Floating to surface?

[dpmit]

I'm new to betta fish, but I wanted to ask about something that doesn't seem normal. I have a betta who constantly stays at the surface and seems to require very vigorous paddling to dive below. If he stops paddling, he rapidly rises back to the surface...whereas other bettas I've seen are able to keep themselves submerged without too much effort. Again, I'm new at this, but his body looks healthy, he doesn't look bloated at all, and he has blown a few layers of bubbles around the rim of his tank, which I hear is a good thing. Does anyone have any idea as to what this may be? Thank you!

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to FishForum. It sounds like your betta has swimbladder disorder. Fish with sbd will stay at the top, float on their sides and can't swim to the bottom. Try fasting him for a day or two and then feed him some freeze dried or frozen daphnia. Freeze dried needs to be rehydrated before feeding and frozen needs to be thawed.What do you feed your betta and how much? They should be fed about 2-3 pellets twice a day.

[fishyinpa]

Yup,sounds like sbd. My Elvis has that. Try what dq said,fasting him and then the pea. Also if you can lower the water level in his tank. So he doesnt wear himself out trying to get around. He stays at the top cause takes too much energy to go to the bottom and back up for air.