Swim Bladder?

[gypsy_rose81]

I've searched through other posts but didn't find anything conclusive to this topic.

I'm fairly certain Siras has swim bladder. He has become increasingly bouyant over the last couple days and today he's having trouble swimming down to the bottom of his bowl like he usually does (to scavenge for uneaten food). I don't think I'm feeding him too much, I'm pretty careful about it. I'm considering giving him a cooked shelled pea in case he's just constipated. Any other suggestions? I've seen some things on non-iodized salt and garlic has anyone used either of those things and had any success?

He is currently in an unheated unfiltered environment, but I'm constructing a small sponge filter this week and getting him a heater. I usually do a 10-20% water change every day and 50-75% once a week. Usually the biggest water change happens on Monday but as he's not feeling well I'm also wondering if I should postpone it?

 

[Colin_T]

I assume in the 1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph, you meant that Siras has a swim bladder problem.
A fish that is losing its buoyancy and having trouble swimming (either up or down) usually has a problem with its swim bladder. Unfortunately there isn't much you can do to treat problems associated with this organ.
Fish that get a lot of dry floating food can sometimes develop the same symptoms but as the food is digested, the excess air that is ingested gets farted out and the fish will be able to swim around normally afterwards.

You can try feeding him peas but they might not make any difference. Garlic probably won't make any difference either.

You can try adding Epsom salts to the tank and that can sometimes help. Use 1 level tablespoon per 20litres of tank water.
Epsom salts is a better choice for Bettas compared to rock/ aquarium or marine salt.

Doing the big water change today should not affect him and would possibly help. In fact you could do a 50-75% water change each day for a week and see if that helps. Just make sure any new water is free of chlorine and has a similar temperature & PH to the tank water.

Cold water can sometimes cause fish to have trouble swimming or keeping balance.