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Go Fish, my first betta is slowing down now and barely moving. My best guess is that he is about three years old at least. Feeling blue that the biggest drawback to bettas is their short life span.

Yeah 3 yrs is about avarage for a betta. Bout all you can do is keep his tank clean and make him as comfy as possible.

Pug I know how you feel. I have several that are 3 years old...and one that is 5. They are like little old men. I have had to watch their diet, cutting back on the amount of bio gold and no blood worms as they constipate easily. I keep a watch on the quality of life, but besides being old they seem to be doing okay.

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If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.

i recently lost one of my old men it was really very sad, but he was just over 3 and had had a good life really

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Thanks all for the kind words. I know it is just a matter of time for Go fish, but I do miss my beautiful, flaring boy the way he was. I am doing my best to make his old age comfortable.

Pug - what temperature are you keeping him at? When my first betta, Bubba, started to slow down, I believe I bought him some time by taking him from room temp (70-72) to about 78F. This perked him up for a good 6 months longer than I expected and helped him with the constipation. He was like a new betta that entire time. I had to move Bubba to a five gallon where I added a sponge filter to circulate the water being warmed by a Visitherm 25w heater.

My new bettas are at the same room temp and are very active. They don't get constipated. I can see the contrast between the old bettas and the new. "Old man" is a good way to characterize it.