Female betta with swollen belly? Is she too far gone to help?

I have a female betta who I have had for a little over a year. For a while now I have noticed she has had a rather large/ swollen belly. She has been sitting at the bottom of the tank and only swims up for air. I only feed my fish every other day, so I don't think she is constipated, but then again I don't know. I have fasted her for a few days, but she still seems swollen. She was housed in a cycled 10 gallon tank, but I had to tear down my 10 gallon to move furniture around so she is currently in a critter keeper that I change the water on every few days. I know it is usually helpful to post parameters, but I was wondering if anyone could help me by looking at photos? I just want to know if I can help her or if she is too far gone. Thanks!

 

I'm sorry to say, but I think she is too far gone. That looks like either a very severe prolapse and/or rupture, and it's not something she will recover from on her own. I doubt surgery would help, even if possible.

I'd recommend researching different forms of euthanization, I've seen clove oil recommended if you happen to have some

 

I agree with the above and would euthanize her at this point.

 

I kind of thought so, I just wanted to know what she was suffering from. Had I caught it sooner what would I have done to treat her? I am curious. Thank you both for your replies!

 

How long has she been fat? Honestly she reminds me of my second betta if I can compare fish. I had a king who was fat pretty much the whole time I had him, which was about 6 months. Bloated as heck. Eventually he started to hemorage and his abdomen busted open from it. I don't know what it was, I tend to say it was dropsy - I wonder if your fish experienced the same. He was active even up til then but I euthanized him.

 

A while now, I can't recall how long exactly. I've never heard of fish prolapsing. Looks like I'll be doing more research as well as figuring out the best way to euthanize my fish. She hasn't been too active other than coming up for air.

 

Aw, poor thing. I'm so sorry
I too think euthanasia is the kindest option for her at this stage. That's very nasty, looks septic too imo. May she SIP

 

Prolapsing has been getting more common in bettas, we don't really know what causes it unfortunately. I do see it a lot in cup bettas, so it may have something to do with poor water quality, food, or even just poor genetics.

 

I have a female betta who I have had for a little over a year. For a while now I have noticed she has had a rather large/ swollen belly. She has been sitting at the bottom of the tank and only swims up for air. I only feed my fish every other day, so I don't think she is constipated, but then again I don't know. I have fasted her for a few days, but she still seems swollen. She was housed in a cycled 10 gallon tank, but I had to tear down my 10 gallon to move furniture around so she is currently in a critter keeper that I change the water on every few days. I know it is usually helpful to post parameters, but I was wondering if anyone could help me by looking at photos? I just want to know if I can help her or if she is too far gone. Thanks!
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Im sorry but she looks far beyond help

 

I am very sorry you're going through this! I agree she looks too far gone, it looks like she had some sort of internal rupture to me but I believe you should consider humanely euthanizing her.

 

I'm so sorry, you are going through this....but I agree the humane thing for her is euthanasia....

 

One of my female bettas is swollen and has been since I bought her a little over a month ago. I treated her with API general cure and she's always had a very good appetite. After I removed her from her quarantine tank it seemed like she responded well but the swelling has never gone down. I thought maybe she was just a little oddly shaped since she was still very hungry and active. I recently moved her back to quarantine after finding her with some slightly torn fins and a little gash on her body, but that has been healing well using Melafix. Now she seems even more swollen though. Her swelling seems to protrude on her sides.

 

Female bettas are always more tubby as compared to their male counterparts. A female full of eggs is normal. If the swelling is not uniform but rather lumpy or more to one side of the body then I’d worry. But even then, worrying does nothing as internal tumors/growths cannot be cured.

From your photos she looks alright to me. I cannot distinguish any odd swelling. Try some other angles or circling the bump?

 

What she eating and how much? Have you tried treating for constipation? Also, don’t use melafix, it can damage a betta’s labyrinth organ.

Try filling out the emergency template. It can be like 5-7 minutes if your time but it would help.

 

female bettas are always a bit rounder.... it looks like she might be full of eggs though my betta has the same problem. can she see any male bettas or is she sharing their water? they will also develop eggs if they are fed a high protein diet.

also I wouldn't use melafix it has tea tree oil in it and it can damage their labyrinth organ.
clean water should heal up the rest of the torn fins

 

Female bettas are always more tubby as compared to their male counterparts. A female full of eggs is normal. If the swelling is not uniform but rather lumpy or more to one side of the body then I’d worry. But even then, worrying does nothing as internal tumors/growths cannot be cured.

From your photos she looks alright to me. I cannot distinguish any odd swelling. Try some other angles or circling the bump?

