I have a question

[nobody]

So few weeks ago I adopted a female crowntail betta from one of my coworkers. Her name is Saphira. It's obvious that her previous owner over fed her. The bottom of her bowl that she was in had a bunch of food on it. That and she looks bloated. Large belly, but not a pine cone look. I fed her a pea or two (because I've heard from a few of you that it's what is to be done when a betta is bloated) to see if that would bring her belly down to a good size, but it's still too big.

I also moved her out of the bowl into about one and half gallon tank (not the best, but better than the small bowl she was in). Should I feed her more peas or is her belly not going to get to a normal size? Does she have dropsy without the pine cone look (at least at the moment)? Your advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ishar]

l the peas are a laxative, so you have to give it a while for them to work whatever is inside out. Other than that I'd just feed her sparingly and let her work off her excess food. That's what I'd do.

 

[TabMorte]

You can put a bit of aquarium salt in the water, that seems to help bloated fish. Maybe just give her a pellet or two every other day and keep up with the peas. No blood worms until she slims down (my bettas pack on the weight when they eat blood worms)

Also keeping the tank a bit warmer will speed up her metabolism and giving her as much room room as possible to swim will too.

 

[MadridKid]

I would cut down on the feeding... but not to the point of her being stressed out.... you can usually tell if a betta might be stressed by the coloration of their chin... the lighter the more she's stressed the darker, the more comfortable.... this is what has happened to my betta's so it might work for you as well. keep feeding the peas though...sparingly.

 

[Kissyboots]

I have a similar problem with Finfin right now, although I don't know what caused it.
He won't eat the peas, so I'm just not feeding him. Although he gets a couple bettabites every third day or so.

 

[nobody]

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep up the diet and keep an eye on her. So, far she seems to be happy, just a little fat.