My Betta cant dive

Question
I've had my two betta's for almost a year with no problems, but now one of them is sick. He trys to dive for food, but when he trys he only gets half way down before he pops back up to the top of the water. I've noticed that he is swollen on his belly just past is gills. He is also having a hard time staying up right, but is still eating as long as we put it in front of him. What is happening, what is wrong with him? Please tell me that I can help him!

Shal

Answer
Sounds like your betta has a swim bladder problem. This is a common problem and is usually caused by feeding too much of one type of food--especially plain dry pellets. What happens is the betta eagerly gulps down his dry pellets right when they hit the water..Then the dry food absorbs water in the betta's gut and expands, so much that his expanded stomach can press against his swim bladder and cause balance problems. I have had this happen many times with a lot of my bettas and even sometimes my Goldfish. But it is actually easy to cure, it might take a while though--maybe a couple of days...
The first step it to stop feeding him his normal food--it is most likely dry pellets as this is the most common food.
Give him half a day to one full day of fasting. Don't worry, it's for the better in him.
Then thaw out one frozen green pea completely, pop it out of it's shell and mash it up to a paste, then use a blunt toothpick and give him a bite sized portion directly at his mouth. Surprisingly, even though bettas are carnivores, they love peas and usually accept them with lots of gusto. Give your betta about 2-3 mouthfulls and let him rest. The peas will give him fiber and can help break up the blockage. You'll probably need to feed him about three times a day with tiny amounts of squashed green pea. Within a about 1-2 days--sometimes a bit longer, he should be back to normal.
I have had this many times in the past with my bettas, they all got over it with proper treatment and it seemed to be prevented with good variety in their diet. Frozen brine shrimp--offered with a turkey baster (unused), freeze dried worms, and even spirulina flake foods along with just a few pellets/flakes of their dry food as a staple every day is wonderful. I think variety and not too much of any one thing has helped my bettas stay 'float' free. If your betta still responds badly when fed his dry food, you may have to soak it beforehand in some of his bowl/aquarium water and then give it to him.
Only certain individual fish can develop this problem. But it is preventable in nearly all cases and I am sure your betta will be back to himself in no time! ;-)

I really hope this helps!
If you have anymore questions, feel free to email me...

Best wishes,
Karen~