This is Franklin! He is my little fishy friend 🙂 but he seems to have chronic swim bladder issues. He always floats to the top and has trouble staying down. I thought it was his food (Hikari betta bio gold) and changed it (fluval bug bites) but that didn't help. I use Seachem Stress Guard. I've tried catapa leaves. I've tried salt baths, it helped for 1 day and then the next day he was back to floating.
He has a 10 gallon tank, heated to 80F, hang on back filter, cycled (tank running since July), water parameters are good (second picture), decholrinated with Seachem Prime, 2 live anubias to keep nitrates down, no tank mates. This issue has persisted since I got him in August. Sometimes we will have 4-5 good days before the issue returns. Has anyone dealt with similar? Any treatment methods other than a salt bath every 3 days? Salt baths seem stressful for him. Any advice would be appreciated 🙁
https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1oki26a
Posted by SonOfCoul27
4 Comments
So sorry your experiencing this scary ordeal. I havnt had this happen to my betta but maybe if he is bloated could be eating too much. It is the only thing I can imagine is happening with everything you’ve tried
Aw I’m so sorry to hear about your fishy’s issues, one of my bettas has permanent fin damage and making a disability friendly tank is a lot of work. It looks great so far, I love how one of the rocks is a good resting place near the surface for when your fish gets tired but still needs oxygen. I would suggest even more plants, go all out!! My fish adores resting on the leaves
I have no input on the bladder issues but I don’t think you should be taking the betta out for water changes it introduces stress.
Too frequent exposure to salt can cause organ damage and then eventually organ failure, so I honestly wouldn’t keep doing those
How many pellets do you feed him daily? And do you feed him only once a day or twice a day?