The swelling is hard to describe because it looks uniform from the top in any picture I take, but it protrudes from the middle third of both her sides - so she's kind of lumpy but pretty evenly on both sides. It's pretty much the area between her two stripes (which are from stress since I had to clean the tank). Her stomach is also a little swollen in that picture, but that's from feeding.

What she eating and how much? Have you tried treating for constipation? Also, don’t use melafix, it can damage a betta’s labyrinth organ.

Try filling out the emergency template. It can be like 5-7 minutes if your time but it would help.

She switches between the two and I usually feed her about 4-6 pellets a day. I did try treating her for constipation. I fasted and isolated her for a couple days, but she continues to pass food normally and the swelling doesn't really change. Thank you so much for the Melafix info.

female bettas are always a bit rounder.... it looks like she might be full of eggs though my betta has the same problem. can she see any male bettas or is she sharing their water? they will also develop eggs if they are fed a high protein diet.

also I wouldn't use melafix it has tea tree oil in it and it can damage their labyrinth organ.
clean water should heal up the rest of the torn fins

I thought maybe she had eggs too, but there's been no change for over a month and I don't have any male bettas. The foods I use are fairly high in protein (one's 39% and the other's 42% crude protein). I did clean the tank and put a new filter cartridge in to remove the Melafix. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

I thought maybe she had eggs too, but there's been no change for over a month and I don't have any male bettas. The foods I use are fairly high in protein (one's 39% and the other's 42% crude protein). I did clean the tank and put a new filter cartridge in to remove the Melafix. Thank you for the suggestion.

It's not the protein content, I feed 4 days pellets, and 2 days per week frozen foods for my male betta with one fasting day. I find soaking pellets for at least 5 min in tank water greatly helps with digestion and reduces the chances of constipation/bloat.


Also if you weren't aware, the medicine and completely removing your old cartridge will likely crash your cycle, which means you'll be doing a fish-in cycle until the BB colonies re-establish on the new filter media. I would recommend testing frequently and doing WCs accordingly.

 

It's not the protein content, I feed 4 days pellets, and 2 days per week frozen foods for my male betta with one fasting day. I find soaking pellets for at least 5 min in tank water greatly helps with digestion and reduces the chances of constipation/bloat.


Also if you weren't aware, the medicine and completely removing your old cartridge will likely crash your cycle, which means you'll be doing a fish-in cycle until the BB colonies re-establish on the new filter media. I would recommend testing frequently and doing WCs accordingly.

That makes sense. I will definitely try soaking the food to avoid those issues.

If I'm completely honest, I'm definitely not the best when it comes to cycling my tanks. I do take water from the established 30 gallon tank when filling the 5 gallon quarantine tank, but I would really like to know the best way to start a quarantine tank and if the method I've been using is problematic. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

 

That makes sense. I will definitely try soaking the food to avoid those issues.

If I'm completely honest, I'm definitely not the best when it comes to cycling my tanks. I do take water from the established 30 gallon tank when filling the 5 gallon quarantine tank, but I would really like to know the best way to start a quarantine tank and if the method I've been using is problematic. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I appreciate your willingness to learn tbh. Water from an established tank will do nothing to cycle because most of the BB lives and clings to your filter media. They don't free float, the good bacteria will establish mostly in the filter, gravel/sand and any hardscape. It's hard to know the health of your tank unless you have someway to test the water parameters. Test strips (least accurate) or liquid test kit can help.

You can't jump start a QT tank unless you use fully established media and your parameters are consistent with a properly cycled tank.

 

I appreciate your willingness to learn tbh. Water from an established tank will do nothing to cycle because most of the BB lives and clings to your filter media. They don't free float, the good bacteria will establish mostly in the filter, gravel/sand and any hardscape. It's hard to know the health of your tank unless you have someway to test the water parameters. Test strips (least accurate) or liquid test kit can help.

You can't jump start a QT tank unless you use fully established media and your parameters are consistent with a properly cycled tank.

I love my fish and try to do as much research as possible to keep them happy and healthy I had no idea most of the BB clung to filter media. That's very helpful info I'll definitely take into account when starting a tank, doing water changes, and changing the filter media.
I do have a liquid test kit that i will use more frequently, especially in my less established tank.

 

Once you have a for sure established cycle, i like to keep an extra sponge filter running(if you have the space), so when you need to put a fish in quarantine/hospital tank, you always have a filter ready to go!

 

Once you have a for sure established cycle, i like to keep an extra sponge filter running(if you have the space), so when you need to put a fish in quarantine/hospital tank, you always have a filter ready to go!

That's a great idea! Do you have any thoughts on the condition of my betta?

 

That's a great idea! Do you have any thoughts on the condition of my betta?

Have you tried fasting her a few days? That would have been my first thing. Or maybe feed some daphnia.

If it is an egg thing, i haven't dealt with female bettas so that i have no clue on.