Behavior/Disease of Betta Splendens

Question
I have noticed since two days ago that my Betta is unable to stay and swim at the bottom of his round bowl as it used to do be.He forces himself down but comes up quickly.  It seems that he is lighter than water so it stays at the surface sometimes seeming dead. He is finding it difficult to swim even to a depth of a few centimetres.Maybe it has something to do with the water's conditio or pH ? Thanks

Answer
Hi Anita,
Your betta has the classic symptoms of swim bladder disorder. This is common occurrence with bettas and fancy goldfish too. The swim bladder is a special organ that controls a fishes equilibrium. It can be effected when bettas are given too much food at one time, too much dry food, or not enough fiber, what happens is the food causes a blockage and puts pressure on the swim bladder. Other things can cause swim bladder disorder like bacterial infections, tumors, cysts, bruising and injury to the swim bladder. But these are less common.

The best thing to do is first make sure he has clean water as possible. It really helps to change his water a lot more when he is sick like this, it really helps them recover better. Be careful when handling him. And make sure the new water is treated with a water conditioner and is equal in temp his bowl water. Make sure his temperature is kept warm as his immune system will be rather low if the temperatures are in the lower 70's. 78-80F is a great temp to keep bettas at.

*I would hold off his regular food for at least a whole day. Then give him a little bit of green pea that has been thawed and shelled. Offering it at the end of a blunt toothpick works well. Some bettas don't take to it right away but keep trying. The pea helps move blockages and has been a well-known cure for quite a long time. Small amounts of pea will be his only food for as long as it takes him to recover. However, sometimes frozen daphnia (a tiny crustacean) has been known to be a good laxative and is something else you can try also.
Many bettas recover on their own. But most need a little help.

Once he has recovered (which can take days or sometimes weeks) carefully consider his diet. Is it a lot of pellet food and not enough variety? Some bettas are more prone to swim bladder than others and pellets make swim bladder issues pop up even more it seems. You can try switching to flake food or pre-soaking the pellet food until it has absorbed water (but not too long otherwise the vitamins will leach out) but make sure to incorporate frozen foods into his diet for variety. Brine shrimp, Bloodworms, Daphnia, Glassworms, other other small frozen foods are great for providing a good diet for bettas. It really helps for them to have treats several times a week.

Best wishes and I hope this helps!
Karen~