Bettas fins

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I'm really worried about my betta, Argon, he has
beautiful long fins which isn't a problem, but what I'm
worried about is that his top fins are at an angle, and
whatever angle they are at he tilts that way when he swims,
and when I say he tilts he really tilts! He's upright when
not moving. He is having a hard time swimming and eating,
and also he's getting pale and hardly moving now, he stays
near the top of his tank. Also his fins are starting to
clamp together. :(

His environment is a 2.5 gallon tank, a heater, aquarium
salt, water conditioner, and some decorations with rocks on
the bottom. There are no other fish with him.

Hope that was enough details, thank you for your time.

ANSWER: Megan,

 The first thing I would do is stop putting salt in his water. I say this because I use aquarium salt to help heal a Betta and when it has it all the time then the salt doesn't work. None of my Betta's have salt in their water and they are very happy and healthy. Clamped fins are a sign of stress or illness. What are your water readings? I would do a 50% water change adding only the conditioner to the new water. In 2 days repeat the water change. This should remove most of the salt in the tank. Their fins can get quite long which makes it harder for them to swim. If he is not showing signs of Ich or Velvet, then there is nothing to do at the moment. Never treat a fish with medication if they are not showing visible signs of illness.
Maybe lower the water level a little making it easier for him to go up and get his food. If he doesn't get better in a few days after the water changes or gets worse let me know.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What should I get to test my water? Things that test for Ph,
ammonia, and nitrite? What should the readings be? I'll stop
adding the salt and do the water change right after this!
Can you tell me a little about velvet and ich? Sorry if I'm
annoying at all, just want to get it right.

Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

Answer
Megan,

The three most important reading in order are ammonia, nitrite, then nitrate. The first 2 should always be at zero, and nitrate should never read higher than 20 ppm. Do not get the test strips, they are not accurate. Get the liquid testing kits they are the best.

Ich  looks like your fish rolled around in salt, where velvet looks like copper dust on your fish. Both can be treated and if done in time the fish can come through ok. I have added a couple websites that talk about the both of them.

Ich:
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_ich2.php

Velvet:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/velvet.htm

NEVER treat a fish with medication if they do not show physical signs of illness. If they do, make sure you know exactly what they have before treating them with anything.