My betta fish has rarely been eating, he lays on his side at the bottom of his bowl, he doesn’t respond as much as he used to when you tap on the bowl, he isn’t very active. When he is at the top of the bowl, he is generally hiding under his lily pad with his body curved in what seems to be a very uncomfortable position. Sometimes, he is exactly vertical at the top of his bowl and what concerns me most is his…well, I guess you can call them seizures. He randomly starts swimming really fast too in circles while in the bowl, sometimes so quickly that it seems like he is going to jump out of the bowl.

He used to be a very active fish, very aware of his surroundings and loved to flare his gills at us, loved eating as well. Now, he doesn’t do much of anything anymore. I’ve wanted to euthanize him for several weeks because it seems to me he is suffering but my fiance will not allow me to do this. We’ve tried several medications…we’ve used google a lot but that has come to no avail. First we thought he had velvet so we treated him for that, we also put a few pebbles of aquariam salt just in case he was having difficult breathing. We have now purchased a fish anti-biotic and have just tried that but, still nothing. That’s only been a day though…

If anyone has any advice or suggestions as to what this may be. Please let me know, I love my fish dearly and will be very sad to depart with him so soon. We’ve had him for almost a year and we change his water regularly.

Thanks a lot.
To answer the questions listed, I do a partial replacements on a regular basis (at least once a week) and his water is treated. We are sure not to use hot water because it carries a lot of toxins. I shall purchase strips just to be on the safe side.

We actually don’t use all the medications at once. When he first started showing signs we looked up his symptoms and we were sure it was velvet. Once we treated him for that, he looked better but not 100% and he has been declining since. I will do some more research about the distilled water and try it. As for the aquarium salt, I have read that it helps the fish breath better…so, I shall continue that regiment.

He living habitat is actually like a 2 gallon bowl…I know it’s not a 5 gallon but I’ve read that they don’t necessarily have to be in a large tank, they are hardy fish. If it were his habitat, wouldn’t he have showed signs earlier?

Thanks for all the advice, I will continue to try and save my fishies life.
We have suspected constipation and have tried not feeding him for a couple of days (since they can generally go about a week to two weeks without food). His belly does not look fat… this little guy has been eating sparingly for about a month now… sparingly meaning…maybe once or twice (maximum) a week. He can’t poop without food in his belly and, I am not normally around waiting for a bowel movement and, there very little poop in his bowl…
Alright guys, I’ve bought him a 10 gallon tank, with a heater, air pump and a filter. How long before we put him in the new tank?

Obviously we are going to wait until it’s the desired temp…

Is it necessary to introduce him like a new fish? the whole bag thing with adding a little bit of new tank water at a time? and how long should we wait to do that?

Thanks a bunch guys…I hope this will make him feel better.