Ongoing SBD Issues with New Betta

Hoping you guys will have some tips for me! At the beginning of March I picked up a betta for a huge discount at my lfs because he has really bad swim bladder issues and bloating. He constantly floats on his side at the top of the tank. It's now been almost two full weeks and he's still floating. When we bought him he was also pale white, and his colour has improved/ changed a lot so I know his health overall is improving.

Tank Info:
20 gal long, moderately planted.
Shared with 8 albino Cory's (who were in there for about a month before the betta) and a ridiculous number of pest snails I can't seem to get rid of.
Ammonia: 0,
Nitrites: 0,
Nitrates: usually sit at about 5-10ppm,
PH is high at about 7.9 - 8.2 from the tap.
Water changes every week, give or take a couple days (water is left out for a day or two with seachem prime added),
Temp sits between 79-81 degrees

Bettas Symptoms:
Floats constantly on his side,
looks very bloated.
No issues with appetite: will eat any food/snails he can get to.
He's otherwise very active, no lethargy, pineconing, etc.
He also won't flair for a mirror which I read helps them poop so that's fun.

What I've tried so far;
After we bought him we also bought a little breeder box. We fasted him for 3 days in the box and then fed 1 tiny pre-soaked piece of HikarI freeze-dried daphnia (cant find frozen/live with everything going on right now) a day for a few days. No affect, have never seen him poop/seen evidence of poop in the box.

We did that for 2 days and then fasted him another 2 days. During this time we released him into the tank for exercise as I read being cooped in a small tank can cause constipation as well but then we noticed he was eating any small snails that got up to his reach. He was constantly swimming around, greeting us when we went near the tank, very active. Since the tank is planted we couldn't see if he pooped during this time but his belly bloating has not decreased at all. We also tried feeding about 1/4 piece of pea, still nothing.

We haven't technically "fed" him for about a week now, though he was eating snails until we placed him back in the breeder box on Monday. So absolutely no food for the past 4ish days. Still very bloated, still floating. But still just as active and curious as he always has been. We're doubting any infections/worms as his health is otherwise very good and I've been really watching him for any signs.

https://imgur.com/a/kC4K8Oz

(picture of him now)

https://imgur.com/a/XwZGwNN

(pics from when we first got him)

What else can we try? Any ideas?

 

Hi,

You have been doing a great job with him so far! The only other thing that I can think of is an epsom salt bath. You can measure out about 1 tablespoon of epsom salts and add it to a gallon of water in a separate container. Soak him for 10 to 15 minutes and see if that helps.

I hope it works out!

 

Quick Question: It doesn't seem like that in the picture but are his scales raised like a pinecone?

 

Quick Question: It doesn't seem like that in the picture but are his scales raised like a pinecone?

No definitely no pineconing. His scaled are all very smooth and not lifted at all luckily! I've heard that can happen so I've really been keeping an eye out for it

Hi,

You have been doing a great job with him so far! The only other thing that I can think of is an epsom salt bath. You can measure out about 1 tablespoon of epsom salts and add it to a gallon of water in a separate container. Soak him for 10 to 15 minutes and see if that helps.

I hope it works out!

Thank you! I'll definitely give it a try. I've read that it can be stressful for them; should I do anything to prepare him for it like feeding him or anything else?

 

No definitely no pineconing. His scaled are all very smooth and not lifted at all luckily! I've heard that can happen so I've really been keeping an eye out for it


Thank you! I'll definitely give it a try. I've read that it can be stressful for them; should I do anything to prepare him for it like feeding him or anything else?

Have two containers ready, one with epsom salt solution, and one with tank water. If you see he is stressed right away, take him out of the epsom salt solution, and put him into the container with the tank water.

Make sure that the water with the epsom salt solution is the same temp as the water in his tank. It would shock him terribly to be put into cold water after coming out of warm water.

When you put him into the epsom salt solution, watch him closely for signs of stress. If he reacts badly, take him out right away and put him back into the tank water container.

Hopefully, this will help leech some of that excess fluid out, and get him to pass the rest.

 

Have two containers ready, one with epsom salt solution, and one with tank water. If you see he is stressed right away, take him out of the epsom salt solution, and put him into the container with the tank water.

Make sure that the water with the epsom salt solution is the same temp as the water in his tank. It would shock him terribly to be put into cold water after coming out of warm water.

When you put him into the epsom salt solution, watch him closely for signs of stress. If he reacts badly, take him out right away and put him back into the tank water container.

Hopefully, this will help leech some of that excess fluid out, and get him to pass the rest.

Thank you! I'll try doing this later this week. Trying to find pure Epsom salts is proving difficult with everything that is going on right now! Really hope this does the trick I feel so bad seeing him floating all the time; you can tell he hates it!

 

I got my plain epsom salts from Wal-Mart, if that helps. Also, you should be able to find it at any pharmacy.

Good luck, and I hope he gets better!

 

I got my plain epsom salts from Wal-Mart, if that helps. Also, you should be able to find it at any pharmacy.

Good luck, and I hope he gets better!

It seems to be working! I've done two salt baths so far, one on Friday and one yesterday. His belly swelling has gone down a lot - more than I've seen so far! He's still floating sideways but hopefully after a couple more baths he'll start swimming better!

Thank you everyone for all the comments/ideas!