# Thoughts for Poseidon



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Well, this is completely unrelated to hedgies, but still animal related, I suppose. Poseidon is my little betta fish and I noticed tonight that he's having a really hard time swimming. He struggles to get up to the top, though he was still interested in food, and after checking a few sites, I looked again and he looks a little bloated. I'm pretty positive it's swim bladder disease/constipation, which means it's probably my fault for giving him freeze dried bloodworms and/or overfeeding him. :? I have a hospital tank set up to move him into tomorrow after the water sits overnight, but I can't really do anything else until he's fasted a few days, so I'm posting this so I can stop hovering by his tank. If I go over there, he starts trying to swim up and back and forth by the glass when he notices me, which makes me feel worse.  Hoping he makes it through the next couple of days until I can try giving him some pea and see if it helps. Sorry it's not hedgehog-related, but any good thoughts for him would be much appreciated. I've had him for a year and a half and he's one of only two animals I have left in my house to keep me sane.

(And here's a somewhat good picture of my pretty boy  - http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-a ... 7460_n.jpg )


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

He is beautiful. Hopefully he will be okay.


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

With you as his nurse, he'll receive the absolute best care ever 
Just remember to breathe. And go work on that book and book mark.


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## ktdid (Aug 7, 2012)

Oooh he is very pretty. I hope he feels better. 
I love betas, and think they make great pets. I had a red one for 3 years in high school named Elmer and then my last one was blue and teal and named Bombay. I moved a few times when I had him and he didn't do well the last move so he was only with me for about a year.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks guys.  Poseidon's my third betta, my first lived for 2 years, my second for less than a year (he moved to the new 10-gallon tank first and didn't do well with the move...not sure if I did that wrong too, or if he just didn't like the filter I had or what, but I no longer use the filter), and Poseidon for a year and a half so far. I don't usually care at all about fish, but I have a huge soft spot for bettas, with most people treating them as disposable. I've gotten pretty attached to this little guy, especially with only him and my dog left for pets here...Not sure what I'd do with NO animals in the house! :? His light's off now, so hopefully he rests okay tonight and comes to say hi to me in the morning. He won't appreciate the no-food thing for three days though, he's such a little shark about his food. :lol:


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## LarryT (May 12, 2009)

I have 7 bettas, love them! Your tank is very nice!  Hope he gets well soon!


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## Quinn (Apr 24, 2011)

I have read somewhere that peas help fish with constipation. You can try feeding him cooked peas. Also, if it's the swim bladder one where he's sinking you might want to get something to prop him up so he doesn't hurt himself on the gravel (if you have gravel) as well so he can breathe. If it's the floating one then I wouldn't worry about that. I hope he gets better!


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## hedgielover (Oct 30, 2008)

It's so hard when a pet is sick, even worse when there are only a few left. I hope that your little fish feels better soon.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks Larry, Quinn, & hedgielover! I"d read the same thing, Quinn, as well as to let him fast for a couple of days. He does have the sinking version of SBD, which is why he looks so pathetic...he tries to swim up to say hi to me and has to struggle a lot trying to do it.  I went out and bought a mini-heater for his 2.5 gal tank so I can keep it/him warm while he's in it. I have it set up as a hospital tank, kind of, with nothing in the bottom of it, so he won't scrape himself on anything (I had taken his castle out of his main tank last night too, for that reason, everything else in there is pretty smooth) and so I can see if he poops. I did also buy a little fake leaf bed thing that's kind of like a "betta bed", I'm debating on whether to put it in his hospital tank with him or not. And because I'm still feeling so bad about it all, he also got a block of frozen bloodworms for his treats once he's feeling better. I think I'm going to leave him with no food today, see how he's doing tomorrow and either no food tomorrow or try a little bit of peas tomorrow night. I feel a little bit silly being all worried over a little fish, but I just love bettas and I feel worse knowing it's my fault.


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## Shell (Aug 23, 2012)

Our Coi had this disease and we put him in a smaller tank with nothing on the bottom. We gave him peas without the skins and his regular food. He lived another entire year on his back, belly up, and would sometimes get himself upright, but not for long. Sending Poseidon healing vibes to get him well again, and even if he will be an upside down boy, many more years of a loved life with you.


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## zorropirate (Aug 13, 2010)

I am sorry your betta isn't feeling well... I don't have any valid suggestions... just a comparison story that might add some optimism... 

I have a betta too, he lives in my 50gallon community tank with some guppies and leopard danios... this summer I noticed he would dissapear for a time... but it's a big tank with lots of places to hide... then he would reappear and act all lethargic and floaty and just go with the current... I thought he was going to leave us, I would look in the tank every day expecting to see him gone... or just not see him anymore... but in the last month he's now swimming just fine, full of energy and as if he was never acting like a dying fish at all!!

