My beta fish is bloated and having trouble swimming.

Question
QUESTION: I have had my beta fish for about a half a year now. He lives in my dorm room in a half-gallon glass fishbowl. I change is water regularly, about once every week and a half or so,and I always put in bottled water with a tiny drop of water conditioner. I feed him a pinch of crushed up flakes once a day. I changed his water yesterday afternoon. This morning, I fed him before I went to class like I always do. He seemed perfectly fine, swimming around quickly at the front of the bowl.When I came back from my room less than two hours later, he was slightly bloated and looks visibly sick. He has a little round puffy spot right between his gills and bottom fin. It doesn't look to drastic, but it is noticeable. He is floating at the top of the water, just barely under water level, and he looks like he's leaning against the wall of the tank. He also seems very skittish. If he sees me looking at him he swims away as fast as he can to the back of the bowl. However, swimming seems very difficult for him, as if he is having a lot of trouble getting too deep into the water. He eventually comes to rest at the top of the water again. He seems miserable, and very scared, But he seemed fine two hours ago. Is there anything I can do for him?

ANSWER: Hi Kimberley,
  Hmmm... that doesn't sound good but I don't know what you can do for him specifically. It sounds like he is having some sort of problem with his swim bladder.  Unfortunately I think you just have to sit and wait and see what happens.

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


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

QUESTION: Luckily, my beta seemed to recover well. He has, as far as I can tell, made a full recovery. I let him fast yesterday, and today I fed him a pea which he ate eagerly. Thank you very much!
I do have another question. Last night, I inherited a new beta. They give them away free as an activity at my college (though I'm not sure how I feel about that)and though I did not plan on taking another, he is easily the most beautiful beta I've ever seen, white with a splash of red and blue across his back, with white fins that almost appear tie-dyed red and blue. I couldn't resist him. He lives on the opposite side of the room of my other beta. They gave him to me in a small glass bowl, though after I let him acclimate to the water and released him, he immediately freaked out. I realized he was seeing his reflection, and I think that all that stress, especially accompanied with the stress of all that moving and a new home, would be bad for him. So I took out the old bowl I previously had my old beta in- a slightly larger half-gallon plastic bowl, with colored rocks and a ceramic frog. I washed it out thoroughly and set him up inside. However, he still can see his reflection! If i look over the top of the bowl, I can see the reflection too, so I'm almost positive this is part of the problem. He's literally smashing his face into the side of the bowl and flailing wildly. I plan to get him a new home as soon as I can, but I don't have much access to places to get something for him, and I did make it up to the small wal-mart near by, but they had nothing for him. I have dozens of old tanks at home, but it may be a while before I can get anything. Do you think that he will be okay for the time being, and is it possible that he will relax anytime soon?  
Thank you!

Answer
Hi Kimberly,
 My guess is that he has relaxed a little by now as he gets used to realizing that the reflection is not the same as another fish.  However, the sooner you can get him a proper home, the better.

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