water changes causing floating betta???

mykidsmylife

mykidsmylife

Princess of Peons
Aug 26, 2005
925
0
0
Indiana, U.S.A.
Last week when I did a 50% water change on my son's betta tank (One gallon with a small HOB filter) That evening we noticed poor Ted floating around as if he was having some serious swim bladder problems. He seemed not to be able to swim down to the bottom etc and would float up to the top and go to his side. We didn't feed him until the following night and we gave him one shelled blanched pea which he ate. He quickly recovered and was just fine. I figured it was a constipation thing.
Well....today I did all the water changes again. I did the 75 gallon, the 40, the 2 gallon female betta, then I did this male betta and the exact same set-up with a betta in my daughters room. I did the betta's the EXACT same way, same amount of water change, the exact same water (I measured it out and poured from the same pitchure) ...
Tonight..Ted is floating again, same exact problem! We have seriously reduced his food intake over the week for fear of a constipation problem. Could this possibly be caused by the 50% water change?? It just seems really strange. I tested the water in the little one gallon tank he is in. It showed 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, nitrates between 5 to 10, ph 7.6. I wouldnt think clean water would harm him, but going by these two occaisions it has. I use plain tap water from our well and add a little stress coat to it. Hmmmm...strange.
thanks all
 
How fast are you adding the water? Is he being swished around in the current? I've read that if during water changes the betta is pulled around, particularly up and down, by the current, it can damage the swim bladder.

Fast him for a few days, then feed him very sparingly, just bits of pea, for a couple of days. If he gets better again, feed him VERY sparingly henceforth, just about the size of his eyeballs twice a day. And next time you do the water change, be VERY careful to pour the water gently, and make sure it's the same temp and everything.

If he continues to do poorly, check out this page and this page.


L
 
I tend to agree that if anything it may of been the force of the water going into his bowl...Bettas benefit from water changes greatly so it isnt that...Could be Ted is just getting old.
Also, those one gallon filtered jobbies are tough on Bettas...Too much flow for them to handle..Whenever i see these probs it usually involves a one gallon filtered tank...Two and three gallons not nearly as much...Ted may not be old after all, just exhausted. Eventually it will kill him.
 
lkh said:
How fast are you adding the water? Is he being swished around in the current? I've read that if during water changes the betta is pulled around, particularly up and down, by the current, it can damage the swim bladder.

Fast him for a few days, then feed him very sparingly, just bits of pea, for a couple of days. If he gets better again, feed him VERY sparingly henceforth, just about the size of his eyeballs twice a day. And next time you do the water change, be VERY careful to pour the water gently, and make sure it's the same temp and everything.

If he continues to do poorly, check out this page and this page.


L
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I guess I didn't slowly poor the water in :( . Poor guy. He seems a bit better today. I will wait a day or two to feed him and then use a pea again. Geesh, I feel horrible that it's something I've done to cause it. I made sure the water was the same temp but never thought about the water "swishing" him around when I changed it. That makes perfect sense to me though.Thank you for the links as well. LOTS of fantastic information in them.
 
TheMightyQueenPixie said:
I tend to agree that if anything it may of been the force of the water going into his bowl...Bettas benefit from water changes greatly so it isnt that...Could be Ted is just getting old.
Also, those one gallon filtered jobbies are tough on Bettas...Too much flow for them to handle..Whenever i see these probs it usually involves a one gallon filtered tank...Two and three gallons not nearly as much...Ted may not be old after all, just exhausted. Eventually it will kill him.
Click to expand...
:eek: I bought those little tanks thinking that if it was filtered it would be much better for them. I turned both filters off as soon as I read your post (the tanks in each kids room).
Do you think I should just scrap the one gallon tanks and come up with something different for them? I want the guys to be healthy and happy. Geesh...I thought I was doing right by them. I feel horrible. Thank you so much for the suggestion Queen. I will do water changes SLOWLY every other day since there is no filtration on them now.
 
As long as you do regular water changes, the filter is not totally necessary, however I have had my betta in a 2.5g tank and a 10g tank (which has a pegunin biowheel 100 on it), and he has had no problems with the filters. I would say it is up to you and if the fish is having any problem with the filter.

Also, next time you do a water change, check the ph on his tank and on the tap and compare them. My ph will go up a tiny bit after sitting for a while, and I was having problems with my betta when he was in the smaller tank. Turned out, the ph was changing a bit from water changes. I don't know that it was the problem, but the more matched the water conditions (especially on the smaller tanks) the better. I eventually just felt bad for him in the little tank, got a cheap 10g, and moved him to his new home!!
 
Underground filters work great for bettas. They don't create the current that HOB's do. You could also look into a sponge filter. Mainly you just want to steer clear of HOB filters on smaller tanks. Larger tanks it's ok because they will typically still be a calm section of the tank for them to go rest at. Otherwise you could run it with no filter, but you'd have to bump the water changes to probably every other day or at least twice a week.
 
I think you should consider upgrading each of your kids to this 5 gallon hex tank for a Betta.

The tank stays clean a *LOT* longer than a smaller tank and the filtration and lighting is all built into the hood on top and covered.



You can get these from the top shelf at any Wal-Mart for under $30.

The filter does not bother the Betta. The filter's outflow is in the center of the top of the tank, so if he would happen to get tired he can just swim around back to calmer water.
 
I have had my betta in a 2.5g tank and a 10g tank (which has a pegunin biowheel 100 on it), and he has had no problems with the filters.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the 2 gals and up tend to be less stressful...One gal is too small and the filters too much for Betta buds. The 5 gal with a heater and filter for 30 bucks is a great deal...As long as you can maintain some peaceful, slow moving areas they will be fine.
 
Okay..I will definately purchase 2 or maybe even 3 of the 5 gallon hex when the $$ becomes available. *sigh* Oh my, the cash I have forked out over the past 4 months being hit by this MTS is really putting the strain on the checkbook! LOL. Oh well, the animals didn't ask to be here and it's my responsiblity to give them appropriate care. The darned part of it is I spent a little over $30 each for these two tanks that the bettas are currently in thinking THAT was what was best for them. It's aggrivating and frustrating. So...would these little one gallon betta tanks be good for anything???
Thank you all very much for the responses. I do appreciate it. If my kids weren't so darned attached to the fish I would take them back to the LFS and see if they could find them a more appropriate owner.
 
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