My Betta has been acting odd lately...

Question
Lately, my Betta has been swimming in a tilted format and his fins are clamped together.  He doesn't deem to take the food I give him anymore and his mouth is always in the air.  When he sinks, his head makes a strange jerking motion as he tries to go back up, and he hardly seems to be going anywhere.  The color of his scales have turned brown lately, and he sems to be just floating around.  He dosn't seem to flare alot anymore either.  At first, I thoughtit was a swim bladder problem, but some of the descriptions also fit "dropsy," so I'm no that sure what his sicknes is anymore, so I can't just treat him wih any medications.

Answer
Dear Sharon,
Have you checked your betta's water quality? Above all this is the first step in treating a very ill fish as you described. I would go ahead and do a good water change, insuring the replacement water is equal in temperature to that of his bowl/tank and that it is properly dechlorinated. It may be best to continue daily water changes everyday.

Dropsy is usually distinquished from most other "bloating problems by the fishes pinecone like appearance. If viewed from above or side the best you can. Do you see many raised scales? If so...I'm very sorry. It is rarely sucessfully treated. I even know a betta breeder who has never been able to treat dropsy sucessfully either.

Swim bladder's main symptom is the poor fish cannot control his movements and he either floats uncontrolably to the top or sinks beyond his will to the bottom. This is most often due to improper diet. Either too much of one type of food or not enough variety. Some bettas can become constipated and this affects the swim bladder's normal function as well. Could you get him to eat a thawed and deshelled green pea? All bettas affected with swim bladder have trouble eating. But with patience most bettas will take a bite size piece of green pea off a blunt toothpick. This can help clear blockages in their system but may need to be repeated over a few days. Unfortunately some Swim bladder problems can be caused by bacterial or parasitic infections, both of which are impossible to differentiate. You could try and antibiotic on the poor fish if he doesn't respond to green pea feedings and stopping all other foods for a while. But I've never tried to treat bettas with swim bladder problems with medications and most of the time, the main cause was something went wrong in their diet regimen. Sometimes when a betta gulps down too many dry pellets as soon as they hit the water. Those pellets sit in their stomach as they absorb water and can cause an impactation. Stopping all other foods and including pea feedings has usually a good outcome.

Please know that it is extremely difficult to exactly diagnose what your betta is affected with without actually getting to see him. What I can say is you could try posting a good picture of him on one of the many good fish forums so other experienced aquarists can help you better by seeing his actual condition. I am a member of Tropical fish magazine's website forum and if you post there, I will be happy to go and see his picture. The website is-
"www.TFHmagazine.com" but remember this is only if *you* want to. I only want to try my best to help.

Does your betta seem to have any fuzzy growths or does his scales look like they've been dusted with powder? Does his body appear bloated? Knowing these things would really help.

Above all try a good water change. Try giving a few bite size pieces of pea a day and if you wouldn't mind getting back to me with a bit more info on him I would be very grateful for that.

I hope this helps so far,
Only my very best wishes,
Karen~