Elderly Betta fish care need advice

I have an elderly betta around 3 years almost 4 I'm not sure how old he was when I got him I put him a 2.5 gallon tank with a sponge filter I'm not sure what else what I can do to make him more comfortable any advice hes at the point his spine has curved and struggles to swim sometimes

 

If you have some of those betta leaves, I would recommend using them, so that he has somewhere to rest, and can get to air more easily.
You could also lower the water line, again so he can get to air more easily.

 

Lowering the water is a good idea like ForBettaorForWorse said.

Beta leaves, floating logs, plants with large leaves (like anubias) are all good ideas; that way he will have plenty of things to rest on. My betas really enjoy the floating logs and sleep in them every night.

Betas always appreciate humic substances.

 

Good protein-rich food, super clean water, and some Indian almond leaves for the tannins will all help, and make the rest of his life better!

 

The only other thing I'm worried about is the tank size is 2.5 gallons to small? I've never kept bettas in anything less than 4 gallons. The tank is a hexagon tank by topfin I got for quarantine.

 

Since he is a senior citizen, I would just keep the water super clean. He's not going to be moving around a lot, so I would say a 2.5 would be fine for the situation.

 

I have a 2.5 gallon tank with an elderly betta whos about 3 years plus how ever long he was alive before I got him(posted about it before) I recently took out the spong filter because I felt no matter what I did the current was either to strong or restricted so much the spong filter didnt let any air out,any solution to this? I used the tank previously as a QT tank and took the filter out once and then lost it . I plan on doing water changes if I cant come up with a solution, what percent do you reccomend and how often? I feel bad enough keeping him in a 2.5 but I know its for his own good.

 

You can try a Walstad-type of setup and employ fast growing plants to deal with water quality. You can try stem plants or floating plants, or a combo of both, just make sure you don't block the whole surface, so the betta can breathe air.

 

I'm not sure a Walstad method is the best for this size tank. Its pretty small to do something like that. I think you're going to have to get a sponge filter back in there or a HOB filter. Many of the HOB filters you can adjust the flow and what I did for one with a betta that kept getting blown around was I diffused the output.

I took a fake aquarium plant and shoved the based into the filter then the main portion of the decortion was hanging out of the output and on the top layer of the tank. This then diffused the output to the point it stopped pushing my guy around.

If you want to stick to the sponge filter route I have seen some people shove airstones in them. This way you still get the flow but its not the giant bubbles coming up pushing your fish around.

 

I had an hob on my 2.7 gallon tank. I put one of those betta beds under the outflow so that the water hit it, and that helped a lot with keeping the flow rate down. I had it set where the leaf was at an angle. I also tried putting a fake plant right under the outflow, too. Both seemed to work well. The hob also had an adjustable flow, so I had it turned to the lowest setting as well.

 

Yeah trying a HOB with adjustable flow will be best. Their current is really easy to baffle.