HelplessNewbie Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) My betta and green neon tetra get bloated after every meal. I feed only 2 eyeball's worth per fish, since it is barely a month since I got them and I didn't want to overfeed I was thinking of treating with epsom salts, since 2 separate courses of 3 kinds of packaged medicated foods (containing praziquantel, metronidazole, kanamycin, doxycycline, erythromycin snd nitrofurantoin) and diy fenbendazole in food has not helped. Other than the lopsided swimming by the green neon, both are otherwise swimming and behaving ok. The betta (red) has some colored (usually blue) dots appearing in the center of scales in 3 rows above lateral line, but I was going to address it separately. I had also fasted them twice, which reduced some swollenness just a little. I was also proactively treating the tank with ich-x, fenbendazole and praziquantel. 1. If I were to give epsom salt bath (1 Tbsp/gal ???), would it be normal for the fish to become immobilized, because it is a muscle relaxant after all? This happened a long time ago with a green neon tetra, which made me freak out and stopped the soak. The little guy didn't revive. Or, is that an indicator that the epsom salt solution was too strong? 2. If I were to add a small amount to my 10g display tank instead, what is the dosage? Is this effective if only in small concentration? I don't mind it raising GH, because my water is very soft. Edited September 12, 2023 by HelplessNewbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 A little more information would be helpful what are your water parameters ammonia nitrite nitrate pH kH GH temperature what food are you feeding and how often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted July 30, 2023 Author Share Posted July 30, 2023 On 7/30/2023 at 9:22 AM, Colu said: A little more information would be helpful what are your water parameters ammonia nitrite nitrate pH kH GH temperature what food are you feeding and how often Sorry, should have led with that! Here are the measurements: When not feeding the medicated food, I was feeding Xtreme Nano Pellets, freeze dried tubifex worms and bits of fish set aside from human meals prior to seasoning, e.g. salmon, cod. I hadn't made a trip to pet store yet to buy frozen daphnia, it may be a while because of my disability. Will upload video of the fish next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted July 30, 2023 Author Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) Difficult to get photo of Polly, the female betta. She is stirring up a lot of sediment here, bit you can see the blue-white dots on the scales on her upper side. Video of Polly (female betta) and Terry (green neon tetra) better video Edited July 30, 2023 by HelplessNewbie added 2nd video link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted July 30, 2023 Author Share Posted July 30, 2023 More photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted July 30, 2023 Author Share Posted July 30, 2023 On 7/30/2023 at 11:50 AM, HelplessNewbie said: More photos Also, there are dark bits on the surface, is it because she may have lost some scales? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) Looking at the diet I wouldn't feed cod or salmon that could be causing the bloating I would only feed the freeze dried Tubifex worms twice a week what I would do if you can is get some frozen or live daphnia or brine shrimp feed a couple of time a week and feed the Xtreme pellets once a day I wouldn't feed any more medicated food I don't see anything that would require antibiotic or anti parasitic treatments and holed off on the Epsom salt for now the blue spots on the scales are natural colour and don't need treatment I would try feed the way I recommended for two weeks than give us an update @HelplessNewbie Edited July 30, 2023 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted July 31, 2023 Author Share Posted July 31, 2023 Thank you, @Colu, I will certainly update in 2 weeks. Are there good online shops that will ship frozen fish food for a reasonable price? The one I found requires a 4 lb minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 On 7/31/2023 at 2:50 AM, HelplessNewbie said: Thank you, @Colu, I will certainly update in 2 weeks. Are there good online shops that will ship frozen fish food for a reasonable price? The one I found requires a 4 lb minimum. I have never bought frozen food online hopefully someone else has a recommendation for good online company to ship frozen food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted August 10, 2023 Author Share Posted August 10, 2023 (edited) @Colu Terry, the green neon, and Derek Z (-oolander), the blue guppy (added last week) are both swimming lopsided like described as before. Polly, the betta, still has bloating but is swimming normal same as before. All three are eating the Xtreme nano pellets daily, except for 2 alternating days freeze dried tubifex worms. Except for the apparent