I guess I just bought a sick betta (Pale)

[jadaBlu]

I have not seen the fish poop at all I am withholding food for this reason the abdomen does look bloated. He has trouble keep himself righted unless he can wedge himself between the aquarium wall. I did get some new epsom salt. I put a pinch in a small container and let him sit in it for 15 minutes the shortest recommended amount of time. I have lowered the water to about 2.5 gallon and added more plant to help him right himself. I remembered- I once had a goldfish that had this problem that I kept alive for years. The suggested treatment was to keep it in a shallow container so it could stay upright with some object to assist with this. I usually got results in a day. I prefer not treat the aquarium but use a smaller container. I saw a betta blog when owner made a decent size container with plants throughout to help the fish stabilize. I have a shoe box size plastic contain with a lid that you can see through. Would this work? Has anyone tried this method.

[callistra]

Pinches are not good measurements. You need to mix up 1 tsp per gallon he's in. Very roughly, a pinch is like 1/16th of a tsp, divided by 2.5 and that's not enough epsom salt to do anything.

I wouldn't put him in random plastic containers, and some leach toxins and I've seen betta's become poisoning and die from it.

Reducing water level isn't a bad idea. Some people use breeding boxes