betta with one swollen gill

Question
I have my betta in a 10 gallon filtered and heated aquarium. The temp is around 78 degrees. The tank has been set up for about 5 weeks, the water is slightly cloudy, very mild case. This cloudiness has lasted almost two weeks, and the gravel and ornaments were well rinsed when tank was set up. The betta, his name is Indi, seems to be fine. He is eating normal, 2 pellets in morning, 2 in evening, and i skip one feeding day a week. I do a 30 percent water change every two weeks, and use water conditioner. He is swimming around, making bubble nests, hes not gasping for air, but on just one side , over his gill his scales are raised, just in that one spot, and no he is not bloated, and the rest of his scales are not raised, just this one spot, on on side. he is having regular bowel movements, and again is not bloated or having a hard time swimming. His gill that has the scales raised on it, sticks out slightly, as if the gill was swollen. Hope this info helps to answer my question. I have not used any aquarium salt or medicine on him yet.

Answer
Hi Jacqueline,
  It would be better to do a 25% water change, once a week, every week, rather than every two weeks.

  I wouldn't worry too much about the gill.  It might just be some minor irritation and the bottom line is that there isn't much you can (or should) do about it anyway.  I do NOT recommend using salt or other medications unless you know exactly what the problem is.  Too often I find that people treat fish with medications that create more problems than they solve.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>