Betta on side

Question
Hi,
I have a betta who is about 6 months old named Portka. He has never had any issues, always been very active and always ate heartily. However I recently returned from college and took Portka with me. He had already made this trip before two times (coming home from school, last year and returning this fall) and had no problems. This time however about a week after our return he began to sink to the bottom which was very odd behavior for him. He would nestle himself into the marbles, however his bottom half would float up. I assumed he had swim bladder disease and treated him accordingly, however he refused to eat the pea (or anything else) and I gave him two 15 minute epsom salt baths and this also did nothing. He is now continuing to get worse and has switched to floating. he cannot seem to get to the bottom and cannot keep himself straight, he floats on his side. This, of course, looks very disconcerting because every time I see him he looks like he's dead. He will not eat anything, I have tried several different kinds of food and he is going on about two weeks of no food at all now. He also has a strange inflammation near his tail that almost looks like an air bubble. This I assumed previously to be the swim bladder/constipation but it doesn't look like a build up of food, it looks like a build up of air (my betta is a whiteish/purple color making seeing inside him very easy). I really hope you can help because the outlook for my Portka looks grim.
Thanks!
Maria

Answer
Hi Maria,
  Sadly, it is very possible that Portka is just getting old. Bettas typically do not live very long.  A year is a pretty good life for a betta.  Sorry.

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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