Bloated Belly and Nose Down

Question
We have a betta that is sick. He has been getting bloated over the past couple of weeks. He is not eating very well and spends most of his time nose down in the rocks of his bowl, which is 1.5 gallons with no filter. Several times each day he begins to swim wildly around the bowl like he is being chased and then goes back nose down to the bottom of the tank. He does not have the pine coning of the scales like I've read about for dropsy. Please advise what we should do. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Suzanne,
 Do you do regular water changes on his bowl?  With a small bowl like that, with no filter, you need to change at least 50% of the water once a week or so.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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