My male betta is still having eye issues.. finally got good pictures.

[callistra]

Popeye is a bacterial infection... At least in fish. I. Dogs it's usually cataracts

[rmarkham]

hmm, I feel like his recovery has hit a stalemate.

Should I up the dose? or wait it out and see if it improves more?

I know this drug is hard on their kidneys.. so I don't want to push it.

He's active though, well as active as a fish in a tank floating in another tank can be :)

[callistra]

I wouldn't treat for more than 2 weeks at which time I would give him at least a week off meds - epsom salts can continue. After 2 weeks time I might switch to Maracyn Plus. Kanaplex can be used for up to a month in severe cases but I wouldn't push him unless you feel that a week off meds might be terminal. I've seen people double dose Kanaplex but Seachem recommends against it and I have never felt comfortable doing it because it is very hard on the kidneys. If you do decide to double dose watch him very carefully and if you see him going downhill - really sluggish and clamped, stop treatment immediately.

[rmarkham]

Originally Posted by callistra

I wouldn't treat for more than 2 weeks at which time I would give him at least a week off meds - epsom salts can continue. After 2 weeks time I might switch to Maracyn Plus. Kanaplex can be used for up to a month in severe cases but I wouldn't push him unless you feel that a week off meds might be terminal. I've seen people double dose Kanaplex but Seachem recommends against it and I have never felt comfortable doing it because it is very hard on the kidneys. If you do decide to double dose watch him very carefully and if you see him going downhill - really sluggish and clamped, stop treatment immediately.

I'm working crazy hours so I don't want to risk not being home to see him doing poorly.

The kicker is that I'm going away on vacation from the 4th-8th and my boyfriend will be home to take care of the animals... but he won't do the drug dosing.... so I guess I'll try treating with kanamycin until New Years day and then I'll do a large water change in his main tank and stick him back in. I'll watch for ammonia spikes and it should be all squared away by Thursday when I leave. I'll order some maracyn plus when I'm in VT and it will be waiting for me in my apt when I get home the following Tuesday. That will give him exactly a week off of all medications.

[rmarkham]

So... a frustrating update.

I got back from vacation last night and even though my boyfriend did a great job caring for my small zoo, Magikarp's eye looks worse than before.. and he has a bit of fin rot.


What should I do now? Other than the obvious of water changes etc.?

What's a last resort drug? I mean, he's swimming and eating just fine. He's not nearly as active as he used to be... and his other eye is perfectly fine!

Should I get trimeth-sulfa?

[callistra]

How long has he been on meds now? I just hate to keep throwing new stuff at him because you don't want to over-medicate.. but on the flip if he's going downhill I don't want to say wait and week.. yanno?

Furan 2 or triple sulfa maybe? IDK Kanaplex usually gets it. Kanaplex usually is the catch all/top one. IT works when the other two don't sometimes.. Maybe someone else has experience treating well with something else. I've always used Kanaplex. I know Triple Sulfa has three antibiotics and Furan 2 has two. Also Maracyn Plus has two pretty good hitters. Sakura?

[rmarkham]

I had him off of all drugs and back in his tank for a week.

I took him off the Kanamycin because in the beginning he got better.... but then he got worse and went back to square one.. even after several doses.

Right now I have him in a bath with Triple Sulfa and aquarium salt.. it's day 2 and I'm changing everything every day. He's floating in a KK in my 29G for warmth.

I guess after this I'll try the Furan next... ?

Maybe he's just not aging well? I mean, he's a year old now, or at least that's how long I've had him... The fin rot is out of the blue because I've never had an issue with this for him.. not since I brought him home from Petco.

GAH! He used to be so active and crazy... it's terrible seeing him so lethargic.

[callistra]

Don't treat with meds and AQ. Just one or the other.

Seems to be very resistant infection. :(

[rmarkham]

Originally Posted by callistra

Don't treat with meds and AQ. Just one or the other.

Seems to be very resistant infection. :(

Okay! Good to know.. I won't.


Is there a chance it could be fungal?

I mean, it's not fuzzy.. but it could be yeast.. maybe I should get a fungal treatment if the triple sulfa doesn't work?

[callistra]

Kanaplex should have taken care of a fungal infection. Cloudy eye is either a bacterial infection or parasite infection but we've not seen any signs of parasites right? And for some reason I remember back a ways that was already attempted.. Haven't you used a prazipro bath already? for how long?

You need to be really careful about pumping drug after drug after drug into him. There's only so much his body will be able to take. I do expect Triple Sulfa to take care of this. The only other thing I can think of that could work at this point would be Furan 2 but I just can't imagine that working in a case were Kanaplex and Triple Sulfa wouldn't. That would be an oddly resistant strain, which I guess is possible but so unlikely.

How often/how much water are you changing daily/weekly now? You're using a siphon/gravel vac right and not just skimming water off the top?

How is he acting other than the eye being cloudy? I'm not sure of the likelihood he could have just plain lost it permanently. It's all the right size yes? I can see looking back at the series of photos his eye has improved. What does it look like now?

What/how much are you feeding?