Betta big belly

Question
I've had my male betta for over 2.5 years and I noticed today that his belly is abnormally big. It looks swollen. I've always fed him the same pellets at the same time of day and never had any problems with him before. I'm not sure what this is. Constipation?

Answer
Moni,

It sounds like swim bladder disease. The number one cause is over feeding. Another contributer is bad water quality. Fast him for 2 days. On the third day, drop a frozen pea in a hot cup of water. This will thaw it and blanch it. When it has cooled down, remove the outer shell of the pea and throw it away. DO NOT feed the outer shell of the pea to your fish because he will not be able to digest it. Cut the pea in small bite size pieces and feed it to your fish, then fast him again for 2 days. Pick one day a week to NOT feed him. The day after the fast, feed him a pea. Make sure you are changing 25% of his water every week and replacing it with fresh conditioned water. Make sure he is in a tank no smaller than 5 gallons, you are testing the water weekly, and his heater is set at 82 degrees. If it is any cooler he can become ill and stress out. IF after you do this he does not get better or he gets worse, let me know.