What's wrong with my poor betta?! His belly exploded over a 9hr period!

Today when I left for work, my betta looked something like this:

http://x30.xanga.com/3a4b5a013713041.../m28326630.jpg

When I came back from work today, he looked like this (the photo is a
bit blurry but I think you get the gist):

http://x78.xanga.com/922b40fa63d3144.../m30002234.jpg

I was told that this was a male, so I don't think it's eggs. What is
it?! It just happened over the course of one day! He looks like he's
about to explode even though he appears to act normal. His coloring
seems about the same and I just did a water change 5 days ago. I don't
have anything that changes the pH or anything like that, but does it
matter that I started feeding my cories in there alpha wafers? Would
that make him sick? Any ideas?!

"Tina" wrote in message
oups.com...
Today when I left for work, my betta looked something like this:

http://x30.xanga.com/3a4b5a013713041.../m28326630.jpg

When I came back from work today, he looked like this (the photo is a
bit blurry but I think you get the gist):

http://x78.xanga.com/922b40fa63d3144.../m30002234.jpg
==================
Exploded? This looks like a healthy, well fed female betta to me.
--

Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

But it's not a female.. It's a double tailed plakat betta that I got
directly from a professional breeder.

Tina wrote:
Today when I left for work, my betta looked something like this:

http://x30.xanga.com/3a4b5a013713041.../m28326630.jpg

When I came back from work today, he looked like this (the photo is a
bit blurry but I think you get the gist):

http://x78.xanga.com/922b40fa63d3144.../m30002234.jpg

I was told that this was a male, so I don't think it's eggs. What is
it?! It just happened over the course of one day! He looks like he's
about to explode even though he appears to act normal. His coloring
seems about the same and I just did a water change 5 days ago. I don't
have anything that changes the pH or anything like that, but does it
matter that I started feeding my cories in there alpha wafers? Would
that make him sick? Any ideas?!

He probably gorged on the alpha wafers. Don't feed him for a couple of
days. If he doesn't get better, it may be constipation or "dropsy"
(swelling from acute kidney failure secondary to infection).

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Put the word aquaria in the subject to reply.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

So dropsy is something that can occur overnight? It doesn't sound
pretty.

Tina wrote:
So dropsy is something that can occur overnight? It doesn't sound
pretty.

Overnight is pretty quick, but I saw it come on that fast sometimes in
the store where I worked. It's usually over a few days. You'll often
see "pine cone" scales where they stick out from the body if dropsy is
the problem. Dropsy isn't pretty at all.

You know, you betta could be constipated from the cory pellets. I
didn't think of it at first because I've never seen it in my own fish.
Fasting him for at least three days is supposed to help. It won't
hurt him at all - bettas can go a long time without food.

After the fast, you're supposed to feed him a bit of cooked, shelled pea
or some daphnia. You can get frozen daphnia and they're a great food to
have around. If all else fails, you put him in a bowl of tank water
with 1 tbsp/gallon of epsom salts for about 15-30 minutes. Put him back
in his tank if the laxative works or he shows signs of stress.

HTH, and let us know what happens.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to reply.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

"IDzine01" wrote...
Tina, How is he looking today?

yes. i am curious too as to how this turned out. :-)

Forgot about this post! He's fine now. I drop in the alpha wafers when
he's "asleep" late at night but I did notice him go after it once and
ever fight the cories for it! What a pig!