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Posted by Katra on April 13, 2005, 3:26 am
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Ok, this is not a troll... Seriously. I need some advice!
I felt so sorry for the Betta I got from Wal-mart, I appear to have
over-fed him. It took him 3 days with me to even start eating!
I posted about this awhile ago and did follow advice about cutting him
back to a single small feeding per day, but I had to make sure I fed
enough to also feed the two mystery snails. I alternate between flakes,
betta pellets and bloodworms.
The smaller of the two snails died yesterday, but he was in bad shape
when I got him with dissolved spots in his shell. He's been flaating a
lot on and off for the past month so I figured he was going to die soon.
I've read that floating is a normal behavior for these snails but I
don't agree!
My Ivory snail _never_ floats and is still alive and active. The last
two golden snails I've lost did a lot of floating before they died.
So, back to my question, the betta is seriously obese and the reduced
diet does not seem to be helping and I'm worried that I've possibly
"loved him to death".
Betta's seem to last for weeks with no food at Wal-mart, so should I
just quit feeding him altogether for awhile? Will the snail starve to
death?
I'd feel so mean and cruel doing this, but if it'd help him.......
Please advise???
--
K.
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Posted by John D. Goulden on April 13, 2005, 9:48 am
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> Ok, this is not a troll... Seriously. I need some advice!
>
> I felt so sorry for the Betta I got from Wal-mart, I appear to have
> over-fed him. It took him 3 days with me to even start eating!
>
> I posted about this awhile ago and did follow advice about cutting him
> back to a single small feeding per day, but I had to make sure I fed
> enough to also feed the two mystery snails. I alternate between flakes,
> betta pellets and bloodworms.
>
> The smaller of the two snails died yesterday, but he was in bad shape
> when I got him with dissolved spots in his shell. He's been flaating a
> lot on and off for the past month so I figured he was going to die soon.
> I've read that floating is a normal behavior for these snails but I
> don't agree!
>
> My Ivory snail _never_ floats and is still alive and active. The last
> two golden snails I've lost did a lot of floating before they died.
>
> So, back to my question, the betta is seriously obese and the reduced
> diet does not seem to be helping and I'm worried that I've possibly
> "loved him to death".
>
> Betta's seem to last for weeks with no food at Wal-mart, so should I
> just quit feeding him altogether for awhile? Will the snail starve to
> death?
>
> I'd feel so mean and cruel doing this, but if it'd help him.......
Bettas, like most fish, can go for quite a while without food. I've had LFS
bettas go for two weeks before they would eat for me. If the snail wasn't an
issue, I would say feed the betta bits of banana or green pea for a while.
These will go right through his system (assuming he'll eat them at all -
bettas are notoriously picky eaters), will help clean him out if he's
constipated, and won't contribute to his weight. I'm not much of a
snail-keeper so I couldn't say how well your snail will do without food. If
your tank is planted the snail will probably be fine for quite a while. If
not and if you're that worried about the snail move him (her? it?) to a
spare tank and feed as usual while you treat the betta. If you don't have a
spare tank buy a cheap #10 at the LFS or Wal-Mart - you need a quarantine
tank anyway :)
--
John Goulden
mostly goldfish, guppies, bettas, and swordtails
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Posted by OmManiPadmeOmelet on April 13, 2005, 1:28 pm
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> > Ok, this is not a troll... Seriously. I need some advice!
> >
> > I felt so sorry for the Betta I got from Wal-mart, I appear to have
> > over-fed him. It took him 3 days with me to even start eating!
> >
> > I posted about this awhile ago and did follow advice about cutting him
> > back to a single small feeding per day, but I had to make sure I fed
> > enough to also feed the two mystery snails. I alternate between flakes,
> > betta pellets and bloodworms.
> >
> > The smaller of the two snails died yesterday, but he was in bad shape
> > when I got him with dissolved spots in his shell. He's been flaating a
> > lot on and off for the past month so I figured he was going to die soon.
> > I've read that floating is a normal behavior for these snails but I
> > don't agree!
> >
> > My Ivory snail _never_ floats and is still alive and active. The last
> > two golden snails I've lost did a lot of floating before they died.
> >
> > So, back to my question, the betta is seriously obese and the reduced
> > diet does not seem to be helping and I'm worried that I've possibly
> > "loved him to death".