swim bladder problems, the 3 fish, 1 mystery snail and a few bladder snails behave alright. Is it time for the epsom salt? It will be hard to catch the tetra, so if possible, I would like to try just epsom salt in the tank. The live daphnia I ordered has been awfully delayed in shipping. Edited August 10, 2023 by HelplessNewbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 Very unusual for multiple fish from different species to have swim bladder it could still be because caused by over eating and the stomach putting pressure on the swim bladder parasitic infection can affect the swim bladder with medicated food you have treated with a think that's unlikely I would try Epsom salt baths 1 table spoon for 1 gallon for no more than 15 minutes for 5 days give an update after 5 days I would also fast them for the first couple of days of Epsom salt baths Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted August 10, 2023 Author Share Posted August 10, 2023 On 8/10/2023 at 9:36 AM, Colu said: Very unusual for multiple fish from different species to have swim bladder it could still be because caused by over eating and the stomach putting pressure on the swim bladder parasitic infection can affect the swim bladder with medicated food you have treated with a think that's unlikely I would try Epsom salt baths 1 table spoon for 1 gallon for no more than 15 minutes for 5 days give an update after 5 days I would also fast them for the first couple of days of Epsom salt baths Okay, I will try this with Derek first. Thank you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted September 12, 2023 Author Share Posted September 12, 2023 (edited) I didn't get around to doing this with the guppy first but have started the soak today with Polly, the betta, because she is acting sick. She didn't come right away for feeding and stayed in the bottom of the tank. She seems bloated only on the left side. I soaked her for 15 mins in 2 qt dechlor water with 1.5 tsp epsom salt (I hope I did it right). https://photos.app.goo.gl/FGK5vhASXtK5vupc6 Then, I moved her to a small qt tub (all the rest were taken). I applied jungle fizz clear tab and kanaplex. No feeding, although there were already live daphnia in the qt. What else should I do? Water Parameters: Last wc was Aug 29 Edited September 12, 2023 by HelplessNewbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted September 14, 2023 Author Share Posted September 14, 2023 I am not very hopeful. She is hanging on to pothos roots to keep herself near the surface. I think she has ich. Have started ich-x, along with the epsom soak, jungle fungus and kanaplex regimen. Her tankmate green neon tetra Terry is no longer swimming crooked, and the guppy Derek Zoolander is only just slightly crooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 (edited) On 9/14/2023 at 1:13 AM, HelplessNewbie said: I am not very hopeful. She is hanging on to pothos roots to keep herself near the surface. I think she has ich. Have started ich-x, along with the epsom soak, jungle fungus and kanaplex regimen. Her tankmate green neon tetra Terry is no longer swimming crooked, and the guppy Derek Zoolander is only just slightly crooked. As the bloating is only on one side it's more likely to be an internal growth or tumor they are really common in Bettas the fact that the bloating hasn't improved with a change in diet Epsom salt baths and medication it might not be something treatable you have two options keep treating or monitor her and make sure she has a good quality of life and make the decision to humanely euthanize her when you think she no longer has a good quality of life that could be further down the road clove oil is what I use when I have to euthanize a fish you can also get a product called koi sedate that is also used to humanely euthanize fish @HelplessNewbie Edited September 14, 2023 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted September 14, 2023 Author Share Posted September 14, 2023 I am sorry to say but she didn't make it. She was our longest lived aquarium pet (3 months) until now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Marie Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 On 9/14/2023 at 8:12 AM, HelplessNewbie said: I am sorry to say but she didn't make it. She was our longest lived aquarium pet (3 months) until now. I'm so sorry for your loss. 💔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 On 9/14/2023 at 3:12 PM, HelplessNewbie said: I am sorry to say but she didn't make it. She was our longest lived aquarium pet (3 months) until now. Sorry to hear that at least you did everything you could for her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelplessNewbie Posted September 14, 2023 Author Share Posted September 14, 2023 On 9/14/2023 at 3:49 PM, Colu said: Sorry to hear that at least you did everything you could for her We did. Thank you so much for your help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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