Dan White wrote:
Hi. I haven't visited here in awhile, but need a little help, if I may ask.
I've browsed the newsgroup and other website history concerning my problem,
but need to post a question or two.

Our betta is recently showing some signs that something isn't right. The
main symptom is that he seems to be swimming with some difficulty. He kind
of loses his balance when he isn't moving forward. Every time he stops
swimming, he kind of floats like a balloon until he moves forward again.
When he's still, his head will tend to go up, and his tail end down. He
goes up for air and to do a lap or so, but then swims back down into the
plants and sits there tangled up in the java moss. He does flare at his
reflection on occasion but he definitely isn't right.

After looking online for answers, it seems he could be having a swim bladder
problem. We have been feeding Bio Gold pellets, and more recently the Top
Fin variety, which seem to sink more easily. Anyway, I suspect we've been
feeding him more than he should be getting, but still within the
recommendations on the bottle. His stomach does look fat, although not
distorted like a marble, just big. Actually the whole fish is pretty big
compared to when we got him. Thinking he might be constipated, I added
about 1 tsp of epsom salts to the water, and stopped feeding him last night.
I haven't seen any stool, but then I've never really seen him go. Anyway,
that about covers where I'm at with trying to treat the fish.

I'm also wondering whether he might have a bladder infection that should be
treated. I didn't want to feed anything that might do more harm than good
without knowing more. Is it a good idea to feed him something like this
just in case? Also, I thought I'd try a pea to see if that helps.

As far as fish vitals, here's what I can say:

The betta is about 2 years old, hopefully not looking at just an old fish on
his way out just yet. He lives in an Eclipse 5 gallon tank, heated, with
live plants, fully cycled. Water parameters are all normal, temp is 80 F,
but can get as high as 85 when it is warm in the room. I don't change water
often, but I did recently just in case there is an issue there. I treat
with Amquel+ with water changes. There are no other fish in the tank, just
some snails. I do not see any evidence of disease -- his skin and gills
seem normal. He gets somewhere between 12 and 15 hours/day of light.

Any (quick!) advice would be appreciated,

thanks,
dwhite

It seems like you give your Betta very good care on all counts!

A couple points;
Even though bio gold is an excellent food, I recommend soaking this or
any dry food for bettas in water to prevent air ingestion that help
with intestinal infections (such as aeromonas).

Check your kH, I recommend 80 ppm mostly as a check of calcium, which
is essential.
All electrolytes are important for proper osmotic function. An addition
of salt (sodium chloride) may help as an additional electrolyte (about
1 teaspoon for your tank). The Epsom salts you already added will add
magnesium which is an important trace element, but be careful with too
much Epsom salt, a little goes a long way and as I stated earlier,
magnesium is a TRACE element.

Your fish is old in beta years (depending how old your fish was when
you acquired him), so may be a factor here.
A couple of medicine options:
Neomycin; neomycin is not absorbed by the intestinal tract and is
effective in treatment of diseases thereof. But Neomycin can damage the
kidneys as it is nephrotoxic, so this is a poor treatment choice for
Dropsy or similar diseases. Neomycin is very effective when used in
feeding again due to the fact that this antibiotic does not get
absorbed. This is my preferred way to treat with this antibiotic.

A bath in methylene blue for 30 minutes, I use methylene blue in a bath
where I add methylene blue at double the recommended dose for in tank
treatment (as per manufactures instructions) to a bath of about 16 oz.
of used tank water. Throw this water out when you are done (do not pour
this water back into the tank).

Carl
http://www.americanaquariumproducts....formation.html