[DynablineCorqui]

So my mother has a betta fish that she's had for a while now. He's a really, really big boy, I've never seen a betta his size before. Probably because his appetite never goes away. My mom isn't as, I guess, knowledgeable as I am about bettas. I've been trying to convince her to get a bigger tank, but she won't yet. I just got back from college for the summer, so maybe I can help take care of it better. Here's the stats:

Housing
What size is your tank? 3 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 78°F
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 2 ghost shrimp

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Aqueon pellets, but I recently started giving it frozen brine shrimp
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1 time a day; about 4 pellets

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? The water evaporates fairly quickly, so she just fills it up with new water, but changes it about every month or two.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 80%, since she doesn't do it often
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqueon conditioner only

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? Yes
If so, what are the following parameters?
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
pH: 7.0
Hardness: N/A
Alkalinity: N/A

Symptoms and Treatment

How has your betta fish's appearance changed? His tail is completely ripped up

How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Yes, he cannot swim essentially at all. He stays at the top of the tank on his plants. He isn't breathing heavily, and still has a great appetite.

When did you start noticing the symptoms? A month or two ago

Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No she hasn't, but I'm making her do a water change tonight, and giving him catappa leaves.

Does your fish have any history of being ill? Yes, he's had ripped fins in the past.

How old is your fish (approximately)? No idea

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Can't tell anything from the photos. And what exactly do you mean by "can't swim at all?" Is he paralyzed?

 

[DynablineCorqui]

Can't tell anything from the photos. And what exactly do you mean by "can't swim at all?" Is he paralyzed?

Sorry, I should've specified a little more! He can "swim" but he doesn't get anywhere. He can still move his body and do the motions, but he just starts sinking when he tries getting up to the surface from the bottom of the tank.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Need some better photos, please. Thank you.

 

[BettaloverSara]

Maybe a video as well?

 

[jarred wilson]

post some video in which you trying to make it move to see the reaction

Kodi nox​

 

[DynablineCorqui]

Here yall go, I decided to buy my mom a 5 gallon as a surprise, so hopefully he'll get better soon.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Video is too short to tell us anything or whether his caudal has decor damage or he's biting. A good shot of him from the side (even a still from a video) would be needed.

FWIW, the present of the five gallon is nice but a larger tank won't make any difference re: recovery.