Betta... sick or dying?

B

Beasty Kato

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Jan 11, 2005
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My betta over the past week has been just sitting at the top of the tank taking gulps of air. Sometimes on occasion he will go to the bottom but doesn't stay long and struggles to get back to the top.

From what I have read this appears to be a swim bladder problem? My 10g tank is heavily planted there is a fair amount of decaying material in the gravel bed that just builds up no matter how often I vacuum but I don't think it made him sick? It's always been like that and I vacuum weekly but with all the plants its hard to get the nook and crannies. Anyway, I tested the water I'm reading 0ppm on NH3, NO2 and NO3.

He is almost 4 years old and was rescued from walmart... it just seems like he is in pain I'm not sure what to do. I have added aquarium salt to try to help him breathe and take in more H2O into his system in case he was constipated but he seems to be getting weaker... so I shut off the filter so there was no current for him to struggle with. He has lived so long I'm hoping it's and infection or something that I can treat as opposed to it simply failing from old age.

Any advice?
 
I think you've given him a good long home for 3 yrs longer than I've been able to keep most Bettas alive. I've got 1 I've had almost 2 yrs but every single other 1 has died before a year. I do everything right over and over. They're cared for so poorly before we get them it's a wonder they live at all. For yours to make it 4 yrs is wonderful. I'm sorry he's sick but I think he's just getting to the end of his time. I don't think it's a swim bladder problem, I think he's just old.
 
It sounds like your Betta has lived past the average life expectancy of Bettas. I don't there's anything wrong with him and you should stop with the Salt or any other treatment. Just continue what you've been doing the last 3+ years.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'm not ready to give up yet though. When I got home for the first time in 3 days he swam up to me when I walked in the room. I fed him 3 pellets by dropping them in his path as he swam and he took them. He did it a little slowly but he did eat them.

He has a fat belly and a bend in his spine that seem to be symptoms of a swim bladder problem to me. Of course, I have never seen this before so I do not know for sure.

If it really is his time I'll be fine with that but since he seems to have gotten his appetite back I'm gonna wait it out a bit longer and just make sure his conditions are optimal.

As before, any advice is appreciated! And thanks to the previous posters on the complements for keeping him so long. I'll keep this updated if there are any significant changes in the next few days just incase someone else runs into this type of problem.
 
I don't know if anyone has mentioned that he might be constipated, but there's an easy treatment for that and it's worth a try to make him feel better.

You get frozen english peas, nuke some in tank water in the microwave, maybe 45 seconds or long enough so that you can squish the insides out of the skin. Discard the skin, and feed him some of the peas.

Apparently this works wonders for constipation, which can cause swim bladder problems and swollen tummy.

I would also make the pea especially tasty by putting some fresh garlic juice in it. I get the minced garlic in a jar that you can find near the produce section at the grocery store. That way you can add some of the liquid from that, mmmm pretty strong stuff, lol, to the mushy pea stuff.

Seriously, fish just love garlic and it can usually help the appetite of the pickiest of eaters.

What I've read on this forum is to fast the fish for a few days and then feed this. If he's already pretty much been going without food, I guess that may qualify as the fasting period.

I hope this helps. Just be sure to also keep his water pristine. I think you should keep his tank filter going, just turn down the force of the flow, if possible. He does have plants he can rest in near the surface, right? That will help.

Also, do you keep his water around 78 degrees. They like that and it would make him feel better.

I hope your sweet little friend gets better. It sounds like he's had a really good life with you. What a fortunate little guy that you took him home on that day, that, I presume, you saw him in a cup in a fish store.

His life could have turned out so much worse but for you. I hope you remember that, and take comfort in the fact that he has enjoyed a good long life with you, and has had someone that really cares for him
 
Well, good news! I'm not sure he is totally in the clear but he is swimming about the tank and not struggling nearly as much to reach the surface. So, I filled the tank back up and got the filter up and running again. He still sits around and rests more than usual but otherwise seems he is back to normal and he definitely got his appetite back.
 
so the peas worked?
 
He ate a small amount of the pea that I put in. I can't attribute his recovering solely to that but I would say that it probably helped bring down some of his bloating, since his stomach is notably smaller since feeding him the pea.

He is still sluggish and more tired than usual but he can actually swim in a straight line now. At the very least though, there has been a very noticeable improvement in the last 24 hours.
 
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