Monday, May 24, 2010

betta constipation?any experts or experienced betta owners around?

my betta fish has been constipated for a few days now, I made him fast yesterday, n fed him a pea today, after feeding him the pea right now, he was coming up to the surface n letting out bubbles frm his gills I suppose, cause they were quite big, is that a good sign? is he kind of burping or something?
is my fish going to b ok?
n how does a pea help a fish during constipation??
shld i resume feeding him his dried food frm tomorrow? or shld I keep him on a pea diet for a while?
thnk u 4 ur answers
Answers:
If your fish is still constipated, don't start feeding him normal food. You don't want to put more food in him if its not coming out. You can feed him a pea every other day until he starts pooping again, and once he does, then you can start feeding him his dried food again. If the pea didn't work, you can also try epsom salt (NOT aquarium salt - that makes them absorb water). You can either add a teaspoon of epsom salt for every 3 gallons of aquarium water, or you can give him an epsom salt bath. To do this fill a container with a half a tablespoon of epsom salt dissolved in a half a gallon of the aquarium water (so that the water is the same temperature and pH). Catch your fish in your net and move him to the container with the epsom salt bath (keep him in the net so you don't have to catch him when the bath is over). Keep him in the bath for 10 minutes. While he is "bathing", do a 20% water change in his aquarium so he has fresh clean water to go back to. After 10 minutes, you can move him back to his aquarium. Here is some more info on constipated betas http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/12/332/.
I think you should feed it to your cat.
don't worry about your fishes bowels, give him his fish food! The bubbles are a nest. male beta make nests for the Young, he must like you! Catch him a mosquito or a fruit fly (alive) and he will love you, Beta are very cool fish I had Mr, Fish for years!! they are/believe it or not. intelligent!
You can start giving him the dry food again but start soaking it for a few minutes before hand so he doesn't become constipated again. Peas work as a laxative for fish, so just one of those things and they are all cleaned out. The bubbles are just a bubble nest. Males do that when they mate because that is where the eggs go until they hatch, since it is just him it means he is just happy.

Here is a story and warning about feeding dry foods to bettas. http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.co.
I would stick to the peas for a few days and one day out of the week don't feed him he should be fine DO NOT over feed!
Note that betta don't have functional gills and breath air from the surface. Male betta will instinctively build buble nests on the surface of the water, and they tend to do so when they are happier.

As far as the issue with bloat he should be okay. Provided you stop over feeding him, and keep his water clean. I'd clean his bowl/tank and then look at his belly. Compare it to the pictures on betta talk's food page. If it's still to big wait a couple more days. Remember he doesn't need much food. Only about the volume of his eye ball per day. Also skip a day once a week.
your fish should be fine. I dont think he's constipated. when a fish is constipated he gets whats called swim bladder disorder. this is were he just sits on the top of the water on his side. thats when you should feed him a pea. dont get me wrong what you are doing is fine. all fish need to eat algea and have a wide varity of food in their diet. this not only keeps them regular and healthy but makes their scales much brighter. when you feed him a pea you are giving him fiber. just like in a humans diet, fiber helps a fish make softer easy flowing poop. so my feeding suggestion to you would be, feed him is normal diet and every few days feed him a pea. you can also vary ihis diet by feeding dryed or frozen bleed worms, tubflex worms, or betta pellets, or all of these switching between days. this should do your fish very well. I wouldnt worry about your fish until he doesnt look right or he doesnt eat. this a for sure fire sign that he is not well.
Dont get too worried or sophisticated with all these remedies everyone is telling you, they may work or may not. I would suggest just feeding him a little bit of the pea for another 4-5 days. And then fast him for a day. And then he should be fine. Just dont overfeed him again.

*Also bettas do have functional gills, unlike what a poster has said. They just dont use them as much as other fish because of their ability to breath, but none the less they still do breath with their gills.*

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