# Male Betta Fish Swollen Abdomen-Need Help!



## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

I need help! I am trying to figure out why my betta fish is bloated. I love him dearly and I am so worried about him. I noticed the symptoms about 4 days ago. He was in a 5 gallon tank, he was moved to his new 10 gallon tank on Friday evening 8/3/12. My boyfriend thought maybe he overfed him since he likes to give him 5 or 6 pellets and we thought maybe he was just constipated from being overfed. I fasted him for a day and on the second day I fed him 1 pellet and the inside of a green pea. He is pooping fine, but sometimes has kinda stringy clear poo between regular poos. He is still bloated and not getting any better. The cardinal tetras I introduced to the tank turned out to have ich so now he prob has that too. Please help! Not sure what to do or if I am treating with the right meds. I think he might have a parasite he could have possibly caught from pond snails in my tank, which came out of petsmart tanks. Thank you for your help!

Housing 
What size is your tank? 10 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 82 degrees (normally 80 degrees)
Does your tank have a filter? marineland penguin 100
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? 1 bubble stone and 1 bubble wall
Is your tank heated? yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 4 pepper cory catfish and down from 5 cardinal tetras to 3 in the past couple of days due to ich/septicemia

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? normally 3 to 4 aqueon betta pellets, also give thawed frozen bloodworms once or twice a week, freeze dried tubifex worms once a week the day before water change( he likes to play with them and attack them), occasional thawed frozen brine shrimp, he doesn't really like them though
How often do you feed your betta fish? normally 2x daily

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? weekly with gravel vacuum( though I have sand in my tank instead of gravel)
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 20 percent
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? tetra aquasafe water conditioner ( I have freshwater aquarium salt in the tank right now at 1 rounded tablespoon per 5 gallons

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
tested water before performing 30 percent partial water change yesterday
Ammonia: 0.5 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrite: 0.5 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrate: 10 ppm (mg/L)
pH: 7.2
Hardness: 75 (GH) ppm
Alkalinity: 80 (KH) ppm

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? yes he has a swollen abdomen, stringy poo, and I could have sworn I saw little clear strings of mucous or something hanging down from under his belly yesterday, also possibly has a few spots of ich that he caught from cardinal tetras, has a torn pectoral fin and a few tears in his tail (I think the tetras nipped his tail and the tear in his fin is from a hole that his got in his fin somehow before the tetras were introduced to the tank on Friday 8/3/12. 
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? he is still eating but appetite is not as voracious as it was, sleeping more at bottom of tank, perks up and is active when i approach him
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 3 or 4 days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? API Super Ick Cure at half strength dose yesterday morning and the day before, switched to Tetra Parasite Guard Fizz Tab after 30 percent water change yesterday evening
Does your fish have any history of being ill? He has had fin rot before and completely recovered from it
How old is your fish (approximately)? about 1 year old


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Also, he has been constipated before and the green pea helped. He was better the next day the last time he was bloated from constipation.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

He has internal parasites. I would get him isolated and start a 2tsp per gallon treatment of unscented epsom salt asap.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

I am scared to use epsom salt. What if it hurts him?


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

He looks a little bit more bloated today.


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## underdebate (Jan 26, 2012)

There's absolutely nothing to worry about when using epsom salt-- as long as you find a brand that's unscented, you'll be perfectly fine. There's nothing about it that can hurt him and it will help to relieve his bloating.


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

Epsom salt is the most gentle salt you can buy  It's even gentler for treating illnesses than medicines made of chemicals.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Okay will go to the store and get some unscented epsom salt. Thanks guys! Will keep you updated!


