# Rescued Betta Has HUGE Bulge Under Neck!!



## Aroe (Jan 21, 2013)

Just rescued him today! He's in terrible condition... What's the lump under his throat??


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

That is his stomach... He's bloated. It could be many reasons... It's usually constipation due to bad food but it could very well be an internal infection.. Are his scales raised at all when you look at him from the top?


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## Aroe (Jan 21, 2013)

No his scales aren't raised.. I feel like it may be bad food because he was being fed flakes which I hear aren't very good for them. He's otherwise okay, swimming around, quite active actually.


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## royal (Jan 23, 2013)

Thats good! I feed my betta wardley betta pellets, if you want a kind of pellets. My royal loves them!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Omega One and New Life Spectrum are two high quality pellets. You are right that flakes aren't the greatest. However, I would fast him, watch for poo and see if the bloating goes down.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Please fill this out-



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)?



For now, fast him for three days.


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## BeautifulBetta123 (Aug 27, 2012)

Fast him and keep him warm make sure he is pooping the water should be not be less than 78*F


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I would also recommend getting your hands on some epsom salt, 100% pure fragrance free.It is pretty cheap for a large amount  Fasting would help, for sure. The water should be warmer as well since in colder waters their metabolism slows down, therefore can cause problems such as constipation. 

You can fast him for a couple days, and try flaring him if he will. Showing him to another male, or using a mirror. That usually gets them to poop :lol:

For epsom salt, you can use 1-3 teaspoons per gallon pre-dissolved. I usually add 1, then gradually increase it. A large water change every day, and re-adding the salt you took out works very well. When he looks better, I still recommend continuing it for another 2-3 days just to make sure. He is pretty close to SBD (swim bladder disorder) if he hasn't gotten it already.

Another method is feeding live or frozen daphnia, which acts as a natural laxative.

I will not tell you to use a pea, as it is indigestive and though "pushes" blockages through, it can become the blockage itself...


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## royal (Jan 23, 2013)

Oh so that's. Why you're not supposed to feed bettas peas


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Basically  Plus their main diet in the wild is actually meat... They get their plant based matter through their prey's stomach contents. Also why you gut stuff live food before feeding them to fish, or any animal for that matter.


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## royal (Jan 23, 2013)

Good to know! Thanks!


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

Live daphnia helps mine to poop.. But you're fasting him, so that's a no-go.


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## breezywillow (Jan 28, 2013)

Hey guys, dont mean to butt in on this thread but I saw the lump under the throat thing and I have noticed the same thing in my Weebles. I have had him for a little over a week now, two days ago I upgraded him to a 5 gallon with filter and got him a mystery snail buddy. He finally started eating two days ago, this is the first time since I have gotten him. Today I noticed he is staying near the top, right under the surface, kind of sitting on one of his plants, which is very unusual for him, he has been very active until now. He has a very slight swelling where his ventral fins are. My husband says he cant really see it but I dont think I'm being paranoid and dont really want to wait until it is super noticable to do something. Any help? Or should I just wait it out and see?


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

How much did you feed him? He's probably constipated from going awhile without food and then suddenly eating. Just fast him and watch for poop.


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## breezywillow (Jan 28, 2013)

The first day he ate I gave him 5-6 pellets and that was it all day, the second day I only gave him 3 pellets and it was later in the day that I noticed the swelling, that was Sun and Mon, today the swelling has gone down quite a bit but I still havent seen poop, but I dont get to really watch him that much being on third shift and sleeping most of the day. He is constently sitting in the spot I feed him wanting more. And he has been flaring alot right in that spot, which he hasnt dont at all since Ive had him. Today I only gave him two, spaced at least nine hours apart, and wont feed him anymore until I get up tomorrow afternoon. I dont want to fast him completely incase your right and its because he has gone for so long without food that his stomach has shrunk. Im going to try to keep it to 1-2 pellets a day in two meals, with one fast day for a week and then gradually move the number of pellets up until he gets used to the amount of food, hopefully topping out at 4-6 pellets a day in two meals. I also offer him FD bloodworms as a snack but I dont give him pellets if I give him 1-2 of those. Hopefully the swelling will stay down


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Fasting is the best way to help constipation. Their digestive systems need rest sometimes. You could try feeding him every other day until the swelling goes down or he gets on a regular poop schedule. Fasting a day won't hurt him even if it has been awhile since he ate... It's better to start out slow.

Also, what brand of pellets are you feeding?


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## breezywillow (Jan 28, 2013)

Hikari Bio Gold


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## BettaGIRL5 (Jan 20, 2013)

*betta fish male or female????*

maybe he is just eating too much??


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I would only feed three pellets a day. 5-6 is a lot unless they are as small as NLS (like pencil tip small).


