Well, last night after dinner I noticed that Baracus's belly was a tad bit swollen. I gave him a bit of a pea this morning, which he actually ate!! Right now he is swimming around and working on his nest, so I guess its not bothering him too much.... Should I feed peas again tomorrow or fast? Or does it all depend on how he looks?

Thanks!

I managed to get a picture of his belly... not sure how good it is, but maybe it will help.

I would fast him for a day and see how he looks. Then he if looks pretty normal, I would give him a pea dinner for his first meal. If he still looks bloated after the first day of the fast, I would fast him for a second day.

He should be back to normal in a day or two

Please keep us posted.

OK, will do.... he is looking more bloated now than he was a few hours ago... I know he is acting all pathetic b/c I changed his water, but I don't think he can make his belly look swollen....

OK, well, things seem to be getting a bit worse for him. I just noticed that he has a missing scale and his scales are looking raised up. He is still moving around like normal, probably annoyed that I keep staring at him.... Should I still fast him and wait it out or do the raised scales mean something worse is wrong?? *shudders*

EDIT: I thought I should mention that I did see him poop a bit before, but it didn't help his big bloated belly.

It could be the beginnings of dropsy. It is best to start treating that as early as possible. The recommended treatment is warmth, medication and epsom salt. Try to keep the temperature up around 80 f. if possible. Then treat with maracyn 1 and maracyn 2 along with epsom salt. The dosage of epsom salt is 1/8 teaspoon per 5 gallons.

I hope this helps and please feel free to ask questions.

I was so afraid you were going to say that.... I have Maracyn 2 on hand now, should I start treating with that even though I don't have the rest of it?

His temp is always between 80 and 82 and he is in a 2.5 gallon tank.... So, if I scale down the instructions on the box, I would add 1/2 a packet on the first day and then 1/4 of a packet on days 2-5?

Oh, and do I still fast him?

He pooped for the 3rd time today, guess the peas are doing the trick! He's looking a lot better after now. I'll still pick up all the meds tomorrow on the way home.

How does he look this morning? If he is looking better now that he is being fasted and he is pooping, we can hope that he doesn't have dropsy

I tried to answer your posts last night, but I couldn't get on the board for some reason

It would be a good idea to have the meds on hand, but I wouldn't treat him unless we are sure it is a bacterial problem.

He is looking much sleeker this morning, still a bit bloated, but he was begging for food - he didn't do that last night.

I agree, I don't want to treat unless I am sure its bacterial. Where could it have come from? He is very stable, nothing has changed in his tank. Should I just treat with the epsom salts?

I checked his parameters yesterday (all but ammonia, I only have the test strips right now that I can use, hubby broke all my test tubes - he knocked them over when they were drying and they all shattered) - pH = 7.2, nitrIte = 0, nitrAte = 25

good to hear he is doing better i was getting worried..

If it were me, I would fast him for another day, then I would feed him just peas for a day. If he looks pretty much back to normal and is acting normally and hungry, then I would think he was just constipated.

As for bacterial infections, bacteria is in the water all of the time, but usually fish can resist it.

OK, will do. Man he was mad at me when I didn't feel him this morning, I felt so terrible.... So, I will stick with the fasting and then feed peas tomorrow night.

Could the constipation be from goldfish food? He LOVES goldfish pellets, I was only giving him them once a week, but he jumps when he sees me open the can - so I started giving him them more often. Should I cut back to once a week again?

Thanks Lucy! I must say, I panicked when I saw his scales start to poof up. I even made hubby look just to make sure I was seeing right. Poor Baracus was so mad at us for constantly bothering him.

Yes, it could be the goldfish pellets. Bettas have very small stomachs and can easily get constipated.

What is his regular diet (besides the goldfish pellets )

Hikari betta pellets - 2 or 3 in the morning, depending, I usually give him extra when he is building a nest, he seems hungrier then. And then 2 betta pellets or 2 goldfish pellets at night. I feed him at 7:45 AM and then around 6:30 PM.

I recently started giving him the goldfish ones every night, I don't think I will do that anymore.... does twice a week sound good? Perhaps I will add peas once a week since he decided ate them yesterday, half a pea?

Thanks so much for all your help!!

What type of goldfish pellets are you feeding? How big are they?

I usually squish about 1/4 of a pea for my bettas. That seems to be enough for them, although I think it would be harder to overfeed with peas.

They are Nutrafin Max Color enhancing small floating pellets - they are about the size of two Hikari pellets.... wow... never realized how big they are....

I just got home and he looks a lot better, still a little swollen. But he was doing acrobats in his tank begging me to feed him. I feel horrible, but I know its the right thing to do. Tomorrow he should be ready for a pea.

He looks a bit better this morning, still bloated a little, but getting there. He is really begging for food now - he is even begging when my hubby goes by, he's never done that before - he knows that I am the one who feeds him. Poor guy, I promised him a bit of a pea tonight.

He will be happy to get his pea. I am glad he is doing better.

Please keep me posted, and for now, I would eliminate the goldfish pellets from his diet. I would keep up with peas every second day or so for a while.

Will do! Thanks so much for all your help!!

Please keep us posted on how he is doing

Also, I make a homemade gel food that is made with peas, other veggies and tuna. My goldfish love it, but so do my betta. Would you like the recipe?

