BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Somebody out there please help BETTA PROBLEM

My betta had pop-eye within the last few weeks, I managed to clear that problem. NOW he is having another problem. His mouth is open all the time and a bubble is sitting in his mouth. He wants to eat but when he takes the food into his mouth within a couple of seconds it comes out along with bubbles. This will be the second day he hasn't been able to eat. I have cleaned his 1/2 gal. tank and have added a fungus/bacteria solution, 2 days now. This betta is a very important part of our family, someone please help!!!

I'm sorry your baby is sick and I am happy that he's an important part of your family.

I'd guess your betta is constipated. The best remedy is thawing a frozen pea and cutting it into small pieces, then using a tweezer wiggle the piece at the surface to coax him to eat. What kind of food are you feeding? and how much/how often? Bettas are piggies and will happily over eat until they get constipated or develop swim bladder disease. They should only be feed small amounts morning and evening, then they should have one fasting day per week. The stomack of a betta is about the size of one of it's eyeballs, so that's not very big.

The other thing is about his half gallon "tank", I'm coming to believe that even though some folks have bettas in very small spaces and they survive, I'm not so sure they can ever thrive.

I would invest in no smaller than a 2.5 gallon tank (5 gals or even 10 gals is much better) and cycle the tank, then move your fishie into it. It must have a thermometer, mini heater (no more than 7.5 watts for a 2.5 - 5 gal tank) and adjustable filter. It needs to have a plant that either sticks up from the surface or a floating plant, a hiding place, and the filter needs to be set to the lowest setting. When you provide a more natural habitat for your betta, you'll be rewarded with be able to observe their natural behaviors and their personality really blooms. It's also much easier to keep them healthy with stable temperature, water chemistry, etc. Remember the "bettas live in puddles" idea is a myth! Their natural habitat is the marshy river tributaries of Thailand.

Good luck, and tell us how he's doing.

I wonder how old your betta is? They only have a life span in the wild of three years or so. (Or less.) In a well kept tank I've managed to keep a few for up to five years. But that's about it.

Also... depending on the pop eye, that MAY have created bigger problems you simply will not be able to fix. If he's getting a bubble stuck in his mouth, I might think some tissue damage occured inside his head and this you will not be able to help. They breath air as you probably know. They gulp in a bubble and it should be expelled through the gills. If not, there could be a problem probably as a result of the pop eye.

They do sell food additaves some with antibiotics, some with oils that might help his "constipation." But honestly, I doubt it will help.