7buddies Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Okay. So I had this betta fish named Yurple who got swim bladder. That was in 2006. He lived for while but evenully died. Today, I am watching my little girl Maya floating on her side and having trouble swimming. Also, when she goes down to the bottom of the tank she soon floats to the top, unwillingly. I'm fairly sure that those were the symptoms that my Yurple had when I figured out that he had swim bladder but I'd like to verify that. I remember trying to give Yurple peas to help him but he never ate them. Maya is amazing and will eat anything so I split a pea into 4 sections and she ate 3 of them - one fell to the bottom before she could get to it. This is supposed to help right? Now the HUGE problem is that we are going on vacation TOMORROW! Leaving at 6 in the morning. My neighbor is coming over the take care of all of my pets. I could get her to feed Maya a pea every day. Please respond this is urgent! (It's almost 9:00 PM in America right now, by the way) I really want my Maya to be okay. Also I thought that swim bladder was caused by a betta that has been overfed. I feed my bettas 3-4 pellets a day and 1-2 freeze dried blood worms. Is that too much?! I don't think so ... I have been feeding all of my bettas this diet and Poseidon and Splash I've had for almost 2 years. Any input appreciated, Thanks Stephen :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Swim bladder problems can occur as the result of an infection. It's almost impossible for the hobbyist to figure out what caused it. All you can do is what you're doing now. Do you have Melafix or a similar mild antibacterial that you can add to her tank? If she'll willingly eat the pea the I don't really see the harm in continuing to feed her the pea while you're away. But most people just feed the pea once rather than continuously. Just make sure your neighbour know to remove any uneaten food and Maya still needs to get her normal food because the pea is not going to provide much in terms of nutrition. How long are you going to be away? Put some plants or something that she can rest on closer the surface so that she doesn't have to struggle to get to the surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7buddies Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Thanks for the reply. She actually is floating on the surface. I've read that swim bladder can make them do that as well, instead of sink to the bottom. I'm going to be away for 7 days. My neighbor is not going to feed Maya pellets the first 3 days because I read online that you should try and let them clear out the food that is already clogged in their system AKA relieving the constipation. I just did a full water change 2 days ago in which I had to take them out of the tank and put them in separate bowls for about 45 mins. Do you think this effected Maya in any way? I've been doing full water changes once every 2-3 months for yars and never had a problem before. I also just put in a new above gravel filter 2 days ago ...they used to have an under gravel filter bbut it stopped working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 I think you are mistaking constipation and swim bladder disease for the same thing. They are not (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) and I don't believe I've ever heard of swim bladder being caused by constipation. I have heard it being caused by them eating too much and displacing their swim bladder. Feeding the pea will help with constipation but not swim bladder issues. As Bettarazzi said some kind of antibacterial medication may help. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7buddies Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Thanks. Many of the sites I've read, such as the following link, say swim bladder and constipation go hand in hand. But I'm now thinking she may just have constipation. She seems MUCH better this morning! I'm sooo happy. I'm still going to have my neighbor feed he a pea tonight but if she's all better then she can go back on her regular diet. Thanks for all of your help. http://www.petfish.net/articles/Bettas/constipation.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2jdaze Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 well swim bladder and constipation can go hand in hand but they really are 2 different things, as Cassi said if a Betta is over fed and becomes constipated this can cause displacement of the swim bladder which would give it symptoms because the swim bladder isn't sitting right where it should, having a distended stomach is pushing it in the wrong way, squashing it etc. so in that case the pea will help push through the excess food in the system and hopefully cure the constipation, if she's looking a bit bulkier than usual this might be the case... however it can also be caused as swim bladder disease which is bacterial or internal parasites up to no good. I've got a boy who shows exactly the same thing whenever i feed him lately, i just don't feed him for a few days and it rights itself. I personally think you're feeding them too much (unless you were conditioning them for breeding). It might be better to have 1-2 pellets and the 1-2 bloodworms and break it up do half in the morning and half at night. Remember a bettas stomach is the size of it's eye! (and bettas don't know when to stop eating) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 Hi Steve. Just a note on terminology: All fish have a swim bladder. Not all have swim bladder disease. Good luck with treating Maya, it sounds like it's going well :rip: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canfeleq Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 Another possible cause of the floating symptom could be air bubbles. You mentioned that you put in a new above gravel filter, I am assuming that this uses an airstone or similar to operate. Well, I know this may sound strange but, not long after I started keeping bettas I found one of my males floating on the surface, exactly like yours. He was eating OK but could not make it to the bottom of the tank, he'd get about halfway then drift back up to the surface. He gradually got better over a couple of days then about a week later the same thing happened. The process repeated it self 4 times before I worked out what was happening. He was eating the bubbles from the filter! I had thought that he was enjoying the sensation of the bubbles flowing over him but I caught him one day actually attacking them, the next day he was floating again. It didn't seem to cause any lasting damage, he was nearly 3 when he died but it certainly caused me some stress at first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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