Why does my male betta's chest look like it's going to pop?

Question

Is my betta dying? He's always been fine and I've had him for about 1 year. Now he floats at the top of the tank, motionless much of the time, and his chest is totally puffed out huge (constantly, he's not flaring). He's been like this for at least 3 or 4 days. If I touch him he perks up and swims down and away but eventually returns to float at the top. Anyone ever seen this?

Answer 1

My first guess would be dropsy. The tell tail sign is when scales begin to stick out away from the fishes body. When you view the fish from above it would look much like a pinecone. If this is the casae you will have a tough time saving him, but you can treat with Marycn or Furanace. Best of luck.

MM

Answer 2

An option that hasn't been explored yet, and a slightly less morbid one.
But it involves a question. How often are you feeding your betta? He could be too full of food and thusly constipated, and if he doesn't pass the food he CAN die from this.
If he is constipated a good remedy is to take a frozen pea and a microwavable dish, cover it with treated water, or water from his home and microwave it for like...2 or 3 seconds untill it is soft. Deshell it and then feed it to him in little tiny bits. It works wonders.

Answer 3

I've found when my betta stays at the top for more than a minute or so, I need to do a partial water change. It doesn't sound good, and touching him could make it worse.

Answer 4

Sounds like dropsy. Is he pineconing?


It could also be an internal hemmorage...it could be so many things. I'm open to IMs if you wanna discuss this further... but it's hard to narrow down with this much info.

Answer 5

i had a betta and that happened to. it happened to slowly die. but my fish was like 2 years old maybe you should clean the tank more often or switch foods.

Answer 6

no but when you touch a fish your fingers feel like a blade on their scales...Good Luck with your fish! ♥