# Betta not doing well



## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Hi there, 

I haven't been on in a while but I need some help. My little veiltail betta isn't doing well...I fed him last night, he was doing fine and I got home just now to see him floating on his side and quite bloated (he's been eating sand I think because he always seems to have a big belly). I don't see any pineconing (i'll double check) and he perks right up when I go to the tank. Any ideas what is wrong and what I can do to help? 

I'll post water parameters as soon as I can.

Thanks 
Bettalove

ETA:

Water parameters :
pH : 8.0 (we have high pH around here)
Ammonia : 0.25 ppm (today is his water change day)
Nitrite : 0 ppm
Nitrate : 10-20 ppm

His water is about 79*F and it is a 2.5 gal tank

I watched him a bit and he fights to swim to the bottom of the tank and the second he gives up he floats extremely rapidly to the top. Swimbladder issue?


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

He could be bloated. You might have overfed him. Don't feed him for a week or until the bloating goes down.


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## Mr. fish (Mar 8, 2011)

Betta man said:


> He could be bloated. You might have overfed him. Don't feed him for a week or until the bloating goes down.


No offence Betta man but thats not the right approach you should take. 

Bloating can be minimized by taking a frozen Pea and placing it in hot water for a few mins then removing the skin of the pea and chopping up the inside to tiny pieces. Feed the betta and skip a day on feeding. The next day after if no signs of it working, repeat. But please dont starve ur betta for a week. 

Let us know how that works out for you!


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Lol so many people don't understand that bettas can easily survive for 2 weeks without food if well kept. It won't hurt him a bit. Peas are also good, but it still is more food.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Thanks for the advice. The bloating seems to have gone down significantly. I fasted him for about 48 hours. He's still swimming oddly - it's pretty pathetic actually, I feel sorry for the little guy - however he seems quite happy and everything. I'm very happy he's looking better. I do however have to tackle that fin rot of his....it's being just relentless!!


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## Guest (Apr 5, 2012)

Feeding your betta a pea would help with the swim bladder issue. My doubletail betta had swim bladder issue. 

Yes fish can go for 2 weeks without any food, they will not starve. But if you go longer than 2 weeks then they will starve from no food.

BettaLove1: after you take care of the issues with your betta, try fasting him once or twice a week so that the swim bladder issue doesn't return. This is what I am doing with my fish and they haven't had any swim bladder issues since the last time they had it. Only two fish had swim bladder issues, my doubletail betta and one of my clown loaches. So fasting your fish once or twice a week is a good thing and can prevent swim bladder issues.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

I'm definitely going to try to get him to eat some of a pea, and see if that helps him out. The bloating seems to come and go, even though I have been barely feeding him the last few days. 

Angelclown, thanks for your advice. I do actually fast my betta once a week. Him and my other betta and guppies as well every saturday. Perhaps I'll try fasting him a second time a week to see if that helps him out. 

Thanks again everyone!


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

fasting your fish actually may not be the answer to constipation problems..nor bloating problems either..
but a proper well balanced diet may well be....fasting is a good idea...but it has to be done properly...always try to feed your fish some vegetable matter...at least twice a week...
possible feeding routine...

Monday.........staple food.
Tuesday........special treat food such as brine shrimp or blood worms...
Wednesday...veggie or spirulina flake...
Thursday......staple food.
Friday..........other treat food..
Saturday......veggie or spirulina flake..
Sunday........FAST..


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Lohachata - Thanks! I've never actually heard of feeding a veggie regularly...I've heard of pieces of peas for the constipation and such but not as a part of their diet. What types of veggies are good to incorporate into their diet? Also, should the bloodworms and brine shrimp be fresh or is freeze dried/frozen okay? (do brine shrimp even come freeze dried? lol). I have a (so I've heard) high quality sinking pellet that I give them for regular food, with a freeze dried bloodworm for a treat once or twice a week. 
Sorry for all the questions, I'm fairly new to betta keeping!


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

My betta's diet is:

Monday: Spirulina Earthworm flakes

Tuesday: Hikari Micro pellets

Wednesday: Fast

Thursday: Spirulina 20

Friday: Hikari Micro wafers

Saturday: Bloodworms

Sunday: Fast or Pea

I hope that helped!


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## Guest (Apr 6, 2012)

Veggie helps with swim bladder issue if you don't have the peas. I feed my biggest clown loach veggies while she was having swim bladder issue and she got better.

I am not sure what veggies would be okay to feed a betta. But there are frozen veggie pack, they come in the frozen fish food, but you'll have to cut it up into smaller pieces for your betta.


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## Doberz (Jun 10, 2011)

BettaLove1 said:


> Thanks for the advice. The bloating seems to have gone down significantly. I fasted him for about 48 hours. He's still swimming oddly - it's pretty pathetic actually, I feel sorry for the little guy - however he seems quite happy and everything. I'm very happy he's looking better. I do however have to tackle that fin rot of his....it's being just relentless!!


For the fin rot I recommend 25% or so water changes every day, or other day. And adding some salt. It's always worked for me.


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

I do salt baths. If it gets too bad, you can always amputate the fins. That worked very well for me.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Well, thanks everyone for the help. He's been doing great up until about now. This afternoon, I did a little water change, added some vitamins to his water and gave him some of the froze spirulina brine shrimp food I just bought. He was a happy little dude. Fast forward to tonight right now...and he's floating around looking pretty much gone, with little energy burst here and there. Not coming to see me, won't eat. I did a quick little water change in case it was the vitamins...but being a new bottle I doubt it is. I don't know if it was the food, the vitamins...what...but he's a goner for sure I'm going to say. And I don't want to use any of the stuff I bought now, in case that hurt him. I'm pretty upset - he's the betta I've had for the longest - about 7 months...love the little guy. 

So thanks again. Maybe he'll pull through....


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

So, he passed away last night  . I'm still not sure what caused it, but I'm going to disinfect the tank before I get another fish...just in case it was something I just couldn't see. 

RIP little buddy


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## dolifisis (Sep 27, 2006)

Sorry to hear about your little fish BettaLove  . I know how attached we all get to them.


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## BettaLove1 (Dec 6, 2011)

Thank you  I'm still a bit sad...it's very true how we get attached to them. Even my boyfriend is sad because he thought the fish was pretty awesome since it would jump at fingers. And he doesn't even like fish haha


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## Betta man (Mar 25, 2011)

Mine jump at my fingers too. Try getting some females. They really jump! My female betta queen jumped about an inch out of the water to steal some food out of my hand!


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