# bloated betta



## bluemooonie (Apr 30, 2007)

I have a betta that was swollen about a week and a half ago. I wasn't sure if it was constipation or dropsy, so I fed it a bit of a pea just in case it was constipation. The swelling went down and so I assumed it was constipation. The fish is swollen again and the more i look at pictures of dropsy, the more I'm worried that it is. This may seem weird, but today I noticed what I thought was the fish pooping and the fish seemed agitated. I thought maybe that it was constipated again and was having issues getting it all out. I fed it a little bit more of a shelled pea and I went to work. when I came back the fish was swollen again and the poor thing just seems miserable now. It's almost exclusively laying at the bottom of the tank or against a wall of the tank upside down and only moving to come up for water. Afraid the fish wont make it through the night now, but not really sure what to do. Any advice? I have pictures, but I can't get them to post here.

Thanks

Blue


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## Cichlidsrule (Nov 8, 2006)

To post pictures, you click on "go advanced", right next to the Post Quick Reply button. 
Dropsical fish will have swollen bellies. Their scales will stand out like a pinecone, and on occasion (sp?) parts of their scales will darken or turn black. Here's a pic:


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Quit feeding the fish anything. You could be overfeeding. If it is dropsy, odds are the fish will not make it. If after 3 days of no feeding, see if the condition is better.


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## Cichlidsrule (Nov 8, 2006)

I meant to mention that (what Damon said about how dropsical fish generally don't survive). You'll want to quarantine the fish too, just in case (though it's generally not contagious). If your fish doesn't get better in a day or so (and you've confirmed that it's dropsy), you may want to euthanize the fish.


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## bluemooonie (Apr 30, 2007)

Hey all. Thanks for your replies. Someone at some point told me to stop feeding them and then to feed them pieces of a shelled pea in a few days, so I did do that as soon as I saw that the fish was swollen again. So I'm assuming nowthat the fish don't have dropsy because this is the third time Reggie has swollen up like that. Until yesterday he was acting "sick" hanging at the bottom of the tank, but today he's looking friskier and swimming around again. I still think he looks a little swollen, but he looks muuuuuch happier. If it is a case of overfeeding, how much should I feed it? I use the pellets and I only feed them 3 pellets a day. I read in some places that you should feed them 3 pellets 2x a day (I haven't been doing that b/c of constipation/overfeeding/dropsy worries). Also if I give them bits of the pea, I don't feed them anything the day before. And another weird thing, this last time Reggie got all swollen, it was after the first time I fed him after we had been gone for the weekend, so he hadn't eaten anything in about four days.

Anyways, thank you all for your help! I really appreciate it. I'm happily watching reggie swim around and flare at his neighbor now 

Mimi


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