Betta spending a lot of time floating...

[yoshi]

Hi All,

My Betta is usually happy and healthy, spends time all over the tank, hides, eats well, blows bubbles... However today he started spending a lot of time at the top of the tank. He now looks like he has air trapped inside him somehow and is mostly floating on his side at the surface. When he tries to swim down to the bottom, it appears to get too difficult for him and he just floats straight back up to the top. His colour also seems to have faded slightly around the gills and mouth. Can anyone help me out with a suggestion of what this might be, and what I can do to help him?

Thanks!

[Little-Fizz]

It sounds like a swim bladder disorder. While theres no cure you can ease the symptoms and the fish can still live a normal life.

Its pretty important to find a cause. How much and what do you feed your betta? How big is his tank and how often do you preform water changes? Do you know the water parameters? Try fasting him for a couple days and see if theres an improvement.