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

I got some plain unscented epsom salt and put 2 teaspoons in 1 gallon of water. Kept temp within 2 degrees of tank temp. Tank temp was 82 and bath water was 84. I adjusted tank temp up to 84 now. He did great and even passed a tiny little string of poo! I am so happy! First good bit of poo he has had today! I bathed him for 30 minutes and then put him back in his tank.  He was definitely happy to be back in his tank but seemed fine for his bath or than being unhappy with the small tank he was in and the elevated ph.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Here is a video I took of him today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPU4JBAfy2w&feature=youtu.be


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

its not a bathing thing, its like regular aq salt, just slowly introduce the water into the tank (25% at a time). This technique would work if he was simply bloated, for this to work for internal parasites he needs to be in it all day/night. With this I also recommend 50%-100% daily water changes.

edit: it'll also take a few days to start to kill of the worms and then a few more to pass them. Treat for a t least a week and see how he is in a week.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

I put Alpha in a 5 gallon hospital tank this morning. I added 1 tsp per gallon of epsom salt before putting Alpha in. I slowly brought temp up from 84 to 86 degrees. I fed him 3 room temp dethawed frozen brine shrimp. I also added Maracyn II this morning. Tonight I added Maracyn I and now I am slowly adding more epsom salt so it will be a total of 2 tsp per gallon. No poop today.  He is a little bit more bloated. I shined a light at his belly and it looks like it is filled with clear fluid.  What do you think? Any advice you could give me I will be grateful for. I don't want to lose him. I love Alpha. I am worried that I could have caused kidney failure from using 1 tbsp of aquarium salt per 5 gallons the first 6 months I had him. I didn't know it would cause organ damage until now.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Here is a video I took of him this morning. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNY101YXa4E&feature=youtu.be


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Hi kyasarin. Alpha sure is a handsome boy. He doesn't look too bloated in the video so I think we can easily treat him for his internal parasites. 

First, let's go ahead and stop the Maracyn combo for now. Maracyn I and II are both antibiotics and won't have an effect on his parasite problem. Also, both Maracyns can cause additional kidney damage so it's best not to use them unless absolutely necessary.

Give him one day of water with no medicines and just epsom salt. Then, on Monday, you can start him on a course of API General Cure. This is an anti-parasite med that contains metronidazole, which is effective against internal parasites. 

Other than his stringy poo, Alpha's behavior looks very good. He is actively swimming in the video and his fins are full and healthy, not clamped up. And he is eating, which is also good. Continue to feed him frozen brine shrimp, it is a good food because of its fiber content.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Thank you so much!


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

Aw, it looks like a nice environment for him that you made. I hope he gets better soon. FYI I used epsom salt on my little guy Nimbus who I got with swim bladder disorder, nothing bad happened from the epsom salt. (You just can't buy like. . "Lavender scented" for bathing.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

He has been on Tetra Parasite Guard for the past 4 days with 48 hours between doses. Will it hurt to do metronidazole again? He never pooped any worms, he has just had some mucous in his stool and coming from his gills. The mucous coming from his gills has gotten better today.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Who is the fish in your avatar photo mursey? He is very pretty!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

The mucous from his gills is probably a bit of excess slime coat. Could also be an indicator that he has a mild case of gill flukes as well. 

Parasite Guard are the fizzy tabs, right? Or is that Jungle Labs? Either way, you can give him that day without medicine and then try with the General Cure. OR, if you are uncomfortable using medication on him again so soon after the Parasite Guard, you can just up his epsom salt dosage to 3 tsps per gallon for a few days and see if that helps. Epsom salt is a laxative/diuretic and isn't even a salt, it's magnesium sulfate. We humans use it as a muscle soak or as a laxative. Unlike regular aquarium salt, which is definitely salt (taste it, mmm, salty!), epsom salt can be used indefinitely with no negative effects. 

It's up to you which treatment plan you're more comfortable pursuing.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Yep it is fizzy tabs. I will go with your plan. Tomorrow I will do a 100 percent water change and just add 2 tsp. of epsom salt per gallon. I just want him to feel better. Then on Monday I will start the course of API General Cure. I really really appreciate your help! Thank you!


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Is it still okay to use epsom salt with the api general cure?


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

kyasarin5 said:


> Who is the fish in your avatar photo mursey? He is very pretty!



Oh thank you! He is Purplius LeGrape (I give all my fish ridiculous first and last names). Believe it or not, I stumbled upon him at a local pet store that looked pretty dirty and run down. They didn't even know he should be more money than a veitail. They charged me $2.99 for him. All their fish tanks looked disgusting but they had a few interesting bettas. So weird!


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

wow! i have never seen a marble crowntail betta before!

they have really cute names!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Yes, it's okay to use the epsom salt with the General Cure.


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## Basement Bettas (May 12, 2012)

kyasarin5 said:


> I put Alpha in a 5 gallon hospital tank this morning. I added 1 tsp per gallon of epsom salt before putting Alpha in. I slowly brought temp up from 84 to 86 degrees. I fed him 3 room temp dethawed frozen brine shrimp. I also added Maracyn II this morning. Tonight I added Maracyn I and now I am slowly adding more epsom salt so it will be a total of 2 tsp per gallon. No poop today.  He is a little bit more bloated. I shined a light at his belly and it looks like it is filled with clear fluid.  What do you think? Any advice you could give me I will be grateful for. I don't want to lose him. I love Alpha. I am worried that I could have caused kidney failure from using 1 tbsp of aquarium salt per 5 gallons the first 6 months I had him. I didn't know it would cause organ damage until now.


What is the maracyn for? Not internal parasites..


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## Basement Bettas (May 12, 2012)

Sakura8 said:


> Hi kyasarin. Alpha sure is a handsome boy. He doesn't look too bloated in the video so I think we can easily treat him for his internal parasites.
> 
> First, let's go ahead and stop the Maracyn combo for now. Maracyn I and II are both antibiotics and won't have an effect on his parasite problem. Also, both Maracyns can cause additional kidney damage so it's best not to use them unless absolutely necessary.
> 
> ...


I agree..


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Alpha's belly is very round and swollen. He is still swimming around when I come to see him though and acting normal. When I leave the tank though he goes and sleeps at the bottom behind his plants. At night when the lights are off he sleeps on top of one of the leaves near the surface. He has had 2 solid looking poos since I started the API General Cure treatment. I am hoping that is a good sign. I am just so worried about his belly. i want to feed him some brine shrimp but I am worried his belly might burst!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

His activity sounds pretty normal so far. That he is still swimming is good. A lot of bettas just rest when they're alone, kind of the same way dogs sleep on the porch when their owners are away. 

You can feed him a few brine shrimp, that's fine. It's important to have something going in so there is waste that comes out, that is what helps to push the worms out.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Here is a video of Alpha that I took today. Please let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oXtC6IOsC0&feature=youtu.be


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

I gave him 4 brine shrimp dethawed this evening. He threw up 2 little tiny pieces of clearish white somethings about 3 hours after eating .


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Thanks for reassuring me about feeding him Sakura. He still has a pretty good appetite, doesn't go after it as quickly but still seems hungry. He likes his betta pellets better. He really likes dethawed frozen bloodworms too. Is it okay to give him a few of those or just stick with the brine shrimp for now? I also have some frozen mosquito larvae. He won't even look at the daphnia, lol.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Brine shrimp is best because of its fiber but if he doesn't like them, it's best to give him waht he wants. Stick with frozen foods for now and save the pellets for when he's better. 

Could the clearish pieces he threw up be bits of brine shrimp? That's what all my bettas do when I try to feed them brine shrimp (they hate them). They just spit them up.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Not sure. Usually when he doesn't like something he spits it out immediately so i don't think so. not sure though. i will give him 3 brine shrimp and 1 bloodworm as a treat tomorrow!  thank you for helping my betta fish!!!


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Alpha is still very bloated. He is pooping more though. Today is day 3 of 4 of his api general cure treatment. I have also noticed a white spot on the bottom of his dorsal fin but it doesn't look like ich. I am wondering if one of the particles of the medicine powder is just stuck there.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

It could also just be a bit of slime coat that came loose. If he is still bloated by tomorrow, we can continue the General Cure for another few days until he shrinks a little more.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Thanks Sakura! I will keep an eye on the spot for now and will post another video of Alpha today.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

*Extremely Worried!*

Here is a video I took of Alpha just a while ago. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R-HldYgDMo&feature=youtu.be

I am extremely worried about him. His abdomen keeps on swelling instead of going down. It looks like it is filled with fluid and will burst! Should I try draining off some of the fluid? I am afraid too but I was a vet tech for 3 years and I feel fairly certain that I could do it if instructed. I have clove oil to put him under anesthesia and I could use a sterile insulin needle syringe from the pharmacy. Please help ASAP! Thank you very much for your help!!!


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I honestly don't know about draining off the fluid. You would have a much higher chance of success than most people because of your experience, but at the same time, bettas are so small. The procedure would have to be pretty precise to avoid puncturing an organ and the trauma might be too much for him.

I did see what looked like stringy poo coming from him. Does he still have that? Have you seen any evidence of white parasites coming from him? Otherwise . . . one thing I'm worried about is the possibility of tumors or a tumor-like growth. These can happen in the abdomen and while a fish can live comfortable for a time with them, the fish does eventually succumb. In fact, one of my girls just passed two days ago from a tumor that was in her abdomen.

For now, I would advise continuing with the General Cure for another few days as well as continuing with 3 tsps of epsom salt per gallon. If you have any Indian Almond Leaf or naturally dried oak leaves, you can use those for beneficial tannins.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Sadly, we made the difficult decision to put Alpha to sleep. He was a sweet fish and a happy fish but he had begun to suffer. I am afraid he must have had kidney failure because so much fluid was building up.


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## GawfFish (Feb 4, 2010)

So sorry for your loss.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Thank you Sakura for all of your help and everyone else who also helped. I didn't see the white spot on him anymore and he still had the stringy poo. He looked like he was having to come up more for air than he was. He stayed on one of the top leaves of his plant near the surface to sleep today. I let him sleep with natural light and turned off his aquarium light so he could sleep better. He has been mostly sleeping the past few days. When I looked at his belly it looked like it was almost ready to rupture. I gave him a couple of pellets before he passed. It was his favorite food. He loved his pellets. He was excited when i put him in his water changing tank. He was always excited when i changed his water. I am sad because I am worried about if he felt any pain when we used the clove oil. I thought he would just slowly go to sleep but he jumped around at first and I held him in my hand so he could get air from the surface and he calmed down then and slowly went to sleep. We used 3 drops in a cup of his tank water and shook it up well and then added about 1/2 cup to the 1/2 gallon he was in. Did we add too much too fast? He seemed like the clove oil really freaked him out the first 5 to 10 seconds. I hope we didn't hurt him. Does clove oil burn? He relaxed after I held him up to the surface with my hand and was okay getting air then but it was like when we first put the diluted clove oil in everytime he came up to the surface to get air he jerked away and flipped out. My poor baby. I hope he is at peace now. Could it have just been the smell of the clove oil that bothered him?


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Thank you for your sympathy GawfFish. I miss him so much. I cried a long time after he passed. He was my friend and I loved him very much. :`(


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

kyasarin, I'm so sorry for your loss.  You took excellent care of him and gave him a fighting chance against his illness. 

As for the clove oil . . . everyone I have spoken to reports the same thing happening with the fish jumping. I honestly don't know what the fish could be reacting to, as I'm not sure enough studies have been done on its effects other than anaesthesizing and euthanization. My own attempt at using clove oil was a disaster and since then I have always had my veterinary clinic perform the euthanization. For emergencies, I have on hand a product called Finquel, which is an anaesthetic that can be safely overdosed for euthanization. I was told by my Petco that this is the product they use for such a purpose. It can be obtained at www.drsfostersmith.com.


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## kyasarin5 (Aug 8, 2012)

Thank you for your kind words. I miss Alpha very much. I am glad to know that it wasn't something we did wrong with the clove oil. I will get some finquel to have for the future. Thank you so much for everything. I have read in various places online that fish have an initial period of hyperactivity or excitatory stage as they lose their equilibrium and their central nervous system is depressed. Here are a few of the sources. 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...hoHABw&usg=AFQjCNHY9ySkEvwIDxT_ceMthmkrqO-wDQ

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...hoHABw&usg=AFQjCNHz63jLPiqNndmwprDcPS-AKTApfA

Rest in Peace Alpha. <3


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## LiLBit1188 (Oct 8, 2012)

I was reading about ur bloated belly fish n I have the same thing happening to my fish, except that my fish sits at the bottom of the tank and comes up to eat. I am trying the Epson.salt, but I haven't seen any poop yet. I feel so bad for him, I don't know what else to do


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