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## breezywillow (Jan 28, 2013)

They are really tiny, about the size of a lead pencil tip, they are 1/4 the size of Tetra Mini pellets, which I tried at first and he would just continually spit back out. I had read a couple other threads here with people using bio gold and suggesting about 6 pellets a day but I'll try cutting him back some once the swelling goes down, which it seems to be doing, albeit rather slowly. He is still mostly sitting around the top of the tank, usually in the spot I feed him but he does swim around the tank some and doesnt seem to have any problems doing so. I have been trying to get him to flair with no success. Tried the mirror and showing him pictures of other bettas and besides yesterday him compulsively doing it on his own, he wont flair. Instead he just kind of stares and then turns away.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Some are less aggressive than others. I feed 4-6 NLS (.5 mm pencil tip size) a day and I spread it out two or three times a day (so 3 twice a day or 2 three times a day). Until the swelling goes down, I would feed him less.

I have one fish who is less active than my others so I feed him less. If the bloat is a continuous issue, you'll have to figure out a good amount to feed each day and probably do a fast day each week or switch up the number of pellets you feed a day. They are all different... My fish each get a different amount of food depending on their activity level, size, and how easily bloated they get.


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## breezywillow (Jan 28, 2013)

Ok thanks  I'm also going to try to get some frozen daphnia when I get off this weekend and maybe use that once a week if he keeps getting bloated, Ive heard a few bad things about the Hikari Bio Gold, of course after I bought it lol but I was also going to try to look for some Omega One, which I heard is alot better and keeps them from bloating so much, Im just not sure if my LFS or LPS carry it or NLS


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Omega One is usually easier to find but NLS is a little better and its great for small mouths! It came in handy when I got my young girls.


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## breezywillow (Jan 28, 2013)

Yeah, they have the Omega One online at petsmart but no NLS  I wonder how big the Omega One pellets are, I think the reason he wouldn't eat the Tetra Mini pellets is because they were still too big for him, he is pretty small. I may just have to break down and order the NLS offline, it doesn't look too bad though, looks like the shipping will probably cost me more than the food lol


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

The Omega One pellets are smaller than TetraBetta pellets (the only kind by tetra I have had) but larger than NLS. Petco has NLS but not petsmart.


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## Krys (Jul 28, 2009)

I feed my bettas a pinhead sized piece of uncooked pea when they have bloating problems. I know people say it's not good for them, but everytime i've fed it to them, it knocked out the bloating problem pretty quickly, help with swim bladder disorder too sometimes. as long as you don't feed it to them everyday, it's should be fine. Peas are like laxatives to fish, just make sure you don't feed them the skin, you want the inside of the pea, uncooked, but soft, like from a defrosted bag of frozen peas, or from canned peas without any added salt in the canning water.

I would fast him for a couple days, and if it doesn't improve, try a piece of pea. :3


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## breezywillow (Jan 28, 2013)

Unfortunately the closests petco is over 30 miles away  Im prob going to stop at petsmart this weekend and get a look at the Omega One food and if it seems too big, I will prob just end up ordering NLS offline. I've been really scared to try the pea thing since everyone seems so against it. I figured I would save that for a last resort kind of thing if fasting him didnt work but fasting him for the last 36 hours has seemed to help, his belly is almost normal now. I just dont want to have to fast him every other day after feeding him. Hopefully with the better food he wont get this way whenever I feed him  Thanks so much for your help guys


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## Krys (Jul 28, 2009)

A lot of people hate the peas. But they do work. I've never had a fish get sick from eating a piece of pea. if anything, by the end of the day, they're back to normal.

Toga bloats after he eat all the time, but i don't give him a piece of pea each time, cause that would be everyday, and THAT'S BAD. I've figured out that he bloats because he eats too quickly and ends up eating some air. Doesn't matter what food i give him. I think i've seen him burp up some of the air before.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I use Epsom salt when necessary. I personally wouldn't feed peas to any of my own fish.


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## breezywillow (Jan 28, 2013)

He seems to be doing better, I have sparingly feed him but when I came home today he had EATEN my mystery snails antennas off!!!! My poor little Gary was so traumatized he wouldn't come out of his shell and even after I moved him to a small 1L tank, he would jump and retreat to his shell every time the water moved  I am going to go tomorrow and get a divider for the tank. I really hope Weebles didn't do this because I had been fasting him and cutting back on his food while bloated. I think you may be onto something Krys. When I fed him tonight he gobbled down the two pellets I gave him very quickly and started swelling before my eyes. After a few minutes, with no poop, he released a few bubbles and the swelling went right down. It was pretty crazy. Gah, I am just sick over my poor snail being half eaten alive


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