I've had him for over 2 years now.. 

Just thought I'd share, still confuses me to no end... strange little fish.


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## meggles1410 (Jun 18, 2012)

if it is a swim bladder problem or infections i know you can get medicion to put in the water, but i not sure if you can in the USA.. i would look in to it though ^_^ allways handy to have x


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## Quinn (Apr 24, 2011)

Try the betta leaf out. Since he breathes atmospheric air it would be easier to sit closer to the surface rather then try to swim up for a gulp of air. Many fish make a recovery from swim bladder, so I'm sending good vibes! The other day one of my fish jumped out of the tank, I have no idea for how long he was out but he made a full recovery. Fish can be very resiliant if they're healthy to begin with.


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

Awww I'm so sorry I hope he feels better soon... hugs


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thank you all!  He's still mostly laying on the bottom of the hospital tank, I haven't seen him laying on his little betta bed yet, but I've been gone for most of the day since I put it in. He did swim around a bit more energetically when I checked on him after getting home though, which made me smile. I think I might try the peas tomorrow night, I can pick up a bag of them on my way home from job orientation. I might lower the tank water level again a little, so he can get up to the top more easily for air. It's only half full as it is, but it might make it even easier anyway. Still excited by how enthusiastically he greeted me tonight! Though I think most of it was him hoping for food because when I didn't drop anything in after a minute, he went back to laying on the tank bottom in the middle of the tank, with his tail to me. :lol:


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## Shell (Aug 23, 2012)

Dropping the water level is a great idea. He sounds to be like a happy little guy. I kept telling the boyfriend it was cruel to keep the coi going like this, but when it came to feeding time he was like your boy, and I realized he didn`t know he was upside down or on the bottom anymore. Just like being alive and waiting for his next meal. He really liked the peas. I`m sure your little man will be fine.


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## Skittles (Aug 2, 2012)

This is something for you to look into as I'm not sure about Bettas. But we have discus fish and Epson salt (make sure it's epson not the salt that comes from pet stores) is supposed to be a natural laxative and is harmless to them. The thing about giving peas is that they have to ingest it for it to work, but if your fish won't eat epson salts might be they way to go. Do some google research because I'm not sure of how much to use. (the hedgehog is my pet the fish are the boyrfriends so he does what I say when it comes to my little girl and I do what he says when it comes to his fish lol). Hope it continues to get better, after a very long battle we recently lost three fish ourselves and it's no fun


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## shetland (Sep 2, 2008)

Kelsey, I hope your Poseidon is well soon. You go to every length to give your little one every comfort and meet every one of his needs. I hope your next update brings good news.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Unfortunately no good news for us yet.  He got worse over the couple days, I tried giving him peas on Friday, but he wouldn't even acknowledge them. I looked up a betta forum and found that peas aren't the best thing to give them, that I should try daphnia. I went to the specialty exotics pet store in the area on Saturday, where the freshwater fish guy that I talked to said that while I could try daphnia, he had a range of other things he'd recommend first, since the package of daphnia was rather large, unnecessary for a small fish. I ended up getting this little container of Betta Revive, that he said to try for 3 or 4 days and see how he does. If he doesn't improve, then I can try one of the other ideas. So far I haven't noticed a ton of change other than he was interested in his pellets last night, but he still couldn't eat them - he'd swim up to one, grab it in his mouth but either lose it or spit it back out. Then it was like that had taken all of his energy & he couldn't grab for it a second time, and he'd sink back to the bottom. 

Today's the second day of the Betta Revive, if he's not doing better by Tuesday before I go to class, I'm stopping by the store again after classes to get something else to try. The other things the guy suggested were Bettafix (which I vetoed because I remembered reading on one or two of the forums that it's no good), giving him these algae mat things to see if he'll eat a little & clean him out if he's constipated, and some kind of garlic thing that you soak the pellets in that's supposed to encourage them to eat. I'd never heard of the last one, so I wasn't sure on it. The other thing I was thinking of trying was epsom salts in the water, which is supposed to help them out, so I might combine that with something else on Tuesday if he's not doing better.


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## Shell (Aug 23, 2012)

Oh no. I was hoping for an improvement. Sorry about mentioning the peas. The people at the fish shop told us to give our coi peas for it. Didn't think it would hurt Posiedon, but I'm glad you found out. I do hope the little guy improves. Still sending tons of healing vibes his way.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Nah, there were a few other sites that mentioned peas as well, so it wasn't just you! Same as for most animals, there's just a lot of conflicted information around, so it's hard to find out what's true for each animal. And thanks!


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## Quinn (Apr 24, 2011)

I'm also aorry about the peas problem. Sometimes just leaving them alone helps too. I find when you fuss around them they get stressed. I hope he pulls through!


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