Bloated Betta

Question
Dear Jaymie,

First, thank you for your military service.  (My husband is an active duty Fleet Marine Force Corpsman, and I love the Marine Corps community!).  Now, on to my question.  We recently purchased a male betta (2 weeks ago).  I have him set up (alone) in a 5 gallon tank with a heater and quiet filter with silk plants.  His tank temperature has been slightly fluctuating between 78-80 degrees.  His heater does not allow me to adjust the temp, so if I keep his light on too long, his water temperature will rise.  I have been feeding him Hikari Betta Bio-Gold micro pellets twice a day (about 10 micro pellets per feeding) as advised on the Hikari website based on my betta's size.  He has seemed alert and does make bubble nests, but yesterday I noticed his belly is bloated.  My thoughts are that he is being overfed, but I am unsure if simply reducing his food intake will fix his problem.  I read somewhere to let the betta fast one day a week, so I will try that today.  I guess my question is, will letting my betta fast and reducing his amount of food per feedings make his stomach go down?  Or is there something else I need to do for him in the meantime? Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.  This is my daughter's first pet, and we all want him to have a happy, healthy,  and long life.  Thank you so much for any input you can provide.

Thanks again,
Ginger

Answer
Ginger,
It was my pleasure to help keep our country safe. As for the Betta, 20 pellets is way too much. His stomach is the size of his eye and should eat 3 to 4 pellets a day. Once he is bloated, just fasting won't help. The best way to help him is to fast him for 2 days. On the third day, feed him a shelled cooked pea. Make sure you shell it and discard the shell. He will not be able to digest it. After the pea, fast him for 2 days. This is a five day process. The pea is a natural laxative and should help him. It is a good idea to fast him one day a week and feed him the pea at least once a month. Don't forget to do you weekly water testing and weekly water changes.