How to Cure a Sick Betta Fish with Peas

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By derbyka
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Cure a Sick Betta Fish with Peas

Upon finding a sick betta fish struggling to swim on its side in your betta aquarium, panic sets in. As hardy as they appear, these colorful little guys rarely seem to bounce back once ill. However, even though he is floating pitifully on his side, your sick betta fish is not necessarily doomed to die. There are many bacterial and fungal diseases that betta fish can contract, but if your fish is not showing any distinct outward signs other than bloating and difficulty in swimming downwards, the mystery disease he is suffering from is probably none other than constipation! Furthermore, the constipation is often easy to cure if you follow these simple steps.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

frozen or canned peas
water treatment for changing the water in the betta aquarium
safety pin or needle

Step 1

Buy some plain frozen or canned peas if you do not already have them.
Step 2

Carefully move your betta's tank near a light, if it is not near one already, so you can see well the top of the water and the sick betta fish.
Step 3

Remove the lid of the betta aquarium but do not leave the sick betta fish alone unsupervised. Have a buddy watch over the patient because it can jump out of the water.
Step 4

Follow the directions for cooking the peas if they are frozen. This might entail boiling them or heating them in the microwave. If you are using canned peas, use a can opener to open them and then pour some into a bowl.
Step 5

Pick up a pea in your fingers and gently break it open. Then, use the tip of the safety pin to scoop out a very tiny amount of pea. This might take a couple of tries to coordinate, but be persistent.
Step 6

Gently touch the tiny chunk of pea to the surface of the water where the sick betta fish can see it. The pea will sink quickly, and he might not catch and eat it on the first try. Keep trying until he does.
Step 7

Feed the sick fish several of these pieces of pea. The pea will fix the constipation and you will probably see an improvement within a couple of hours. If your betta is still swimming on its side the next day, repeat the pea feeding.
Step 8

Completely clean the betta's aquarium within 24 hours after the pea treatment as the peas will produce a lot of ammonia (poison to fish) in the tank.

Comments

spencerchu said

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on 11/12/2009 wait does it work on any beta fish problem beacause my beta fish is off balance and it has something hanging from his gills

andrewdo said

on 6/23/2009 Good news - this works ! All it took was one boiled pea. Like it says, be persistent ! My betta (Junior) has been restored to full health again. Thank you.