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One of my betta boys - Pursuit - just doesn't look good. Ever since I tried to breed him with my apparently eggbound girl, he just hasn't been "right." She started nipping at his beautiful crowntail before I pulled her out, so his fins aren't looking too great.

However, that's not the major issue... he seems to be constipated or otherwise impaired. All he does is sit at the bottom of his tank in the gravel. His stomach is huge and he seems too heavy to get to the top of the tank without effort.

I've tried fasting him a few days, feeding him peas... everything I can think of. I've read something about an Epsom salt bath... might that help him?

He still makes an effort to eat, but only when the food falls in front of his face. I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose him!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Have you lowered the water level a little so it isn't so hard for him to surface or eat...that would be a good start.

He can either be found on the gravel or propped up on the plants that reach the surface. It's not a terribly tall tank to begin with, but I can drop the water level... I'm cleaning the tanks tomorrow, anyway.

It's just so sad... I have to constantly make sure that he hasn't died, because he doesn't MOVE unless prompted to. Just sits there...

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I wish that I could help you more Kitten. Here are some websites you can visit to try to pinpoint the problem with your betta.

http://www.bettatalk.com/betta_diseases.htm

The Healthy Betta site has several good articles, one of constipation and the other one on dropsy.

http://www.healthybetta.com/


Good luck.

I've never tried the epsom salt bath. I don't see how it could hurt though, so why not?

How would one go about the bath? I've heard it mentioned, but didn't exactly take notes... what sort of dosage and for how long?

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Well, Like I said, I don't use it, so I could definatly be wrong, but I'd say something like twice the recommend dosage and leave it in there for 12 hours and then scale back to the normal dosage and put it in its normal dwelling for a day or two.

For epsom salt baths, get a different tank and add 1 table spoon of epsom salt to every 4.5 gallons of water. Heat the water on the stove to about 28 degrees Celsius. Put your Betta in a cup and float it in the new tank for 10 mins so he gets adjusted. Then realease him into the water for 15 minutes. This is very stressful for a Betta so dont leave him in too long!!!! If you dont pay attention, your Betta may die... So, if your Betta is REALLY sick, do it twice daily until he gets better. Allow him to float in a cup when introducing him back to his old tank. I wish you luck Kitten...