bouyant beta

Question
QUESTION: Hello,i have a 1 1/2 year old Beta,Salvador.he has been treated for a month.I see he must have constipation from reading different answers for other peoples questions on this site.I have been seeking help from the pet store chain I bought him from.to no avail.i have used pima fix and Beta fix,both by the same company.He is still in a 1 1/2 gal.tank .no heat and an air stone.after reading that Beta do better in at least 5 gal.and heated i went and bought one.when i was setting it up i found out there is no heater included,so I'm going back tomorrow to buy a heater.I also tried the pea,he didn't eat it.I did cut it in small pieces.He has not eaten anything for 6 days.His belly is not swelled.I'm so worried for him,I'm amazed he's still alive.hope you can help me help him.thank you.Barbie

ANSWER: If he has no swollen belly I would stop treatment as it could just be bothering him. Also what are you feeding him? Betta's need their pellets but this is a staple. You should do intermixing periods of feeding him frozen brineshrimp and the occasional frozen bloodworm treat. Adults like him need to feed 4 days out of a week.

Betta's can surprisingly go without food for 2-3 weeks hence why they can be left behind without caretakers on shorter vacations. If you've fed him a single food for this time he more then likely has grown to picky and you need to wean him off the pellets so you can try other foods.

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QUESTION: Hello again,Sorry but i want to know why Salvador is buoyant?, is there something wrong with him?and what should i be doing for him?I did feed him just pellets,but when i got the PIMA FIX,I bought some flakes too.I thought maybe i could coax him into eating,not too much success.Thankyou for the info on the feeding tips.I will adhere to them.And knowing they can go so long without eating,was great to find out too.Thankyou again.

ANSWER: Your welcome you can ask me as many concerns/questions you need to know for your little guy.

Can you define by buoyant? Like swimming erratically or twisty? If he's just hanging out at the top this is perfectly normal as they are labyrinth fish, which are top feeders who can breathe air.

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QUESTION: Hello,I'm sorry that i tend to be unclear about my description.if he isn't under a plant,holding him down,he floats rapidly to the top.He has a hard time getting back to the bottom again. also, twice i thought he was dead,he was floating in his side! TWICE!! scared me to death!Then when i went to get him out, he swam to his plant.????crazy crazy! Please what do I doto help him?

Answer
No its okay. It is more then likely that English is my second language so I apologize for any inconvenience. The tank might too tall for him or the water is stagnant and there's not enough oxygen. It also could be a problem with water parameters. Do you have him in a appropriate tank size?