Betta Fish: Savage survived

It has been quite the week. Last week I introduced Savage, my first betta fish. He had been home for a week before he began exhibiting signs of minor bloat. Initially my thoughts were that I fed him too much, being a first time betta owner it is difficult to judge how much to feed. So I figured easy mistake to make, I'll fast him for a few days and see what we have.

He got… so much worse. After the first signs of bloat, he showed signs of Popeyes. He continued to swell bigger every day and finally he started pineconing. I was certain he was done for.

I started really thinking about my tank and what could be happening. It's possible I over fed him, but I didn't feed him THAT much. So what else could be going on? I had one rock in my tank that was somewhat questionable. It began to noticeably degrade and break down in the water and what I initially thought was water tinting from my driftwood, I am pretty certain now was coming from that rock.

I can't tell you what was for certain in that rock, but last Saturday I ripped it out of the tank and started making daily 40% water changes. I gave Savage an Epsom salt bath on Monday (which traumatized both of us) right before the days water change. Monday night his demeanor changed to slightly more active, less depressed and he appeared to be.. looking for food? (no appetite before this) He still looked like ass. Popeyes, body was humongous and still pineconing and he started to look… lumpy?? But his demeanor changed. Which gave me hope. And then I noticed my snails started to come out and eat algae for the first time since I got them…. hmm…

The next day, he had shrunk down to half the size and had a RAVENOUS appetite. Ate anything he could fit in his mouth. Cautiously fed him some Daphnia and… he has been trending upwards ever since! He is still recovering from the Popeyes as you can see in the video, but every other symptom I have seen has gone away.

Guys I can't even tell you how happy I am. I was 99% sure this lil guy was a goner. I feel like an idiot, but I'm glad I could rectify the situation and get Savage back on the road to having a happy and active life.

Sorry my camera sucks and I really hope the audio doesn't upload with this video but if it does, I apologize for that as well.

I'm just so happy