my beta has something growing on him

Question
i've had a male crown tail beta named johnny for about a year now. i've been very worried because he has something growing on the left side of his nose, which appears to be making him blind because when his food drops on the left, he doesn't notice it. usually, when he can see his food, he just goes for it, but for the past couple of weeks, he'll just swim towards the food, put it in his mouth and spit it out. he's usually pretty excited when it's time to eat, but even a day later i see that his food has just sunk to the bottom and he hasn't even touched it. he's obviously eating something, though, seeing as he's still alive. when i'm not trying to feed him, he lays on his side at the bottom of the bowl and looks like he's having troubles breathing because he's doing that flaring thing (like how they do to scare other fish). i don't think that is normal, because my other male, josh, has never done that. if there's nothing i can do, i'd at least like to make his last few weeks pleasant.

Answer
Hi Naomi;

Poor guy. It sounds like his swim bladder has failed and he may also have an infection on his face.

For his face, I would try an antibiotic such as Maracyn Two. Keep his water very clean to help keep his immunity as strong as possible. It will be harder than before to keep him healthy because he is an old little guy now. Bettas are usually almost a year old when we first buy them in fish stores and their life span is an average of 2 to 3.

Swim bladder disease can be difficult to treat because there are many possible causes. The swim bladder is an organ below the spine that controls buoyancy. Here is a web page about it;

http://www.petfish.net/kb/entry/31/338/

I hope he feels better soon...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins