# Spitting up his food...?



## Kiena (Feb 17, 2011)

Blu doesn't seem to want to eat his food. Like at all. I have pellets for him, which he's had since day one with me. The first night he ate all three pellets like... instantly. I don't even know if he swallowed. But then again, he could have been starving after sitting who knows long at wal-mart.

He has a bit of fin rot, so I bought some meds called Lifeguard All-In-One Treatment. Since he's in a 1g tank, I cut the medicine in fourths and put one 4th in the filter until it dissolved then replaced the filter. I'm doing 100% water changes just under every 32 hours.

I've taken all plants from his tank and have poured boiling water over his castle to make sure it was clean and I'm adding API Stress Coat for his water conditioner.

Back to his food: I'll put a few pellets in there, but he omnoms on them for about 3 seconds then just spits it up and it lays at the floor. SO... I bought him some Freeze dried bloodworms, since I figured maybe he just doesn't like the pellets and wants a small treat? I put a few in there, he did the same thing. Omnom for 2 seconds then spits it out.

Is this normal? I'm still a new betta mama.


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## Slipstitch (Feb 19, 2011)

Are you running the filter -with- the meds? Also, other folk're gonna ask for water temp and if the water is conditioned and stuff. I can tell you how I fixed my Betta's fin rot if you like. I noticed with all 3 of my boys that while they were sick, they weren't interested in food. I'm by no means an expert and such, but I can parrot what I've been ordered to do and such and what I've noticed with my own fish so far. ^_^


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## Kiena (Feb 17, 2011)

Slipstitch said:


> Are you running the filter -with- the meds? Also, other folk're gonna ask for water temp and if the water is conditioned and stuff. I can tell you how I fixed my Betta's fin rot if you like. I noticed with all 3 of my boys that while they were sick, they weren't interested in food. I'm by no means an expert and such, but I can parrot what I've been ordered to do and such and what I've noticed with my own fish so far. ^_^



I am running the filter without the cartridge until the medicine dissolves, then I replace the cartridge. The temp is ~77F and I am conditioning the water with API Stress Coat.

And he seems interested, he just spits it out after chewing for a second or two. =(


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## Slipstitch (Feb 19, 2011)

Not to be gross, but has he been pooping?


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## Kiena (Feb 17, 2011)

bwah? Fish poop? >.>;


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## Slipstitch (Feb 19, 2011)

Well one of the thoughtlines is he could be all constipated and such. If there's no room for the food... But I'll play google mistress and see what I can find for you. ^_^ Btw, has he only been doing this since you started treating him for the fin rot? Or was it before hand?


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## Slipstitch (Feb 19, 2011)

From: http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm

DISEASE: TAIL ROT OR FIN ROT (OR BOTH!)


uGENERAL INFO:

This disease comes mainly from dirty water. If you keep his water VERY clean Mr. Betta will never get tail/fin rot. It is not overly contagious, and bettas will more than likely recover if treated promptly. Fins/tail will grow back, though may not have same color or may not look as good or be as long.



frayed fins and a darker edge are clear signs of fin rot

uSYMPTOMS: 

Betta’s fins and/or tail seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Or they seem to be falling apart and dissolving. There may be a darker color (or a reddish one) to the edge of the betta’s fins/tail. He may be still active and eating normally, or may have stopped eating, fins may be clumped, color may be pale.

Also, I will say that both my bettas that had fin rot did do that too. So it could well be a side effect of the fin rot itself.


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## Kiena (Feb 17, 2011)

I know you can't really see his fins, because he's been kind of hanging out at the bottom of the tank (Which I assume is because he's sick.)


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## Slipstitch (Feb 19, 2011)

Yeah, Poseidon did that too. He hung out either at the bottom or in a corner until I put him in quarantine for treatment. If you want, I can tell you what I did for him... It's been a week since I got him and his tail rot is gone. He's back up and running and hyper. But yeah, he refused to eat, the one or two times he did, he spat it back out, and just was super blah. Also, there's a person on here you can ask directly, her name's OldFishLady. She's very much made of awesome.


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## Kiena (Feb 17, 2011)

I'll send her a message. But what did you do to help Poseidon? A week long recovery sounds awesome!


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## Slipstitch (Feb 19, 2011)

According to OldFishLady's orders: mix 1 tsp of epsom salt into 1 gallon of water, drop in 1 decafinated green tea bag and let it steep a little. On day 3, up it to 2 tsps of epsom salt per gallon. Continue with your water changes, make sure you condition the water and such just like normal. simply continue treating him until he ceases to show signs of fin rot. It only took a couple of days, if that, for Poseidon to start eating like a little pig.


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## Kiena (Feb 17, 2011)

Slipstitch said:


> According to OldFishLady's orders: mix 1 tsp of epsom salt into 1 gallon of water, drop in 1 decafinated green tea bag and let it steep a little. On day 3, up it to 2 tsps of epsom salt per gallon. Continue with your water changes, make sure you condition the water and such just like normal. simply continue treating him until he ceases to show signs of fin rot. It only took a couple of days, if that, for Poseidon to start eating like a little pig.



xD More things to buy. I'll try this. How long did you let the tea steep? and did you do the tea every day with the salt? Or just on day one?


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## Slipstitch (Feb 19, 2011)

Tea every day, the tannins in it are really good for him. I generally let the tea steep 5-10 minutes, as with normal tea making procedure and such. Epsom salt isn't expensive at all, also, if you already have aquarium salt, you can use that. Non iodized salt is the important bit, really


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## Kiena (Feb 17, 2011)

I don't have anything but kosher salt I use to cook with. @[email protected] >.>; 

So I'll have to run to wal mart in an hour or so to get the supplies.


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## Slipstitch (Feb 19, 2011)

*nod* I was really impressed by the salt dip, really. It seems to work insanely faster than just meds.


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## Kiena (Feb 17, 2011)

@[email protected] Here is for hoping.


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## Thunderloon (Feb 6, 2011)

Run "Lifeguard" at precise dosages. It's cheap so they don't skimp on it and its new and powerful.

At 200% it will sterilize nitrosomona and nitrospira, if you used 1/4th of a scored tablet you dosed 250%. Use the water-bottle method to cut the dosage down for small volumes. Warm water no hotter than 92° and dissolve the medicine in a measurable and known volume of water, then take the % that is correct dose for the actual tank size. (Now I'll read the rest of the posts)


Kosher salt is fine, aquarium salt isn't processed as cleanly as it. They're really the same unless you buy sea-salt aquarium mix.

Using a carbon filter with lifeguard in the tank pretty much negates the lifeguard and wastes the carbon. Lifeguard was designed to mimic chlorine when it comes in contact with single cell life... which means the carbon sucked it out in a flash. 

Epsom salts are not NaCl salt, they're MgSO4. They work as a laxative and should only be used in situations where constipation is a probable issue. It may be that the pellets are too large to take whole.

Is he spitting out the whole pellet "whole" or bits of pellets? 
What brand of pellet are you feeding? (they can be picky, he might be trying to wait you out or the food might be bad)


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