# HELP!!! Betta has been bloated for a week and nothing is helping!!!



## esun1993 (Mar 1, 2014)

It's been a while since I've been on this forum...but I have gone through a lot of the past posts about bloated bettas and nothing seems to help Mango! 

He's been bloated for more than 1 week now. I have tried fasting him, the frozen pea treatment, and now he's on the leave in epsom salt treatment for almost a week and he's still bloated!!! I'm not sure exactly when it started, but he has been a little bit bloated before but fasting him for a day would get rid of the problem just fine. This time is different though, he is a lot more bloated, and his left side (right side when we look at him) is more bloated than his right.

I really don't know what is wrong with him....someone please help!! He's less active now, and his movements are a lot more jerky, and his fins don't open as wide as before....now I'm scared that he might've eaten a gravel, or if he ate part of his silk plants....

I don't think I have been overfeeding him, he gets the same amount as my other betta (2 pellets twice a day) and the other betta is completely fine. However, I do notice that there's close to no poop in Mango's tank when I clean it....so it might be possible that he eats his own poop...but the bloating should have gone since the fast..It's hard to tell if he has pineconed scales(Dropsy) since he has pale yellow scales, but it doesn't look like he has it.

I havn't fed him anything for more than a week now except for 1/5 of a pea, I don't want to starve him but at the same time I'm scared that if I feed him he will die of a bloated stomach....

It's really hard to get a picture of him because he's been hiding from me or swims so fast I can't get a decent picture that shows how bloated his stomach is. But here's a picture I found online that has a betta with a similar sized bloat as Mango...











Any suggestions is greatly appreciated!!!!


Housing 
What size is your tank? It's a giant 4gallon fish bowl

What temperature is your tank? Temperature varies from 76-80F

Does your tank have a filter? No

Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No

Is your tank heated? Yes

What tank mates does your betta fish live with? He's by himself

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

How often do you feed your betta fish? 2 pellets/time, 2times/day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 3 times per week

What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 2 times is 50% and 1 time is 100%

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime


Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
Havn't tested it, but I use the same stuff for Alpha and he's been healthy since I got him in Feburary.


Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? A bit over a week ago

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? 
At first no change, now he's swimming less, hiding from me, and darts around and swims jerkily. Half of the time he would still be normal.

When did you start noticing the symptoms?
A bit over a week ago

Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
First I tried fasting him (still doing it), then I fed him 1/5 of a frozen pea with the outside removed but nothing happened, he did eat it really fast though. Now I've been doing the epsom salt treatment (1tablespoon per 5 gallons) for almost a week and still no change.

Does your fish have any history of being ill? 
He has been bloated before but it goes away after a day of fasting

How old is your fish (approximately)? 
Got him in the store a couple months ago


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## esun1993 (Mar 1, 2014)

so I was just reading another post and it said that having salt in the water for more than a couple days could lead to kidney failure and possibly Dropsy, so I'm gonna do a water change right away!! D:


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## VivianKJean (Aug 20, 2013)

you can leave epsom salt in the tank for longer. Its AQ salt that you can't leave in for more than a few days.


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

AQ salt is the problem salt there. when used long term it can lead to organ problems, however short term (10 to 14 days max) it is good at healing external conditions.
Epsom salts is the milder salt and is used to help heal internal injuries and relieve water retension/act as a laxative. You dont need to worry about overusing epsom salts (the usual dosage rate is 1 teaspoon per 2 gallons, ramping up to 1 teaspoon per gallon for medicinal use, but dont exceed 3)

I do encourage you to try and get a shot of him- one from above would be ideal because we can see the bloating/distention/state of his scales all in one shot and hopefully he wont suspect- bettas cant see above them very well.


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## esun1993 (Mar 1, 2014)

Sorry for the late reply, I've been really busy with work....I'll add the epsom salts back today! 

Also, here are the pictures that I took this morning. In reality his belly is a bit more bloated than show here, and his other side looks more bloated.

Should I start treating him for parasites?? I fed him one pellet today because it's been almost 2 weeks since I last fed him anything except 1/5 of a pea...


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## Taeanna (Apr 2, 2013)

If his swim bladder isnt affected then I am not too inclined to say he has a GIT infection. So he may have a parasitic infection. This usually leads to severe weight loss however so it is strange he isnt displaying those sorts of symptoms, trust your own gut on whether to medicate or not at this stage. Parasitic medications have no lasting side effects so it is easier to try for that first before we resort to things like antibiotics.

For feeding you may as well go back to his regular schedule, possibly you can supplement his diet with some daphnisa (frozen or live for preference) which is a natural laxative and protein rich food source


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