Beta Sick

Question
Hi I have a red female Beta fish "Minti".....She is with us for more than 2 years and she is in less than 1 gallon tank since then....Now she has swollen Tummy for 1 month in both sides.....But she is active, eats well as usual but just her tummy bother me.....She eats Betta Buffet Pellets(Omega One)just 3-4 balls everyday once for almost 1 year...I change her water once a week and use Water Conditioner ("Aqueon"- 2-3 drops in 1 gallon water)......please tell me what should I do? last time she was sick for a little bit and I got help from your web site and she was fine since then so please help her......She is one of our family member.....Thanks

Answer
Well, the first thing is, she needs to be in a bigger tank. The absolute minimum is 2.5 gallons where a five gallon is better. She also needs to have a heater keeping her water at 80 degrees at all times. It sounds like she is constipated which could turn in swim bladder disease Fast her for 2 days. On the 3rd day, give her a shelled cooked pea cut into bite size pieces. Make sure you do not feed her the shell because she will not be able to digest it. Then fast her again for 2 days. If she is constipated, this should help her.