I noticed that elvis' chest is growing big....is this this normal?My other betta hasn't changed at all so I'm kinda worried about this guy...I've attached a pic but the quality is so bad... don't know if you can tell from that pic

No i dont think its normal. Have you noticed him poo recently as he could be constipated as bettas are well known for it. Try starving him for a couple of days and then give a pea.
Bacterial diseases are also responsible for that look as well.

I thought so.... He's in a 20 gallon tank with my common pleco and it is hard to tell if he's pooping but I'm gonna keep a close eye on him.How can you tell if it's something bacterial?He is very active and swims around the tank all day.....

Thanks Sandy,I appreciate your help!

If its bacterial then im afraid you wont know until he starts to pinecone

Just got to hope hes just over indulged with the food. It looks to me like it might just be him putting weight on but its best to get everything covered.
Hopefully starving him for a few days is all he needs to see if it goes down or not.

yea i think hes contipated, hope it goes well

Thanks so much!I sure hope it's just from eating too much*cross fingers* I wouldn't want to lose him Will post any changes....

When he is next due a feed try him with some mushed up pea like you would a goldie. He might not like it so another alternative is daphnia that you can get frozen if you cant get fresh then starve him for a few days. Good luck

Actually,I feed my bettas peas once a week when I feed my goldies and they looove it!And I also have frozen daphnia Usually I feed him bloodworms since he doesn't like pellets or freeze dried food.How much should I be feeding them?Sorry for all the questions...

They only have very small bellies but they can eat until they die.
I give mine just a few pellets, maybe 4, each or a few flakes but they only get bloodworm once a week as a treat and get freeze dried daphnia twice a week.
I know bettas can be fussy so persevering is the best you can do.

As soon as he's okay,I'll try to feed him pellets again Thanks a lot Sandy!

stupid question but,where does the poop come out? I tried searching the net but I couldn't find any info sorry.....

Before the anal fin starts, where you would find it on a goldie i suppose, maybe a bit further forward.

Bettas poop right under the bulge in Elvis's tummy, and very slightly back

I love Elvis, he is a very pretty betta!

Thanks! He is definitely pooping then!I was surprised to see it come out there though...I thought it was weird

lol! Yah, us goldfish people are used to poop coming out near the tail end. I remember seeing a post some time ago that they thought their betta's intestines were popping out of their stomach, but they were really just having a nice poop I find it strange that so many fish poop from different places. My tetras poop from the middle..I'm getting cories soon, and I really don't know what to expect!

That was exactly what I thought! I'm learning new things everyday

If you don't think he is just overfed and constipated then it may be worms.

Try cutting back his food and feed peas first and if his stomach doesn't slim down you'll need to pick up some bird wormer containing levamisole with or without praziquantel and try to figure out the dosage for a tiny fish (a drop per litre is normal here but it comes in all different strengths) and then leave him in it for only 24 hours (in a separate container or do a massive waterchange with a really good vacuum to catch the worms. Maybe redose in three days in case any cysts hatch (Americans will probably only be able to get levasimole at a farm produce shop, I think it is banned from pet use there).

It won't harm your tank cycle or snails, only worms. It's actually fairly good for bettas but I'm not sure about scaleless fish. You should feed him peas afterwards to expell any dead worms.

There is an American worm, Camalanus, and a SE Asian worm, Cappillaria, that may be the culprits. They lie dormant in the guts of fish often until the fish are fed well then they grow so they travel well from country to country in fish that look otherwise healthy.

Infected fishes poop may be long and stringy and full of worm eggs, so to tell for sure, you'll need to put it under a microscope. But if the idea of magnified poop is just too weird it is fairly safe to treat the betta anyway.

The only risk of death during treatment is the worms attached to the gut coming away and causing internal wounds in the gut. If that is the case, the betta would've died without treatment eventually by wasting away. Someone said they fed food dipped in antibiotic to help the wounds.

worms?!!!I sure hope it's not... but just in case,I will try to ask our LFS if they have levamisole or something that is similar.I live in Japan so I doubt that I could get the same meds Thanks yabbie for all that great info!

Panic after you've tried peas and the diet. His tail is looking fairly plump so he's not wasting away and it might not be worms.

You might have better luck getting it at a bird shop or poultry and livestock supplies shop. The wormers they have for fish tend to only get the basic little worms not these two biggies, that's why we resort to bird wormer.

Thanks!I'm gonna try the peas today and see how it goes

update:

I think the swelling has gone down a bit....not 100% but a bit smaller than the first pic!Progress

Good! I hope things continue to get better for him

Thanks kissy Should I continue feeding peas until the swelling is totally gone?

How is he doing today, Cathy?

He's doing fine Connie,thanks for asking He's active but his belly is still swollen...it has gone down a bit but not back to normal.I'm wondering if I should continue peas only until his belly is back to normal

That'd probably be a good idea, but not too many, I think.

How's he doing??

Well,he's pretty much the same.....and now presley has gone fat too!Is it possible that they are just filling in?I don't see any signs of pineconing so I don't think it's bacterial.They are both pooping normally....I give them 2 pellets each twice a day.... What do you think?

Uh-oh. That's what Rue looks like. I hope he doesn't pinecone. Dropsy isn't contagious, is it?

I hope Elvis (or is it Presely?) gets over his difficulty. Good luck with him!

instead of keep feeding peas, why not try fasting him for a few days? beter still, make a day or two of fasting each week a regime, so he can have the chance to clean himself out

Dropsy itself isn't contagious but what's causing it may be...I hope all goes well with Rue!Thanks for the luck and good luck to you too



Actually that is what I'm doing...I fast for 3 days,feed peas,feed pellets but nothing seem to work I sure hope there no blockage in there
They are both active though....swimming around the tank