# Guh! Swimbladder/constipation



## ZachZaf (Jan 26, 2012)

Yup my daughters betta has it.. he is real bloaty and doing the cork hop... 

from what i remember... stop feeding for a couple days, keep the tank warm, and feed a frozen (thawed) pea skinned and sliced after a couple days of fasting. i also recall to 'exercise' the fish with a mirror... but i havnt had to treat one in quite a long time... Teenagers... at any rate, are there any newer or better ways to get him back to good health?


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## KG4mxv (Oct 25, 2011)

Sounds like you are on the right track. 

So far I have never had to do this with my beta,
I feed a staple of flake food made from shrimp (every other day) and frozen blood worms( weekly) and occasional live brine shrimp. ( once a month or so.)

Well that is how I feed the entire community
consisting of
4 otto's 
3 Green cory's
3 neon tetra's 
4 fancy guppies
3 Dalmatian mollie's 
3 cherry barb's
and last but not least 1 male beta. 

I also drop in a small pice of blanched zucchini for the otto's once a week 
And a few sinking shrimp pellets for the cory's twice a week.


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## AndehX (Jan 14, 2012)

I am convinced that one of my female bettas has this swimbladder problem.

Her tail end seems to float, causing her head to dip down all the time. She occasionally darts around the tank frantically, and then sorta wobbles from side to side for second when she stops. Im not sure what I need to do to help her.


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## AndehX (Jan 14, 2012)

heres a video to show you. Appologies for the quality, its recorded on my phone. Betta swimbladder problem - YouTube


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

It looks like you are feeding a lot to me. Treat as you said, some bettas recover, some don't and many recover somewhat but are always a bit sensitive.

Are you keeping male and female bettas together?


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## AndehX (Jan 14, 2012)

1 male, and 4 females yes. The male is lovely with them. He doesn't bother the females at all, unless they swim right by him, then he'll flare his gills and fins. It looks like a lot, but I only give them half a cube of frozen bloodworms a week, so they're not overfed.

I should point out that the female in question had this issue before I bought her (or so I would asume) as she's been like this since I put her in the tank. (1 week ago)


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

On the contrary,that female is stressed.I can see her stripes.Males and females cannot coexist together,not permanently,someone will get pissed and fins will fly.

On topic,The frozen pea needs to be blanched,meaning you put it in a bowl of water in the micro for 30 seconds.Let it cool,deshell and feed a fourth of this.Frozen and live foods are best and using pellets instead of flakes will also help.

If you feed pellets,then oak them until they get soft then feed.Also please keep in mind,bettas stomaches are about the size of their eye.


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## AndehX (Jan 14, 2012)

ah so the stripes really do appear through stress? I read that that was just a myth.... learn something new everyday lol


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Yes horizontal stripes are stress,vertical are spawning.Also note that the vertical is a sign of submission.Many females will flash vertical stripes and swim head down near males and even more dominant females as a sign they dont want any trouble.


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## AndehX (Jan 14, 2012)

well my female with the issues, I have noticed on a few occasions some vertical stripes, so im not sure if this means shes carrying eggs, or if shes just being submissive.... Either way I am going to have to sort out another little tank for her and try to help her get better.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Maybe you'd be best to put the male in his own tank and keep the females together.


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## AndehX (Jan 14, 2012)

if I encounter any problems with the male harrassing the females, I will do that. So far they have been fine and seem happy. I purposfully got 4 females so that the male wouldn't focus all his attention on one, and I wouldn't have to keep them in seperate tanks.


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## ZachZaf (Jan 26, 2012)

Well now... SO he has been fasted for four days by this morning. and no luck on passing, he has eaten a little piece of pea, though admittedly my daughter was the one tat saw him, so it might be a little hope rather than reality...
He still looks bloated, and is still sticking around the top of the tank... what else would be the cause of boyance issues? He teeter totters side to side when floating about... and is usually stuck at the top, he cant seem to loser his tail... and when poked (gently!) he will only get down about half way then shoot back up...


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Its not unheard of for this to be a permanent condition.He may be permanently bouyant.You can add floating plants to make him feel more secure.When feeding,soak his food first.


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## ZachZaf (Jan 26, 2012)

Got home today, he is running laps, looks considerably less bloaty and is heading down pretty well, he does make it to he bottom now... he is still alot more buoyant than not.. but he is getting better... i will probably feed him in the am and see how he fares.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Glad he has improved, let us know how it goes.


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## FW Fanatic (Nov 5, 2011)

I'm afraid keeping a male and females together like that is most likely going to end in disaster. The fact that they haven't ripped eachother up yet is not indicative of a success, not by my definition. They are stressing eachother and I encourage you to seperate them.


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## AndehX (Jan 14, 2012)

They're not stressing each other at all. The male never bothers the females, and the females swim around pretty happily.


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## KG4mxv (Oct 25, 2011)

I am another owner of the exception to the rule beta,
I have a bule veil that lives quite happily in a 46 gal bow front community 
tank with 13 shcoling fish. 

he plays nice with all and no one nips his fins.


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