My Betta Has...gas?

[Shai]

Hi everyone. Long time no post!

About 20 days ago I bought a new crowntail home:

I gave him two days to settle in. Because I had no idea what he'd been fed at the LFS (I forgot to ask) I didn't feed anything during that time--I wanted to make sure he wouldn't refuse my food.

The evening of the second day I offered four 0.8mm pellets of NLS Surface Feeder Formula from my existing supply. I feed this to all my other fish including my other bettas. He took them readily.

A little while later I noticed my new betta looked like he'd swallowed a marble and was having serious buoyancy problems--basically he was stuck at the surface and would float over onto his side. He was not pineconing. I did a water change, and a few hours later when he looked a little worse I did another one.

The next day after work he looked improved but was still having buoyancy issues. I changed the water again. I didn't feed for another few days and the betta got "better".

When I fed the NLS pellets again--same issue. I repeated daily water changes and no feeding, and again he got "better". Then I tried offering a different food: Nutrafin Max Complete Mico Granules. These are even smaller than the NLS pellets but I still only offered four bits. Same problem.

This only occurs after feeding. None of my other bettas have ever reacted this way to pellet food and I'm not doing anything different with this betta than with the others. I can only guess the food gives him indigestion and gas! As soon as he passes what he's eaten, he's fine. But...I can't not feed him and it's terrible watching him flop around at the surface.

I have thought about offering bits of a thawed pea to help him pass the pellets sooner but wonder if the slightly tough flesh of the pea might have an even worse impact instead. Obviously I need to find out what the LFS was feeding (I shudder to consider flake since the amount is so hard to control) but in the meantime I wondered if anyone has encountered this kind of issue before or any advice on what I can do to help poor Osiris.

Edited June 12, 2011 by Shai

[RD.]

Hi Shai,

Try feeding 1 pellet in the AM, and 1 pellet in the PM, and see if that helps. Your fish may possibly have a swim bladder problem which is causing digestion issues. A good read on this subject.

http://nippyfish.net/sick-betta/swim-bladder-disorder/

Edited June 12, 2011 by RD.

[BettaFishMommy]

he may be gulping air as he eats food off the water surface, and that is what is causing the bloat. as for the buoyancy, when a fish eats too much it can put pressure on the swim bladder, causing problems.

i'd try a sinking small pellet instead of a floating one. as well, feed frozen foods to add variety into the diet. frozen bloodworms are very well liked by bettas! brine shrimp, not so much IME (i've been enslaved by 9 bettas over the past almost 4 years, lol).

as for peas, you need to do a little prep work to feed them. nuke just one or two peas in the microwave for 10 seconds or so. take one pea between your thumb and index finger and give it a squish. the innards of the pea should slide out nicely. mash the innards into little bits and feed that to your betta.

flake isn't really that hard to control feeding amounts on. just a little pinch between your fingertips is all that is needed. my current betta is fed flake (NLS) at least 3 or 4 times a week and does wonderfully on it. in addition, i feed frozen bloodworms, teensy bits of silversides, a homemade 'crumble' mix i picked up off a friend, and the occasional mushed up pea innard.

hope that helped!

Edited June 13, 2011 by BettaFishMommy

[Shai]

A good read on this subject.

http://nippyfish.net/sick-betta/swim-bladder-disorder/

Interesting read indeed. Seems to me my betta is one of the ones mentioned which is prone to bloating and constipation. I've had bettas before which ended up constipated for one reason or another--managed to eat a whole snail, for example--but never this bad. I tried feeding him one pellet only day before yesterday and today he looks the worst he's been: still has a marble in his gut and is laying on his side at the surface.

Many good tips.

I'm not new to keeping bettas or fish in general but these are good tips all the same. First thing I think is to get my betta feeling a bit better before I try letting him put more food in his body. Needs to fast for a few more days and if the bloat doesn't go down I think I'll have to try meds.

[ridethespiral]

I always soaked my betta's food which seemed to counteract this problem.

Try some smooshed boiled peeled pea. Sprinkle some dried garlic in water. I would microwave it for 30 secs in just enough water to cover a pea or two. This will get your betta poopin

edit: I see this was already mentioned :P

Edited June 25, 2011 by ridethespiral

[Shai]

In the last few days Osiris has been doing better. The latest blockage finally cleared and I've fed a few bits of frozen foods a few times. He still shows signs of difficulty but I haven't medicated, just continued to do frequent water changes. I'm taking it slow with him...don't want to do too much to the poor guy all at once.

[RD.]

Have you considered using epsom salt in his water, as a mild purgitive agent?

Also, in the remote chance that his internal blockage issues are parasite related, you might want to consider this.

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=29679&st=0&p=2219242

If nothing else this type of treatment is very safe, and won't cause any stress on your betta. (unlike most harsher medications)

[fishclubgirl]

Perhaps he's trying to build a bubble nest but the bubbles came out the wrong end......

[Caprichoso]

Perhaps he's trying to build a bubble nest but the bubbles came out the wrong end......

Lol!! So that's what my spouse has been trying to do all these years

[Shai]

Perhaps he's trying to build a bubble nest but the bubbles came out the wrong end......

Ha! Wouldn't that be something!

I am still having trouble with this betta. A varied diet of frozen foods still causes him to blow up like a balloon, even when the amount offered is less than half the size of one eye.

I do wonder if there is an internal blockage. When I brought him home, the tank I introduced him to had several very small ramshorn snails in it. He did take interest in them but I didn't think much of it. I've had bettas before who were rather offended by snails and would flare at them to teach them a lesson so I figured this interest would be no different. He'd probably never seen one before.

But now I start to wonder if this betta ate one whole, shell and all. Their size was small enough to get one in his mouth if he was determined enough. I honestly can't really see that happening, but other than this eating issue the betta shows no other signs of illness at all. His color is great, his fins are healthy, and when he isn't fighting the bloat he goes about his business as usual. He's not reclusive or inactive.

So supposing he does somehow have a shell in his stomach, he's either going to starve to death because I won't be able to feed him enough to sustain him, or the shell will hopefully eventually break down enough that he can pass it without it doing severe damage to his insides.

I haven't tried any sort of medication or epsom salts or anything yet--just increased water changes. I'm not convinced I should medicate him, and not having any experience before using epsom salts, I'm not sure what help they might be in this situation.

Thoughts?