Help! My fish is swimming sideways!

[Jenny07]

I just bought a female veiltail this afternoon, and she seemed fine earlier, adjusting nicely to her new tank. Now she is swimming near the surface on her side and can't seem to right herself. I hate seeing her distressed. Is there anything I can do?

The tank is about 12 liters (can't remember how many gallons that is), with gravel and live plants, cycled before I added her. My husband fed her tonight. He gave her five pellets (too many I think, since she is quite a small fish but that shouldn't be causing this, should it?) She is still being quite active, she just can't get lower in the water and her belly seems a bit swollen. Does this sound like a swim bladder problem?

I hope she'll be okay. She's a lovely little fish and I only just got her.

[Jenny07]

Just read through the stickied thread on the feeding forum. I will try the boiled pea thing, but I'm wondering whether I should give her one tonight or wait until tomorrow.

Also, I didn't know the trick about soaking the pellets. I'll try that in future.

[wiccansinger]

it does seem like a swim bladder problem from the information given. i would wait until tomorrow morning to give her the pea. and 12L is more than enough water because the required is 7.57L (in other words jenny you have a bit more than 3gals) i never had a problem with pellets not being soaked before i learnt of the trick, i even have a female that wont accept soaked ones (she likes swimming around the tank with a pellet sticking out of her mouth until it is soft, i keep an eye on her)

goodluck with your betta i hope she gets better ^.^

[Jenny07]

Thanks. She seems a bit better today. Still mostly staying near the surface, but at least she's swimming the right way up now. I'll try her on a pea now. Fasting her is going to be tricky when she keeps finding pond snails to eat. She also ate some of the java moss ().

I wasn't worried about the tank size. My last two bettas were fine in there. I just mentioned it to rule that out as a problem.

[wiccansinger]

It's good to hear that she seems a bit better.

if you are worried about the snails you could remove 50% of the water then empty out the rest of the tank into the sink, boil water and soak the gravel (or whatever you use on the ground) and any tank ornaments as well. clean the plants and removing all of the dead leaves (kill two birds with one stone) and put into another tank as well as the java moss. then put boiling water into the tank (first slowly heat up the bowl by having cold water turning hot from the tap running into it so the glass wont crack), let it cool to room temp, then put the water you kept back into the bowl and then fill to top. use the water conditioner and leave your betta in it... you can put the gravel into the water after thoroughly risning to remove dead snails. keep the plants in a bowl of water with your moss while you are fasting her, then after you decide it is ok to feed her again you can put the moss and plants into the tank again.

Thats all good with the tank size, i was just letting people who dont know how many gals 12L would be know, otherwise there may have been confusion.

[anna101]

i had a fish that did that;
it was gone the following morning.

[Jenny07]

Originally Posted by anna101

i had a fish that did that;
it was gone the following morning.

That's not helpful.

My fish seems to be completely recovered.

[wiccansinger]

thats good news jenny, im glad he has recovered ^.^