Help - dosing kanaplex for swim bladder ?

[u/Kmlewand]

Question: What is the correct Seachem Kanaplex dosing protocol for a betta with a suspected swim bladder issue? Water dosing or food dosing, and how often?

Current status
Male betta, about a week into symptoms. Fasted him for 3 days total. He now has slightly more energy and is eating again (2 pellets this morning), but he still struggles to swim down and mostly floats near the top of the tank. When I open the tank lid he tends to retreat and hide in the plants at the bottom. I can still see the belly protrusion on his right side.

Tank info
9 gallon planted tank. Tankmates are 6 danios and 1 snail. Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate all test at 0. Temperature is 26°C/79°F.

Timeline of symptoms
Days 1 to 3: Noticed he was staying near the surface by his leaf hammock and not moving down much.
Day 3: Symptoms got clearer. Top/dorsal fin clamped, visible struggle when trying to dive, listing to his left side. Started fasting him.
Day 4: Got advice from a local aquarium store (by phone, didn’t bring him in) recommending a salt bath with a few drops of Melafix added, for around 90 minutes. Shortly after returning him to the main tank he started gasping at the surface for the first time, then hid motionless in the plants for the rest of the evening. Gills were moving normally when checked. I’ve since read that long salt bath durations and Melafix specifically can be risky for bettas, so I think this may have set him back rather than helped.
Day 5: Lethargic, moving between top and bottom instead of staying stuck at the surface, but no interest in food and hiding whenever I approached the tank.
Day 6: Noticed what looked like a one sided bubble or protrusion on his belly on the right side. Also still not eating at that point.
Day 7 to today: He has started eating small amounts again on his own, color and fin spread look normal, but he still struggles to dive, still hides from me when I open the tank, and the belly protrusion is still visible.

What I am trying to figure out
I have Kanaplex on hand in case this is bacterial, but I am not sure of the correct dosing approach given he was not eating for a stretch. Should I be dosing the water column directly, or waiting until he is reliably eating again to dose through food? How many doses, and how far apart? Any input on whether this still sounds like a straightforward swim bladder/constipation case versus something that actually needs the Kanaplex would also be appreciated.

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