horizontal Beta

Question
Jonas our beta fish has currently been getting worse since Feb. of this year. He can no longer stay vertical, and floats/swims horizontally on top of the bowl. We keep him in a small bowl, and clean his water every two days since he's been like this. What else should we be doing?

Answer
Hey Veronica Mae,

Your betta seems to be having swim bladder problems. Cut up frozen peas (after they thaw, of course) and feed your betta those. Also, bettafix is a pretty generalized cure for all betta related problems. Between the two, you should be able to settle the problem. Also, I've heard recently that pellet based foods have a tendancy to make fish float awkwardly (even upside down), so simply switching food source may cure that problem in itself. Feeding a few brine shrimp tevery other feeding, and cut peas the rest of the time makes for a very healthy lifetime feeding schedual.

Hope this helps, and good luck! Keep in mind, betta typically dont live much more then 2-3 years, and once a fish gets really, really sick, the longer you wait to take action, the less likely the fish is to recover.