Siamese Fighter Fish bloated

Question
My Siamese Fighter fish has for some days been getting a bloated belly that has got nearly to the size of a marble.  He hangs at the surface gulping for air his scales are now begining to separate i have had him for nearly four months.  I have read about his swim bladder not sure if this is that, please can you help me?  

Answer
Hi Laura;

He is either constipated or has a condition called dropsy. If he hasn't had a normal bowel movement in a few days, stop feeding him for a couple of days until he has one. If he doesn't "go" feed peeled green peas. If he hasn't been eating anyway you might want to try epsom salt treatments. Here is a link about that;

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

If his scales make him look pinecone-like, he has dropsy. It isn't a disease itself, but is a symptom of something more serious. Here is info about that too;

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article24.html
http://www.healthybetta.com/articles/Illness%20Diagonsis/dropsy.html

I hope he feels better soon....

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins