Betta Chest Exploded.?

Question

My housemate's betta died recently & we're trying to figure out some forensic pathology here....

He was laying on the bottom of the tank & his chest (above the stomach, not the stomach area) was swelled & visibly red with blood. It looked almost like his heart exploded.

He had a bunch of floating plants & still water so his environment was good for him.

My housemate says its because he took a big gulp of freeze-dried brine-shrimp.

That & he's acusing my angel loach of killing it (as it was a recent addition to the tank).

I say its heart just exploded or it was bullied by the guppies its in with. I have seen male guppies nip at him several times.

I have had the angel loach for almost 2 years now, and it has never harmed anything before.

Do you have any ideas about what a swollen, blood gorged chest indicates in a fish?

Answer 1

If the Betta consumed a large quantity of dehydrated food while it was still dry,it's entirely possible that the food expanded in it's alimentary canal and ruptured some major blood vessels,dehydrated foods should be presoaked or crumpled and fed sparingly. Loaches can be bothersome to other fish but usually not murderous. I don't think hypertension is a problem in Anabantids so I'd rule out the exploding heart theory. The other possibility might be gill flukes causing damage to it's circulatory system,but if that were true you would see symptoms in some of the other tankmates. ------Good luck in your quest.-----PeeTee

Answer 2

Betta fish don't give live birth, for those above. He probably has a parasite. You should feed him small meals 2-3 times per day. It is very hard to treat diseases in Bettas because they are often in a small tank.

Answer 3

Maybe I can offer an alternative guess. You Betta could be suffering from hemorrhagic septicemia (fish), the symptom is ulcers (that explains the bloody gorged body), lethargic (laying on the bottom) and bloated stomach due to accumulation of fluid and hemorrhages in the internal organs.

Answer 4

I always recommend soaking all dried foods for 5 minutes to avoid air in the intestines as this is one possibility, although the main problem from lack of food soaking is the air trapped allowing bacterial colonies such as aeromonas to buidup and cause disease (which in itself cause ruptures as these colonies often produce air pockets within the fish.

The other possibility is an internal parasite such as a trematode. These can rupture through the epidermis of the fish and display symptoms you are describing.
See this article:
http://aquarium-answers.blogspot.com/2007/03/trematodes-and-nematodes-in-fish.html

The possibility of the angel loach causing this is less likely in my experience, although I have seen enough strange things in this business over the years to not rule this out.