The lies surrounding Rojo's ingested marble and his struggle with...

...Constipation

Description: Constipation is a fairly common problem with fish. It can occur due to lack of variety in diet. The fish's stomach will be swollen due to its inability to defecate. This may cause problems with buoyancy (similar to swim bladder disorder, where the fish is unable to swim properly and floats at the surface). Initially it is not dangerous to the fish but after several days secondary problems can occur: bacterial infection, damage to the swim bladder, or internal fluid leakage.

Treatment:Fast the fish for about 3 days. The lack of food will give the fish's stomach time to process and purge, allowing its swelling to go down. At the end of the third day, if the fish is still having difficulty, it may require a longer fasting period. A betta can, at extreme, survive for a month without food (this is part of natural survival technique) so do not fear not feeding your betta for a few days. They are very durable fish. At the end of the fasting period, if you really want to ensure the system is flushed out, you can feed a bite-size portion of a cooked and de-shelled green pea to the fish. Or, daphnia can work as a natural laxative. This, too, will help to purge out the system.

Giving the fish a soak in a salt bath can also work as a laxative.

* taken from the journal www.fishjunkies.com

Starbuck came home to me cooking a single green pea yesterday and commented that although the pea was out of it's pod, it still needed de-shelling and handed me a pairing knife mumbling something about bite-size and Betta's having teeth. A familiar blend of support and ridicule but at least he's reading my blog. Which leads me to ask: Is he a lone reader drifting through the vacuum of cyberness or are there throngs, even armies of fans ready to charge the second I resign? Am I ready to install a view counter and all it can reveal?