LOL, that's silly...a pea can't do intestinal damage. They may eat too much and get full, and it is alarming when bettas have those huge overextended tummies, but contrary to what you may have heard, it is extremely rare for an animal to eat so much that it causes itself harm. You could feed less than a whole pea, but really, one pea isn't going to hurt anything. These are just a few websites that mention the pea remedy to avoid and relieve constipation:
http://nippyfish.net/2009/01/26/how-to-prepare-pea-for-a-bloated-betta/
http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/constipation.php
http://velvetdragon.com/bettas/sbd.html
http://www.fishlore.com/Tips-Betta.htm
You've just learned your first lesson in aquarium keeping. Some people are very...superstitious? And will say things like this that are, for lack of a better word, dumb. You have to use your own common sense and BS meter.
Just yesterday someone was saying to me that their fish died because their dechlorinator must have expired, since it smelled BAD. They were all upset and were going to complain to the company that the dechlorinator killed their fish. Well, guess what? Dechlorinator always smells bad, a sulfur kind of smell, and all that happens when it expires (though it lasts for years) is that it stops working properly, so the chances that it was responsible for the fish death are virtually nil.
If it was truly expired and the water company decided to add a particularly large dose of chloramine to the water, maybe there would have been an ammonia spike from the water change, but even then, it's very unlikely. Probably had more to do with the fact that she hadn't changed any water in 6 months, which I found out later with more questioning.
http://nippyfish.net/2009/01/26/how-to-prepare-pea-for-a-bloated-betta/
http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/constipation.php
http://velvetdragon.com/bettas/sbd.html
http://www.fishlore.com/Tips-Betta.htm
You've just learned your first lesson in aquarium keeping. Some people are very...superstitious? And will say things like this that are, for lack of a better word, dumb. You have to use your own common sense and BS meter.
Just yesterday someone was saying to me that their fish died because their dechlorinator must have expired, since it smelled BAD. They were all upset and were going to complain to the company that the dechlorinator killed their fish. Well, guess what? Dechlorinator always smells bad, a sulfur kind of smell, and all that happens when it expires (though it lasts for years) is that it stops working properly, so the chances that it was responsible for the fish death are virtually nil.
If it was truly expired and the water company decided to add a particularly large dose of chloramine to the water, maybe there would have been an ammonia spike from the water change, but even then, it's very unlikely. Probably had more to do with the fact that she hadn't changed any water in 6 months, which I found out later with more questioning.


