Sick Betta. Please help

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Followup To
Question -
I have had a Betta in a 10 gal tank with a heater and a charcoal/ammonia/nitrate filter. He is the only fish in the tank. He has been doing great until about three weeks ago. He started laying on the bottom of the tank. He looked like he was going to die. I tested the water and it was within acceptable limits. He will stay on the bottom or hide in his castle and will not move unless he is startled. When he does move it is in short bursts and he seems to swim into the gravel.  I bought some tetracycline thinking he had an infection but all that did was turn the water orange. It has been three weeks now, he has lost ALLOT of weight. There is no discoloration or growths that I can see. He does appear to look a little bent when he is laying down. There is some algae in the tank, however not enough to be a problem. He normally only eats freeze dried blood worms, but since they float and he is always on the bottom, I switched to flakes because they sink. I have not caught him eating so I do not know if he is or not. Also this was a sudden not a gradual change. Any ideas?
Answer -
Hi William;

How long have you had him?
What is the water temperature?

Chris Robbins

I have had him for 8 months. He is alone in the tank. He temp around 78-80 degrees.

Answer
Hi William;

He may have a failed swim bladder. The swim bladder is an organ just under the spine that regulates buoyancy. When is fails the fish can't surface. It can fail from infection, temperature shock, old age, stress, etc. There isn't much you can do except keep him comfortable and maybe lower the water level so he doesn't have to struggle so hard to get to the top. You can try an antibiotic that gets inside of him instead of just treating the outside. "Maracyn 2" by Mardel does that. It will make the water yucky, but it may help him get better. Some fish recover, some don't. Many of them live very long lives just sitting on the bottom most of the time. Especially if they are alone without other fish to harrass them.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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