by Fuzzy on Sun May 30, 2004 8:31 am
I think if you have not done so already, its time to move him to a hospital tank. I will add this little in to, when I had a comunity tank, I had trouble with swimbladders.As soon as you notice signs of swimbladder do a complete water change, taking care not to stress the fish by having the water temp as close to his bowl as possible, and using something as a cup so you don't have to net your fish.
After your water change you should not feed your fish any food for two days. On the third day feed your fish a fresh pea. Frozen peas thawed, popped out of the skin, and cut into bite size pieces. And then do another water change so that any uneaten peas do not contaminate your water....
If you do partials, or have a tank, do a significant change when you suspect swimbladder disease and then follow this treatment.
If you don't use aquarium salt this is a good addition to most tanks. The recommended dose is one teaspoon per gallon, or one tablespoon per five gallons. If you have never added salt and you are unsure; you may want to first acclimate him at only 1/2 tsp per gallon.
If this seems to be a frequent problem you may consider feeding less. Your water quality could indicate more frequent water changes, or in my case I break up the food for this one particular betta. It seems easier for him to digest. All my fish seem to love the peas and it may be of great benifit to feed a pea once a week.
If you suspect that there is bacteria causing the symptoms of swimbladder perhaps antibotics may be needed.
I recommend the pea "trick" first as it will at least correct the swimbladder symptoms that bacteria or bad water quality could be causing.
Last edited by
Fuzzy on Sun May 30, 2004 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.