# Sick Female Betta with eggs?



## angelpink7 (Sep 18, 2012)

About a month or almost two ago, my females suddenly spawned eggs, I do not have a male betta. But they spawned their eggs suddenly after I introduced the new fish into the tank they stayed in {A few had died and so I replaced them} Their not bettas but they were male. 

But I figured without a male betta, maybe they would just drop their eggs and that would be that, but after almost two months their still carrying their eggs and now one of them has stopped swimming, she spends just about all her time sitting on the bottom and grabbing any food that happens to fall near her when I feed them. She moves around every now and then but she'll stay in the same spot at the bottom of the tank just about all day. She was never like this till about a week ago, and I'm afraid maybe the fact that she's still carrying her eggs may be making her sick? 
I mean the second female is also carrying her eggs, but she's doing just fine, and swimming about normally, it's just the one. 

Any help would really be appreciated.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Hi angelpink and welcome to the forum.

When a female betta "eggs" up, she becomes very plump and almost looks bloated up near the head. If she is unable to spawn with a male, she will then either release the eggs she is carrying and you will see them or she will reabsorb them. If she releases the eggs, often she'll eat them as fast as she drops them.

On some occasions though, an eggy female will become "egg-bound" where she is unable to pass or reabsorb the eggs. This can be a potentially fatal condition but this doesn't happen often. It seems more likely that your female has perhaps developed some other problem. 

Can you answer these questions? That will help with a diagnosis.

Housing 
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?


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## angelpink7 (Sep 18, 2012)

Well I know for a fact she's holding eggs, They both are. I can still see the starter egg hanging from their stomach. I thought maybe they would just eventually drop them but like I've said it's been about two months now. I've bred bettas before, and I actually got rid of my male breeding betta almost four months back. {But he was kept in his own isolated Tank away from the females so I know they weren't exposed to him to start producing eggs, and I mean they produced the eggs almost two months AFTER he was gone} The one plumper one is still swimming around, the female at the bottom is definitely not as big as my other and I mean maybe she's started to re-absorb her eggs? I've just never had this problem before {Also cause normally, when they do, I've always just bred them. I've stopped breeding, these are my two own favorites that I've kept} It might be why she's acting like that, but to answer what questions I can.


Housing 
What size is your tank: Their in a 30 galloon tank
Does your tank have a filter: My Tank does have a filter
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration: Yes
Is your tank heated: No, I got rid of my heated tank along with my male betta.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with: Two feeder golfish, two miniature goldfish, two fantails, and my two bottom feeders. {Yes I prefer to have twos} 

What type of food do you feed your betta fish?Their fed regular fish flakes, with the obvious occasion treat of bloodworm and what not from their treat wheel. 
How often do you feed your betta fish: The entire tank is fed once in the morning and once at night. 

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change: I do a quick half water change somewhere during the month and then a full cleaning of the tank every month or other month.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change: Half 
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change: Just the regular betta color enhancer for my girls and then the regular water purifier, aquasafe drops.


How has your betta fish's appearance changed: Well her color's have obviously changed do to the fact that she was ready to mate, but she's kept her color enhancements so far and she normally gets the white lines in her tail, which I have noticed that she's gotten, lost and then they've returned again. 
How has your betta fish's behavior changed: She naturally would be found swimming with my other betta female around the tank, but as of about a week ago she's been at the bottom slowly moving about, and at some points I've feared she had completely passed cause she wouldn't move at all for hours.
When did you start noticing the symptoms: A week ago
Have you started treating your fish: No, not yet, cause I wasn't sure if I should just give her time cause I wasn't sure if it was complications do to the eggs or if there was actually an issue wrong with her.
Does your fish have any history of being ill: No she's been a healthy girl eer since the day I got her.
How old is your fish (approximately): in all truth? I can't possibly tell you, she was in my tank for some time, and I don't remember whether she was a hatchling or a bought fish, but by the time I had dwindled my tank down, I had kept just her and my other girl. But I mean she can't possibly be older then a year, I mean I know for a fact she's younger then my other female betta. Cause Twilight's been with me for a while, I was surprised she even spawned eggs, but I believe she was just reacting to the other female's sudden spawn, but I'm not sure at all. My only experience is with what I've Had, and even my breeding was spur of the moment happening, I hadn't planned to breed betta's, I've just finally now managed to get rid of all of them. Including my last male that I bred. 


Ah, I feel like a noob all over again. 
But as I just checked on her again, she is swimming at the moment, but she's still sticking to the bottom instead of like normal....is there any possible way she might be acting like this because Twilight might have become agressive do to fact that their both carrying? {But I mean it's been two months and up till now, they've never had such an issue} I don't know, I'm just been trying to figure out some possible theory as to what may be wrong with her.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Is it possible that what you see is parasitic poo? This is when they poo but because they have parasites it is usually stringy, clingy, and whiteish. Since you said they haven't been exposed to any male for some time, it seems unlikely they would produce eggs without that stimulation. This is why, based on your description of her behavior, I think it may be internal parasites. In addition, feeder goldfish are notorious for carrying parasites because of the horrible conditions they are kept in at the pet store so it's more than likely one of the goldfish has infected the girls. 

I would remove them from the 30 gallon and place each one into her own small hospital tank for treatment with 1 tsp of epsom salt per gallon and a product such as API General Cure. Encourage them both to eat, as waste is needed to help expel the parasites. 

Don't put the two of them into a smaller tank together. Because the 30gal is quite large, they seem to be doing all right in there with enough territory to go around but in a small tank, two female bettas may become very aggressive toward each other. 

Since you are keeping two bettas with a lot of coldwater fish in an unheated tank, there's a strong possibility that their immune systems became compromised because they were chilled. When a warm-water fish like a betta - who thrives in waters around 78-80 F or higher - is kept in water that is too cold, it begins to expend most of its energy just staying alive and it doesn't have enough strength to fight off diseases. It would be the same if the situation was in reverse, with your goldfish in waters that were too warm for them. It would be best if the bettas had their own heated tank.

You may want to treat the 30gal with API General Cure too as a precaution so the goldies don't get sick as well. 

Good luck and I hope your girls get better quickly. Keep us updated and don't hesitate to ask for help.


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## angelpink7 (Sep 18, 2012)

Alright Thank you so much for the help ^^


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

You're welcome.  I hope the girls get better very quickly.


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