Betta Fish Water Problem

Question
Dear, Karen. I am very upset. I buried my betta last night. He was a beautiful blue when I brought him home. I've had him for 2 - 3 years in a one gallon aquarium with glass pebbles, an antique china cup, a piece of rock and two fake pet store plants. I changed the water weekly - biweekly. Everything was wonderful. He blew lots of bubbles, which I understand means the fish is "happy". After about a year, my beautiful blue fish started losing his color. He ended up being a dull grayish-brownish color with a very little faint coral color on the tips of the fins and edges of his body. I've always fed him Betta Bright fish flakes and used AmQuel for the water. Water started getting slimy with white matter. I researched it online but only got a few tips, so I tried changing 1/3 to 1/2 of his water every day. It seemed to help somewhat, but didn't solve the problem. When I changed his water, the clean plastic cup I used felt oily. Every month or so, put my betta in a pan of his own water. Then I'd clean everything in the tank thoroughly, using only water and rubbing items with my fingers to clean. I read that you shouldn't use bleach or soap because some of the residue could harm you fish. My little betta experienced quite a bit of trauma: ended up in the drain (we have a garbage disposal) where I pulled him out, gently, with metal tongs. I panicked. That was a long time ago. He survived. Two weeks ago, he started hanging out at the bottom of the bowl. He rarely came up. I thought he was scared, that something else had happened to him. I noticed the last day or so he would try to come up, dart around like crazy--zigzagging all around, then go back to the bottom. He would lie on his side. Yesterday, he started swimming a little upside down. I noticed his fins were more damaged than usual. I realized a few days ago that he could easily starve to death. Last night, my husband killed him for me and we buried him. It's been horrible thinking about what he's been through. I don't know if fish feel, but I sure do. I'd like to know what happened and how to prevent it in the future if I decide to get another betta. I took very good care of the little guy. I would appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me. Thank you so much. Therese

Answer
Hi Therese,
I'm so sorry to hear that. And I can relate to how you feel completely. But you should rest assured that your betta passed away from old age rather than something you did wrong. Two to three years is the average lifespan for many many bettas. Some live longer than others, some live shorter, it does depend upon their genetics sometimes.

The symptoms that he showed point right at what I've seen before with bettas that are deteriorating from old age. Its very sad and hard to watch, but that's just what happens before they pass away. I've seen it happen in just a couple of days, their condition will rapidly deteriorate.

You have done a wonderful job taking care of him and he was so lucky to have such a caring and kind owner. Although its so sad when we loose our fish like our bettas, you can look at it this way, at least then you have the opportunity to get to know another little finned darling and privilege that fish to have a good life and have all his/her needs taken care of.

Best wishes to you and I hope this helps!

This is the best betta website I know-

http://nippyfish.net/

Karen~