Betta breathing?

Question
Hi Chip, I've got a fantail Betta. Had the fella about a year  (think he could be about 15months old? I got him from a petshop) and up until now he's been really healthy. He only eats live blackworms (about 4) twice a day and he's a healthy size. For about a week now he's not been eating as he usually does. He will probably eat 1 of the worms which I feed him so I've reduced his diet. The other strange thing is that he's started to lie more diagonally on the surface, so he points at about 45deg to the surface and really close so he can breath air, which he does at least 10 times a minute, which I'm finding strange too. He does not seem his cheerful self and is not very social anymore (he really was!!) I'd really appreciate it if you could help me on this one as I've not found any answers to this yet! Is it that he's just coming to the end? Thanks in advance Chip.
Iain

Answer
Hi Lain, I know this is probably not the answer your looking for but it sounds like this could be a couple things. It could  be a bacterial infection which can be treated with a big water change and either Tetracycline or Triple Sulfa which can be hard to find but you can usually find it either at a pet store or online. The other thing it could be is just depression which can be healed by a big water change and 2 drops of BettaZing to each quart of water. Also some other medications you could try would be methylene blue and Ampicillin. If there is anything more I can help you with let me know. Good luck hope all goes well! Let me know if anything works.