When I made gel food for my goldie, I kept trying to feed it to Baracus and he hated it, just let it fall to the bottom of the tank and settle on the bottom - he would just flare at me. (his way of giving me the middle finger, I suppose). After Cody died, I threw away all the gel food, since it will be about year before I can get another goldy tank set up. For months the only thing he would eat was the betta bites, so when he liked the goldfish pellets, I was really happy to be able to give him some variety. When he actually ate the pea I gave him the other day, I was so shocked that I almost fell over!! Thank you for offering though, but I am afraid he won't eat it and then all that food would be wasted.

You could try making something simple, such as half peas and half tuna. Just to give him some variety My betta loves that combo.

I am glad he is eating the peas, though

I would have to try it with shrimp I think... he wasn't happy with tuna when I tried to give it to him. But shrimp! Wow! Talk about a happy betta!! OK, good idea, I will try a small batch of pea and shrimp gel food and see how it goes.

Who wouldn't like shrimp Lucky betta!

Yeah, he is a bit spoiled since he is so picky!

Looks a bit better today, he was thrilled to get his pea last night. I gave him pea again today as he is still a bit bloated. Should I fast again? It kills me not feeding him, he acts so pathetic.

You could keep him on a reduced diet of just a bit of pea morning and night for a week and see how he looks. At least he would feel like he is being fed.

He may have gained weight, too on his previous diet. Is there still any pineconing?

No more pineconing, thankfully! His head always looked much wider than the rest of his body, he has grown lengthwise, which is why I was feeding him a little more lately, I thought since he got so big, he would be hungrier.

I think the bloatedness is stressing him out though, I've noticed the last couple of days his color is fading. The last two days he always seems to be pooping everytime I look at him! I hope the peas do the trick. He plays dead when I don't feed him when he thinks I should. What a character I have on my hands.... He's soooo lucky I love him!!

How old is he?

How does his colour look today?

I've had him since August, so, I guess that makes him about 1.5 years old?

His color is about the same, he is spending more time on the bottom now rather than sitting on his plant leaves, that is worrying me some. But, his belly is getting a little smaller every day. He just looks sad... he swims around like a madman until I feed him his pea, then he settles down and lets me examine him. Poor guy... I really hope this is just a little bump in the road for him, I can't bear for it to be any more than that...

Unfortunately, he is getting older Most bettas are at least 6 months old when you buy them in the store, so he is reaching the time when they start to die from natural causes, BUT, we won't think of that

It is good that his belly is getting smaller. It must have just been constipation, which is a good thing.

My oldest betta I have had for two years now. So, he is probably about 2 1/2 years old. His name is Cinnamon and he is a orangy red colour and he lives in my bathroom beside the sink. He likes to flare at me when I brush my teeth

No, no, he's not old! He's my baby!!! I spend more time now sitting next to his tank, he acts happy when he can see me. He looks a lot better tonight. He's still afraid that I won't feed him though, silly little boy....

I am glad he is looking a lot better. It sounds like he is enjoying all of the attention

Yeah, he is, but he pretends he hates it! He swims away and hides when he sees me looking at him, but when I turn away he comes out and stares at me.

He is back to his old trick again. I gave him his pea this morning and he pretended he didn't see it thinking I would give him more. This worked once or twice, but I caught on! So, when I left for work the two bits of pea were sitting at the bottom of his tank, I am willing to bet he ate them as soon as I walked out of the room!!

He is sneaky, isn't he

He is! Little stinker.... I swear he knows it too!! *shakes head* He is doing much better now, still a tiny bit bloated, but then again, maybe I just made him fat!

Thanks again for all your help, I couldn't have made it through without your help.

You're very welcome I am glad he is doing better. He may just be a little plump. He should slim down a bit on a reduced diet.

OK, he is really acting up now. I am not sure if it has something to with the fact that he can see my new girl or not. He is still bloated and he looks as though he is lopsided, like he swims with a limp, if that makes sense. He isn't pineconed, but he is a little listless.

What should I do?

What do you mean by acting up?

He is constantly playing dead!! He flops over onto one side.

He also spends the whole day staring in the direction of Iris's tank.

Is he sick? Or is he obsessed with her?

He is very listless this morning. He'll only move if I put my finger in the tank. I noticed some pale vertical stripes on his body - what does that mean?

Vertical stripes are usually a sign of stress. I believe your betta is not doing very well. It sounds like he could have a tumour or some type of growth inside of him since he has swelling on only one side. I am so sorry, but I think there isn't much you can do, but keep him comfortable

No.... no.... Do you think moving Iris away from his vision will help? He's gotten quite depressed since I brought her home, or is it just coincidence?

You could try that and see if he perks up.

Im sorry to hear about your betta.

I thought females only got vertical stripes as thats a sign that shes ready to breed and horizontal stripes are a sign of stress

Well, being that I am home sick today, I don't really have the energy to move the whole apartment around to make a place for Iris. So, I just covered the side of his tank with the same color construction paper as his background. No change in his mood yet. Poor guy, he looks so sad, I wish I could do something for him.

His stripes are gone, not being able to see her, but he still looks so very sad.