Beta Fish - Odd Behavior?

Question
I change his water once a week using Beta Water from PetSmart. I wash the rocks in his tank every time I change his water and his water is always clear. Do you think that using the Beta Water is a bad choice?
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hi. I have had my Beta for about 1-1/2 years now. Within the past few months, he lost his top back fin, and then lost the lower fins. I treated his water with antibiotics and he seemed to be swimming around alot more, but those fins never came back. (someone told me that they do fall off and then grow back, not the case with my fish). Anyway, lately he has been going to the top of one of the plants in the tank. He floats on top of the plant with his entire head sticking out of the water. I watched him and about 3 mintutes went by with his head still out of the water. I could see his gills moving so I knew he wasn't dead. I tapped the side of the tank and he swam to the bottom and seemed fine. But I have caught him in that same "head out of water" position alot lately. Is this normal?
-----Answer-----
Hi Julie,
  It is normal for a Betta to breathe air at the surface (they are air breathing fish) but not for him to have his head stuck out of the water -- that is unusual.   Also, his fins falling off completely is pretty bizarre.  Fin material will typically grow back if another fish were to take a bite out of a fin, but if the whole fin falls off, that is pretty strange.  

  It all makes me wonder if you have some rather nasty water in that tank?


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


Answer
Hi Julie,
 I have never heard of Betta Water.  I use regular tap water that has been sitting in a bucket for 24 hours (which allows the chlorine to evaporate).  If your tap water has chloramine added to it by the city, then you need to add a water conditioner such as Amquel to remove the chloramine.  

 I assume that there are no other fish in the tank, right?

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