Topic: fish can't swim down

[k1m]

how come my fish can't swim down the tank sometimes?  I can see him struggling, this happens a lot, but other days he has no trouble.  

thanks,
.k1m.

p.s. I love the fishy graphics (the fish swimming across my screen).

[BettAtrick]

oh! that fish, you should click on it, it's what's called a "magic fish".

your fish could have swim bladder problems, could be caused by constipation...how often do you feed him?  do you fast him once a week?  have you been noticing his regular bowel movements?

[firestar]

What size of tank is he is, do you have a filter, what type and how strong, and do you have an air stone or a bubble wand?  

[k1m]

the tank is about 1.5 maybe 2 gallons.  I feed him once a day except on saturday I fast him.  I give him flake food (about 8 flakes but they are very very tiny - he gobbles them up), and he's actually gotten a lot thinner since I first bought him, but he seems lively, I think he just has more room to move around in my tank so he lost weight.  I can't tell if he's constipated, I'll take a picture.  I have no filter in the tank, and I don't know what air stones or bubble wands are.

[attachment deleted by mean old server people]

[dorn27]

How often do you change the water??? If your not changing the water enough, it could be something other than constipation.

With fasting, you shouldn't have these problems.  However many people  seem to say there bettas get more constipated on flakes.  Try Hiraki Betta Bio Gold (I'm such a bad speller... but this is close).  My fish love them.  They come in a couple sizes.  I get the baby pellets and feed 5 or so twice a day.  That seems to be about right when I compare size to other pellets.  If you get a regular size pellet, 3 twice a day.

Eight flakes might be to much, over feeding can cause these problems too.  I'm not sure what size flake your using, but I just think eight flakes of any size would be to much.  Why don't you try cutting it down to half that.  Give him four or five each day and see if he improves.   But personally I'd switch to pellets.

Also the picture doesn't really help me alot.  The part of his body that would be... constipated is to blurry.  Remember, their exit tube is located in front of their long stomach fin. I think it looks a bit swollen though, but from the picture it's really hard to tell.

[k1m]

I change the water every 7-10 days, usually 8 days or so.  I guess I'm feeding him too much.  I will switch to the pellets, thanks for your help.  (sorry about the picture).

k1m =)

[biche]

good idea some times flakes can cause constipation, i find pellets work much better

[BettAtrick]

even the pellets can cause constipation, you should still fast your bettas for 24 hours...ie skip a day in a week.  

[sclark1075]

I'm having the same problem with my male betta.  I thought it was constipation but now I'm wondering if its just old age.  He started floating on the top of the tank laying on his side about 2 weeks ago.  I fed him peas a couple times and after a few days he was better and swimming around normally.  After fasting another 2 days just to be sure he was all cleaned out (and watching for bowel movements) I fed him one pellet.  Then it was back to the same thing again, floating on his side at the top of the water.  

I dont know what else to do.  This is a cycle that has been going on like I said for about 2 weeks now.   He was swimming around normally again last night and the night before and had bowel movements, so today I fed one pellet this morning.  By 3pm he was laying on his side again.  

Anyone have any ideas?  Is he just getting old or is he constipated and I'm not fasting enough days in between?  

Sherri