Swim bladder in betta

HI friends. I’m almost out of hope for my betta and his health. He’s been suffering from swim bladder for a few weeks now and hasn’t eaten in almost 2. He is not eating peas and has a difficult time swimming up for air and stays resting on a plant right below the surface of the water. He is struggling to swim anywhere at this point and looks as if he is gasping... it’s so hard to watch. I’ve moved him to a bigger tank that I finally made time to put together and I am using aquarium salt and betta fix.
Is it a waiting game at this point?

 

HI friends. I’m almost out of hope for my betta and his health. He’s been suffering from swim bladder for a few weeks now and hasn’t eaten in almost 2. He is not eating peas and has a difficult time swimming up for air and stays resting on a plant right below the surface of the water. He is struggling to swim anywhere at this point and looks as if he is gasping... it’s so hard to watch. I’ve moved him to a bigger tank that I finally made time to put together and I am using aquarium salt and betta fix.
Is it a waiting game at this point?

Good evening Sandra,

Unfortunately the straight answer is yes. It is just a waiting game. Once they get swim bladder disease there's almost no recovery. Not to say that there isn't a chance. Realistically it is just a matter of time though. Good luck.

 

HI friends. I’m almost out of hope for my betta and his health. He’s been suffering from swim bladder for a few weeks now and hasn’t eaten in almost 2. He is not eating peas and has a difficult time swimming up for air and stays resting on a plant right below the surface of the water. He is struggling to swim anywhere at this point and looks as if he is gasping... it’s so hard to watch. I’ve moved him to a bigger tank that I finally made time to put together and I am using aquarium salt and betta fix.
Is it a waiting game at this point?

HI there, I am sorry to hear this. I have read and researched the AQ salt is not the salt to use for swim bladder and can do more damage than good. You want to use epsom salt. I just rescued a betta with severe swim bladder, he was laying on his side on the cup and could not stabilize. I gave him epsom salt baths (not in his quarantine tank) and he is almost back to normal now. I got him thursday and did 2 baths a up until sunday. Sunday and monday I did one bath. Now he does not need baths anymore, just some them to chill out and rest. He is swimming normal and completely stable. Also most bettas will not eat peas because they are carnivorous fish. Try a tiny tiny pinch of daphnia. It would also be internal parasites so I would treat for that too, that is also what I did for mine. I can give you more details of this treatment plan if you are interested in following it. I recommend doing something soon because it could turn bad and possibly into dropsy. The epsom salt baths will draw out fluid build up and help with swelling from the swim bladder. I can also explain the difference in AQ and epsom salt treat.

 

HI there, I am sorry to hear this. I have read and researched the AQ salt is not the salt to use for swim bladder and can do more damage than good. You want to use epsom salt. I just rescued a betta with severe swim bladder, he was laying on his side on the cup and could not stabilize. I gave him epsom salt baths (not in his quarantine tank) and he is almost back to normal now. I got him thursday and did 2 baths a up until sunday. Sunday and monday I did one bath. Now he does not need baths anymore, just some them to chill out and rest. He is swimming normal and completely stable. Also most bettas will not eat peas because they are carnivorous fish. Try a tiny tiny pinch of daphnia. It would also be internal parasites so I would treat for that too, that is also what I did for mine. I can give you more details of this treatment plan if you are interested in following it. I recommend doing something soon because it could turn bad and possibly into dropsy. The epsom salt baths will draw out fluid build up and help with swelling from the swim bladder. I can also explain the difference in AQ and epsom salt treat.

Yes I am very interested. Please share your treatment plan and what to buy for the possible parasites. Is epsom salt available for purchase at a grocery store? Do I need to siphon the aquarium salt now?

 

Good evening Sandra,

Unfortunately the straight answer is yes. It is just a waiting game. Once they get swim bladder disease there's almost no recovery. Not to say that there isn't a chance. Realistically it is just a matter of time though. Good luck.

I pretty much figured. I’m so heart broken. Thank u

 

Yes I am very interested. Please share your treatment plan and what to buy for the possible parasites. Is epsom salt available for purchase at a grocery store? Do I need to siphon the aquarium salt now?

I would go ahead and do a 50% water change now and just add fresh de-chlorinated water with no salt. I am assuming your tank is properly cycled because I saw it was set up almost a year ago. You can buy epsom salt at a grocery store or a store like rite aid. Make sure there are no additives or scents. Just 100% the epsom salt. What I did was fill a container with a half gallon of water, make sure it is about 2 inches deep so your fish can swim in it. Make sure this temperature matches your tanks, de-chlorinate this water with whatever water conditioner you use. Add 1 teaspoon of epsom salt and mix it in well until dissolved. Scoop your fish out of the tank and put her in the bath, no need to acclimate. Leave her for 15 minutes and monitor the whole time for signs of severe stress. If she stresses severely (an fish of mine fin clamped for 5 min but was then okay, so sometimes you need to give them a couple minutes) immediately take her out of the bath and put her back in her tank. I use an old betta cup to transfer from tank to bath and back. When the 15 min is up, scoop her out and put her back in the tank (try not to add too much of the epsom salt bath water to your tank). If you are worried about her since she is likely fragile right now, you could do a half gallon of water with a half - 3/4 teaspoon of salt rather than a whole teaspoon of salt. If you do this, leave her in the bath for 20 min. If it is an internal parasite you can treat the water with an internal parasite medication of your choice. I like seachem focus, but that is something you add to their food, and as you mentioned, your fish is refusing to eat. I have also heard good things about API general cure. Whatever med you choose, make sure it is not filtered out by carbon in your filter. If so, you may need to keep you filter off while treating and do 50% water changes daily. Hope I explained that well, let me know if you have questions

 

I would go ahead and do a 50% water change now and just add fresh de-chlorinated water with no salt. I am assuming your tank is properly cycled because I saw it was set up almost a year ago. You can buy epsom salt at a grocery store or a store like rite aid. Make sure there are no additives or scents. Just 100% the epsom salt. What I did was fill a container with a half gallon of water, make sure it is about 2 inches deep so your fish can swim in it. Make sure this temperature matches your tanks, de-chlorinate this water with whatever water conditioner you use. Add 1 teaspoon of epsom salt and mix it in well until dissolved. Scoop your fish out of the tank and put her in the bath, no need to acclimate. Leave her for 15 minutes and monitor the whole time for signs of severe stress. If she stresses severely (an fish of mine fin clamped for 5 min but was then okay, so sometimes you need to give them a couple minutes) immediately take her out of the bath and put her back in her tank. I use an old betta cup to transfer from tank to bath and back. When the 15 min is up, scoop her out and put her back in the tank (try not to add too much of the epsom salt bath water to your tank). If you are worried about her since she is likely fragile right now, you could do a half gallon of water with a half - 3/4 teaspoon of salt rather than a whole teaspoon of salt. If you do this, leave her in the bath for 20 min. If it is an internal parasite you can treat the water with an internal parasite medication of your choice. I like seachem focus, but that is something you add to their food, and as you mentioned, your fish is refusing to eat. I have also heard good things about API general cure. Whatever med you choose, make sure it is not filtered out by carbon in your filter. If so, you may need to keep you filter off while treating and do 50% water changes daily. Hope I explained that well, let me know if you have questions

Thanks so much!!! I did the epsom salt bath last night and left him in there for 20 mins. How often do I do this? He looks the same today. I will stop by the pet store and buy the parasite meds.

 

Thanks so much!!! I did the epsom salt bath last night and left him in there for 20 mins. How often do I do this? He looks the same today. I will stop by the pet store and buy the parasite meds.

You can do the baths 2-3 times a day, with a couple hours of break in between. If he (sorry I kept calling him a her in my last post) handled the bath well that is good and you should be safe to go ahead and continue them. If he starts to pinecone at any point I would immediately start to treat with kanaplex by seachem. You may want to pick that up in case of emergency and to have in stock for future use.

 

Can you please send some pics of him from the side and top angle? I would also pick up a couple betta leaves so he has somewhere to rest on the surface.