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A How to Guide to Chronic Swim Bladder Disorder
by: hakkobetta
I got the cute idea to document one of my
most recent water changes for my Chronic SBD male Camo, and turn it into a
little how to for people trying to care for an SBD betta on a low
budget! 
For those of you who don't know, SBD is the
common acronym for "Swim Bladder Disorder". SBD is most commonly seen when
a fish is suffering from constipation, and may show itself in a variety of
ways. The fish normally seems to either not be able to swim down, or has a
tendency to flop to the side or swim in an 'S' shape. Alarmingly enough,
some like to lie at the top of the water on their sides, resting. It looks
like they're dead, but they're not!! They're just playing possum, so to
speak! Chronic SBD occurs for many different reasons, but no one can be
exactly sure why. Camo developed it about a month after I purchased him.
He has proper bowel movements, so I know he's not constipated. He gets a
good diet of hikari betta pellets, frozen bloodworms on occasion, and a
pea when he's really good! ;D
Now on to the Betta
Project!
First, catch the betta! ;D SBD bettas are very
floppy and don't swim as fast, so they are relatively easy to catch, just
net them and plop them in a long container, such as the rectangular
kritter keeper pictured here, with about two inches of water in it. It
helps them swim and breathe better. In this picture you can semi see the
"S" shape that Camo tends to swim in. He's also very stressed (he hates
water changes, it freaks him
out)
Second,
prepare your SBD safe tank! Wally-world and many other petstores sell
long, shallow kritter keepers that hold around a gallon to a gallon and a
half at easy to afford prices of six dollars or less. Gravel (1.99 for the
cheapo little bag, most of this gravel came from already established
tanks) is necessary because it helps keep the water level low enough for
easy swimming and air access.
Third,
get your betta doctoring equipment ready! Below you will see a variety
of things, including silk plants, breeding grass, fake grasses, and
other soft plastic plants. A heavily "planted" tank is necessary so that
the betta can support himself on the leaves of the plants to stay in an
upright position. Aquarium salt (1.99) and a nice slimey de-chlor ($4.00
for big bottle) are great faves of mine. I normally add about 1 tsp of
salt to this tank, and I keep it on the bottom shelf of a dark coffee
table, it keeps him calm and comfortable. This tank isn't quite suitable
for a real heater, but I'm looking at designing something for this
specific fish that will be longer and large enough for a heater. I
still haven't found those mini, one gallon tank heaters that I've read
about on other posts!
::)
Now
start decorating your tank! I like the breeding grass in the middle, it's
about four dollars from wally-world, and I use the taller plastic grasses
to form a sort of "road-way" for him to travel on when he swims around the
tank, from plant to plant. I put the large silk plants in the corners so
they'll tip over and form nice little soft hideys for him to enjoy himself
in. The plastic aqua colored anacharis is a plant that this betta gets
depressed without, so something they really like keeps them uber
happy!
When
you fill your tank with water, don't fill it all the way! The large slits
for air tend to slosh a lot of water when the tank is moved, so it's best
to have it in place, or not fill it all the way when you get ready move
it. The plants sticking out of the water will also encourage him to bubble
nest!
And
the finished product! I'm currently devising a way to cycle this tank, so
I won't have to continually stress him with water changes. You can see the
faded colors in his before pictures. I'm planning on using a small
disposable sponge filter system ($5 tops) and a pinched air line to keep
the bubbling very very limited, so there will be little or no current at
all in the
tank.
I
hope this helps anybody who's wondering what to do with an SBD betta, they
really don't suffer, they lead happy betta lives, just like every other
betta, they're just a little movement un-coordinated! ;D
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