Is My Betta Sick Or Old

Tank

What is the water volume of the tank? 15g

How long has the tank been running? 1 yr
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 78.6
What is the entire stocking of this tank? Betta & 2 nirate snails


Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once a week
How much of the water do you change? 25 - 30 %
What do you use to treat your water? Prime

Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Both

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes

What do you use to test the water?

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20
pH: 7.8

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 2 times a day

How much do you feed your fish? 3 pellets each time

What brand of food do you feed your fish?

Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Freeze dried

Illness & Symptoms : white or discolored scales, sleepy,
How long have you had this fish? 1 yr

How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 2 weeks ago

In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? He just seems to be sleeping a lot and his scales have a shiny almost white appearance

Have you started any treatment for the illness? Just cleaning water more

Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Sleeping more, shiny scales

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
See pics




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Has he always had the white specks on him? Is that his coloring? Or is that what you're referring to? Do you have a before photo? Since I don't know what he looked like before, I'm having a hard time seeing the "shinyness."
In the first photo, it looks like the eye isn't clear. I can't tell if it's the blurriness of the photo or what. It sort of looks like there's blue on his eye?

 

his eyes look darker than they were his normal coloring is blue green and red

 

I want to say there's a bacterial infection sort of thing going on. You can try aquarium salt baths to try to disinfect him or an antibacterial, maybe even an antibiotic.
Are both of those before photos?

 

I want to say there's a bacterial infection sort of thing going on. You can try aquarium salt baths to try to disinfect him or an antibacterial, maybe even an antibiotic.
Are both of those before photos?

Yes

 

I have seen some very dramatic color changes when it comes to Bettas. I think I am seeing some lighter colored scales on his left side in the before photo. If that is the case I am wondering if getting more of them now is just him changing colors.

If that isn't the case I do hope someone that knows a lot more than I do will be able to help you.

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Once a week
How much of the water do you change? 25 - 30 %

If it were me I would do at least one 50% or more water change each month. Doing one bigger one each month and then normal water changes all the other weeks helps to reset the nitrate and TDS levels.

 

If you're talking about the white scales, it looks like he had some before and then developed more. Those might be just a color/pattern change. I can't tell for certain, but it looks like your betta might have diamond eye (read: Bettas With Diamond Eye).
But the sleepiness (lethargy?)... Your betta is only about a year old; they can live up to 3, sometimes longer. So he's really not old.
If he does have diamond eye, and especially if it affects both eyes, he may have a hard time navigating and thus just mopes around.