Betta constipation

Question
I have had my betta fish for 8 months and he has been doing fine with the way I have taken care of him and his tank size (about 2 quarts).  I had been feeding him 6 pellets in morning and 6 at night.  He is in my office so on Friday I would give him 10 pellets but he wouldn't get anything again until Monday morning.  This has been working out OK until recently.  He hasn't had a bowel movement (if you call it that in a fish) for about 3 weeks.  His appetite has decreased and I just read that he should only be getting 2 pellets in morning and 2 in evening.  I tried the dried pea thing and he won't eat them.  What's going to happen to him?  How often should he have a BM?  How long can he last without having one?  What else can I do?
Thanks so much,
Marlene

Answer
Hi Marlene;

Poor guy. He may need warmer temperatures and an epsom salt bath. Put his tank in a place where the temperature gets 78 to 80 or put a lamp on it to slowly raise it up. If your office has no heat on the weekends you may have to consider bringing him home or just leave a desk lamp on him if it's allowed by your employer. Fish are just fine going without food for a couple of days a week so don't don't load him up on Fridays. It actually does more harm than good.

You might consider using a medication called "Maracyn 2". It is an antibiotic so if there is bacterial infection it can help. Sometimes a case of constipation will cause bacterial infection. Maracyn 2 absorbs inside the fish where infection is. Other meds treat only the outside.

Here is more info about constipation and epsom;

http://groups.msn.com/TheBettaObsession/epsomsaltbath.msnw

I hope he gets back on the road to recovery soon......

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins