My Betta is only able to float

Question
I've had a beta for about 2 years now. He's always been in excellent health until the last 2 days.  I've noticed that no matter how hard he tries, when he swims down the bottom of the tank, he just floats back up to the top.  He looks a little bloated, like he can't regulate his "float" mechanism.

Your reply is MUCH appreciated.

Answer
Hello Donna-

Your betta may be suffering from an internal problem, probably gastrointestinal, that's affecting his swim bladder. How often do you feed him? 2 or 3 pellets twice a day should be plenty; any more than that and you risk over-feeding. When a betta's stomach gets full, it presses on the swim bladder, which controls balance.

I recommend fasting your fish for 2 days to see if his swimming improves. You can try feeding him bits of skinned peas after the two days are up (to help clean out his system.)

If neither of those suggestions help, try raising the water temperature. 80 F is ideal for bettas, so if you can get the water that warm, you may notice improvements.

Be warned - any visible bloating may be dropsy (a disease that is almost 100% fatal) which has few treatments. It is difficult to diagnose dropsy unless you see raised scales on your fish (some say they resemble the scales on a pinecone.)

Hope this is useful,
Amber Worman