding of Omega One veggie or super veggie flakes. Bettas don't usually eat plants, but once a week will keep their systems cleaned out and it won't hurt them.

 

Okay, I'll try that. Thanks Butterfly, Gunnie.

 

your welcome! I have to play "the Game" to get my betta to eat certain things. He will attack and eat anythng sitting in one place and moving. So I hold whatever I reeeaalllyy want him to eat between thumb and forefinger and move it just a little bit. Then he attacks it and has eaten it before he decides whether he really wanted it or not. Aren't I sneaky? ;D
Carol

 

Hey, not a bad idea....Haven't seen those veggie flakes anywhere, but I'll try some peas

 

HI every one My Betta is bloated.What should I do.I Can't go to the fish store
the roads are covered in snow.I Google it put I really don't want to make a mistake.One stayed to not feed it for 1 week I DON'T want to do it.so please if some body give other thing that I can do.
Thank you

 

How frequently, how much, and what do you feed him? You may want to cut back on how much you give him each meal.

If you have any frozen or canned peas, take one and shell it. If it's frozen, thaw it out. Then, take a knife and cut it into very small pieces. Feed him a few of these. Remember that a fish's stomach is the same size as his eye; this will help you cut pieces the right size. Peas help with their digestion, as do daphnia.

You can also fast him for a couple of days. It won't hurt him, and it will help him to un-bloat.

Good luck with your boy, I hope he gets better soon.

 

I'm sorry your betta isn't feeling well.
Are his scales sticking out?
What size tank is he in? Is it heated, filtered cycled?
Any tankmates
Minnow gave you some good advice. Personally, I wouldn't use the canned peas.
Try giving him a few bits of pea then fast him for a couple days, see if that gets things moving.

Sorry for all the questions, the answers will help the members help you and your betta.

 

one thing it's girl srry I should put her.
I Have her in 10 gallon tank with nobody yet.it have every thing
she is just bloat
I feed her pellet and froze blood worm
I Give her 1 pellet and 1 bloodworm's in the morning
I go to school.After school I give her 1 pellent
for dinner I giver 2 bloodworms.I think am giver her too much

 

It doesn't sound like you are over-feeding her. What temperature do you keep her tank at. Betta's prefer a temp of 79-80 degrees F. I think colder water can lead to constipation (which is a common Betta ailment)

Also, I'm no expert on female Betta's, but is it possible she is holding eggs?

 

That doesn's seem like too much to me. Maybe if you substitute pea for bloodworms on some nights, and fast her for one or two days a week? I'm still getting the hang of feeding my boy, Alpha, so hopefully you'll have some more definite answers soon.

 

When you say you give her one bloodworms in morning and two bloodworms at night is that cubes or worms. If cubes that way too much. they are a rich food sorce and can cause liver or kidney damage. I only feed bloodworms every third day, daphnia or BBS the next and a good quality flake and one day a week I don't feed at all.

 

I also don't think you're overfeeding her overall except that it might be too many bloodworms, which should generally be used as a treat a couple times a week, not a main part of the diet. The bloodworms could be causing the constipation, if that's what she has.

Since you can't get to the fish store, I hope you can at least get to a grocery store to buy some frozen peas, which is a definitely good idea.

Does she have any other symptoms in addition to the bloating: Not moving around actively, appetite loss, any discoloration (lack of color, white-ish patches on body or mouth, unusual red areas on body or gills), any tiny white or yellow spots, frayed fins, bulging in one or both eyes, or scales sticking out especially when you view her from above? This is just a short list of common fish disease symptoms.

It would be helpful to both you and your fish to carefully answer all the questions asked in the previous posts above so people can provide the best answers.

 

I didn't realise bloodworms should only be used a couple of times a week, Hamish has some for dinner every night!! I assumed he needed to eat the meat cos of being a carnivore?!

I'll cut that down... he loves pellets anyway he won't care.

 

There's a few betta parents here who feed only frozen blood worms so I'm not so sure that's a problem. Freeze dried bloods are more apt to cause bloat.

 

The temperature din her tank is Betta's 79-80 degrees F.Its' perfect
bloodworms not cubes or worms.
she dose moving around actively, no appetite loss, no discoloration ( nolack of color, no white-ish patches on body or mouth, no red areas on body or gills), NO tiny no white or yellow spots, frayed fins, no bulging in one or both eyes, no or scales sticking out especially when you view her from above .O I hope she do not have eggs.oooo :helpsmilieps:

 

There's a few betta parents here who feed only frozen blood worms so I'm not so sure that's a problem. Freeze dried bloods are more apt to cause bloat.

True! I didn't catch that momiji345 was using frozen, so I was talking about freeze dried. Sorry for any confusion.

 

Mine are freeze dried - Hamish is on a bloodworm boycott for a few days!

I was going to buy him some shrimp yesterday but it was in cubes?! Surely he can't have a whole cube?!

 

about 5 months ago I took home a poor male betta from petco, he didnt eat for a few weeks but got used to his new home and started eating in front of me. about a few weeks ago I noticed he was bloated and I don't know why, I thought maybe he was just fat so I fed him less but I'm not seeing any changes. he seems normal and only has trouble swimming when right by the filter because of his large fins. please help me, I love him very much and don't want to loose him

EDIT: before the bloating I was on Vacation for about a week and the petsitter did not own any fish. could she of overfed him? and if he was just fat when would I see changes in his size?

thanks for the help

 

what do you feed him?

for the bloating, you could try a peeled green pea chopped up very finely, maybe fast him for a couple of days

could you ask the petsitter how much the betta was fed? to see if overfeeding is the problem or something else?

also, I assume you haven;t noticed any pineconing?

 

I'm sorry your betta isn't feeling well.
I'd suggest a couple of bits of thawed frozen shelled peas or freeze dried daphnia, and fasting.
The fact that he wouldn't eat at first and now that he but is bloating has makes me wonder if he's got stomach problems. Poor babies, go through so much before we get them.

I hope he feels better soon/

 

I'm sorry he's not feeling well. Great advice above; I hope he recovers okay.

 

Hello Midnight. Sorry to hear your Betta isn't feeling well. Be sure to use a frozen, thawed pea and not canned peas. Canned peas contain salt that may not be good for your fish. Too, it may take a couple of tries before your fish realizes the pea is food. So don't give up if he doesn't take it the first time.
Best wishes!
Ken

 

thanks everyone for the help.

Meenu- no I don't see any pineconing
lucy,iloveengle, and aquarist48- I will try the peas today, or should I fast him a bit before feeding them to him?

thanks again

 

If he doesn't take to the peas try flavoring them in garlic juice or something like Kent's Garlic Xtreme.

 

You can fast him for a day first and then try the peas. Garlic, by the way, is a great natural immune booster, flavor enhancer, and also helps fish with parasites. Soaking the peas in garlic juice is a good idea. You can use the juice from a jar of minced garlic from the grocery store, or just some fresh garlic you've mashed ap and added water to make the juice.

 

ok thanks everyone I will try the peas tomorrow and let you know if he eats them

 

My boy, Flipper, is extremely bloated. This has happened in a matter of 4 days (I can't pinpoint the exact day, as he's been at home while I've been at school), but he was not like this Sunday night and I came home to find him that way Friday afternoon. It's pretty bad...his little "tummy" is double as wide as it should be and he's sitting at the bottom of his tank a lot for rest as it appears it's difficult for him to swim. He is making his routine trips to the surface to breath, just not swimming around like he normally does.

As far as treatment, the only thing he's eaten today has been shelled peas, as this is what I've heard from other members to do. Is there anything else I can do? Should he just be eating peas until this passes or should he have regular food as well? I am taking him to the dorm with me when I go back on Sunday, so I will be able to give him whatever he needs...I just thought it would be better for him to stay home my first week back since it knew it would be hectic trying to move in. Thanks for any help you may be able to give me.

 

Fast him for a day or two, then just a small piece or two of garlic juice soaked peas per day for a couple of days... see if that helps.

 

Just store-bought garlic juice? I've never used that before...any ingredients I should look out for that he shouldn't be eating?

 

Poor baby, I hope he feels better soon.
Here are some examples of
minced garlic in a jar

I've had better results with freeze dried daphnia and fasting for a couple of days over peas for constipation.

Have you checked the water parameters?
It would help if he had a tall silk plant so he can rest at the top.

 

I have checked water paramaters, they were 0, 0, 10. He has a tall live plant that is sturdy enough for him to sit in. He's been alternating between sitting at the top and bottom of it.

Did you soak the freeze dried daphnia in the garlic or just used them by themself? Should I get some of that at the LFS tomorrow and feed it to him and then fast for a few days, or should I fast a few days and then feed him the daphnia? Would frozen be better than freeze dried? My LFS carries quite a few frozen foods, so I could see if they had that instead. I know for sure they have freeze dried though, so I'll be sure to pick one or the other up tomorrow.

Thanks so much for your help Lucy! I hope he feels better too.

 

Since you just gave him peas, it would be a good idea to fast for a day or so.

I only heard about using freeze dried daphnia.
Frozen daphnia is teeny tiny and can really make a mess quickly. Imo, Flipper would have to work harder to get it.
Freeze dried floats. You can soak it in garlic if you want. I never did, but it couldn't hurt.
All my fish like it straight up. lol

 

Update: He hasn't eaten in 2 days now and I haven't seen a difference. If anything after the trip back to school he does seem a little more active. It's odd though...he is passing something, because his water in the bag that I brought him up in was dirty when I put him in his tank, but as I said, I haven't noticed a difference in size of his belly. I'm going to try to get some daphnia tonight? My LFS was out (of course, they always are when you need it), so I'm going to try to pick some up at wal-mart. I don't want to further the problem, but since the fasting doesn't seem to be working maybe I should try the daphnia and see if that helps?

 

I would not expect walmart to have daphnia, since their fish department (at least around here) is pretty small. You might have better luck at petsmart or petco.

 

They didn't have any, but the nearest petsmart is an hour away. I guess I'll just have to keep feeding him peas and hope that works...

 

After feeding my betta some pellets this morning, I put in half an algae wafer for my mystery snail, and for some reason today my fish decided to eat the wafer himself - his stomach is *huge* and he was going back for more, so I had to take what was left of the wafer out of the tank, is there anything I can do to help him? He's never even gone near the snail's food before...

 

So sorry this happened. I'm not sure what's wrong . . . . . .could it be constipation? Anyway, here's a *BUMP* to keep your thread on top where someone who knows what to do will be more likely to see it. Hope he gets better!

 

Welcome A-53. If he is constipated, sounds like he is lol, then you should give him a thawed shelled pea (3-4 pieces the same size as his eye) and then fast him for 2 days. This will clear out his sytem. And be careful, any food you leave in the tank will be eaten by him, and bettas are very prone to constipation which can lead to problems.