Why is my betta fish at the bottom, barely moving, and breathing hard?

Question

My male betta fish had been sitting at the bottom of my tank barely moving and breathing heavily. He won’t even come up for more air or for food. He has been doing this for the past 3 days. Help! Pet's info: Fish | Unknown - Fish | Male

Todd Cecil · Accepted Answer

The first thing that needs to be done is a water quality analysis. If you don't have a test kit, most pet stores sell a basic test kit that measures pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. If any of those are amiss, correct that problem. Laying on the bottom of the tank is often a sign of swim bladder disease. This could be an infection, fluid accumulation or a mass pressing on the swim bladder. All of these create a situation where the swim bladder can not contain air, that allows them to control their buoyancy in the water column. The best treatment for this is seek assistance at a veterinary clinic with experience with fish, and have systemic antibiotics prescribed. A radiographs would be helpful in diagnosis. A good fish veterinarian would probably be able to aspirate the swim bladder and collect a sample for diagnosis. The majority of antibiotics available for fish over-the-counter are not good for internal infections and could possibly make things worse. Good luck.

Why is my betta fish at the bottom, barely moving, and breathing hard?

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