> >
> > Betta's seem to last for weeks with no food at Wal-mart, so should I
> > just quit feeding him altogether for awhile? Will the snail starve to
> > death?
> >
> > I'd feel so mean and cruel doing this, but if it'd help him.......
>
> Bettas, like most fish, can go for quite a while without food. I've had LFS
> bettas go for two weeks before they would eat for me. If the snail wasn't an
> issue, I would say feed the betta bits of banana or green pea for a while.
> These will go right through his system (assuming he'll eat them at all -
> bettas are notoriously picky eaters), will help clean him out if he's
> constipated, and won't contribute to his weight. I'm not much of a
> snail-keeper so I couldn't say how well your snail will do without food. If
> your tank is planted the snail will probably be fine for quite a while. If
> not and if you're that worried about the snail move him (her? it?) to a
> spare tank and feed as usual while you treat the betta. If you don't have a
> spare tank buy a cheap #10 at the LFS or Wal-Mart - you need a quarantine
> tank anyway :)
Great! Thanks for the input... :-)
Mystery snails would do very well on shelled peas and that might make
the Betta lose some weight as well if I can get him to eat them and if
not, the snail will. I think I may give the betta a pinch of bloodworms
maybe once per week then if he won't eat the peas then go from there.....
No, the tank is not planted. Just rock decorations and a couple of
plastic plants.
Thank you!!!!!
--
Om.
"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson
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Posted by NanK on May 15, 2005, 6:26 pm
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John
This happened to my friend. Actually, what was going on was that the
betta got DROPSY - a type of internal infection. This is how I cured my
friend's betta and hes doing great since February.
1. Do a 100% water change. Take betta with some water and put him in
another container while you change the water in his tank/bowl.
2. If you can afford it, get a mini-heater from Walmart to bring the
temperature up to 78 degrees. If you cannot afford it, put him in a
warmer place in your house where the temperature is stable. DO NOT put
him near a radiator or on top of a TV, or near a range or other heating
device, or near a window.
3. Get MARYCYN TWO (I think it TWO - it's the one for dropsy.) It's a
tablet. Calculate how much to put in the water, and treat the betta for
8 days.
4. STOP putting random food in his water. Place one or two pieces of
food and WATCH him. If he doesn't eat, remove the food.
5. Offer live food if you can. Black worms, if you can get them, will
live in the bowl for several days!!! Your betta will hunt them down
when he begins eating again.
Good luck!
n
>>So, back to my question, the betta is seriously obese and the reduced
>>diet does not seem to be helping and I'm worried that I've possibly
>>"loved him to death".
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Posted by John D. Goulden on May 16, 2005, 11:52 am
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> 2. If you can afford it, get a mini-heater from Walmart to bring the
> temperature up to 78 degrees. If you cannot afford it, put him in a
> warmer place in your house where the temperature is stable. DO NOT put
> him near a radiator or on top of a TV, or near a range or other heating
> device, or near a window.
Bettas are warm-water fish and should be at about 78F regardless. Bettas do
not do well at all when the water is 74F or cooler.
--
John Goulden
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>
> I felt so sorry for the Betta I got from Wal-mart, I appear to have
> over-fed him. It took him 3 days with me to even start eating!
>
> I posted about this awhile ago and did follow advice about cutting him
> back to a single small feeding per day, but I had to make sure I fed
> enough to also feed the two mystery snails. I alternate between flakes,
> betta pellets and bloodworms.
>
> The smaller of the two snails died yesterday, but he was in bad shape
> when I got him with dissolved spots in his shell. He's been flaating a
> lot on and off for the past month so I figured he was going to die soon.
> I've read that floating is a normal behavior for these snails but I
> don't agree!
>
> My Ivory snail _never_ floats and is still alive and active. The last
> two golden snails I've lost did a lot of floating before they died.
>
> So, back to my question, the betta is seriously obese and the reduced
> diet does not seem to be helping and I'm worried that I've possibly
> "loved him to death".
>
> Betta's seem to last for weeks with no food at Wal-mart, so should I
> just quit feeding him altogether for awhile? Will the snail starve to
> death?
>
> I'd feel so mean and cruel doing this, but if it'd help him.......