This has happened before. It's called swim bladder disorder. While ornamental bettas still retain most of their vigor, they are certainly much more fragile than their wild cousins. It's from so much time spent pulling strains out of their plain grey ancestors. These particular bettas were raised on bloodworms, and while I do usually manage to feed them these, it's not always that it happens. Sometimes I just don't have a choice but to toss a small pinch of flakes in there on the go. I like to hope that it'll make up for whatever vitamins their bloodworms might be lacking in.
However, every few times I do it, this happens to the little guy. As I hear it, it's a common side effect among young doubletailed and crowntailed bettas, and since he is all three... *laborious sigh*
While I know pretty much exactly what he's going through, it still drives me nuts. My two beautiful young females and my two crotchety old petstore males, having been fed the exact same diet at the exact same time, are just cruising around, while Max floats, oftentimes halfway out of the water, looking like the quintessential "floater" dead fish. (Why is that the classical symbol of a dead fish? Every fish I've ever experienced who has died under my care was entangled in plants, or bobbing along the bottom, being worried at by his tankmates)
He's not in any pain or, this time around, stress. He doesn't really even seem to care, and I halfway believe that he likes not having to flop onto anything to rest. He just.. floats there, periodically straightening up to take a breath, or scooting over to his mirror to flare, and then immediately goes back to floating lifelessly. Time and again I found myself lifting the lid to startle him into straightening up, before I finally realized he probably needs the rest to let his bowels move. I gave him a tiny bit of pea today, which he took readily, but I'm leery of giving him anything else.
I know by morning he'll be fine. But it's so -nerve wracking- to watch this, especially while laboriously going through line after line of coding.
On the upside, I will have learned the entire Immediate help page inside and out.
Bettas are funny kids. When they get older, they get so lazy.. I'll never get over the humor value of watching my big old crotchety blue mutt veiltail betta come ponderously up to accept whatever I'm feeding him, circle his tank once or twice like a dog, look around, then abruptly and startlingly go head-first into the open slot of the bridge decoration in there, and staying put. It's disturbing.. I keep expecting him to hurt himself that way. But no, he just stays anchored there until something attracts his interest or he gets to needing air, upon which time he'll come shooting out of aforementioned slot, attend to his needs, then go for a nose-dive into what I've come to refer to as his "betta bed." Guppies are sweet and often very beautiful, but when it comes to character, they just can't compare...
...
Except when it comes to bettas floating on their sides in a tank two feet from your face. Even a shimmying old scoliosis female with saddleback columnaris is more fun than that. =/
Immediate Help
