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POP EYE signs???

2K views 33 replies 6 participants last post by  Roemgie 
#1 · (Edited)
Poop Poop POOP! Ok so I've always noticed back home that the betta's with pop eye seemed to be exclusively big eared males (they didn't have females).

I was thinking of buying some almond leaves because I've heard that those are good for naturally helping the bettas instead of loading them on medications, should I? (I may just go ahead and get some just in case)

Well I thought that was only at home because there isn't a petco near my college.

Well my new blue female has one eye that is getting cloudy and isn't looking that great 0_0

I'm getting REALLY worried because maybe it is in all big earred that pop eye is a big issue?? I don't really have any medications on me except Maracyn Two and I also don't want to jump to medicating unless it is a must do!

I just did a water change when I noticed.

I have her in a 2.5 heated tank. I am planning on doing 20% water changes either once a week or every two weeks (depending on ammonia levels) and then 100% water change every 4 to 5 weeks. I just got her and my other one about a week ago and they were with the transporter for a week before then so this must be from something I have!

Here are some pictures

This is one of the first pictures I took of her. I was using a different setting so that the colors would pop and I also had the flash on. SO I don't know how much that would effect this


And here's another only this is her now 'good side'


Here's some from the day I got her





Like every betta parent I want to hear that I'm totally wrong but I also understand that I may be right :'(


Here are the pictures from today:


Notice how this eye is more cloudy



Here's another one, to me I can notice there's a slight size difference


Here's another one of that side, I would love it if it was just her pigments but I don't think so


I don't know if maybe the background effects this or the lighting but here is one of the better pictures I got of her so you could see both sides


Here's her 'good side'


Another good side


Bad side
 
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#2 ·
not sure if it pop eye wait for someone else response. But how he doing otherwise ? Is he active and eating?
I would recommend to go to any pharmacy department and buy unscented Epsom salt, so you have it on hands. It helps with pop eye. Esom salt is very mild and helpful with if it pop eye. It also has antibacterial/fungal affect. You always need to pre mix it and make sure it dissolved . You can use 2tsp/gall with daily 100% water changes. You can lower the water in his main tank or just have him in the hospital tank.
Also for 2.5 gall you really need to do 1-50% and 1-100% water changes a week. I even like to do 2-50% and 1-100% a week. And do you know how to acclimate your betta to the new water when you do 100% water changes so you don't shock him with drastic temperature difference?
 
#3 ·
Well I heard from someone else it looks more like an eye infection rather than popping out. It looks popped out to me :(. And i'll defiantly get epsom salt! I just gave her a dose of Maracyn Two (recommended from the other person) and i made sure to cut the dose so that it would be right for a 2.5 gallon tank.
And yes I know how to, I went a little fast this time because she hates being in a solid cup. So I have to get clear cups, dark blue and clear seems to be the best for them to keep them calm.
She is also active, eating, and seems perfectly normal. If I hadn't gone up close to her I wouldn't have noticed this at all. (I also fed her too much yesterday so she's a little bloated from that and is swimming a little off, most likely due to gulping too much air while getting the food).

Thank you for replying! The treatment with Maracyn Two is suppose to be for 5 days, so I was going to do that and then see what happens afterwards. Would it be ok to add epsom salt along with the Maracyn Two or is that way to much in one tank?
 
#4 ·
Espom salts will defiantly help. When my betta had it, I did water changes everyday and added some epsom salts. They eye went down within a week. I heard that the cause of pop eye is poor water conditions.
 
#5 ·
So do you think I shouldn't treat with Maracyn Two? And I've been keeping her water clean, I did a 20% water change before I left this weekend and i checked ammonia levels and they all seemed fine but I went ahead and did 100% when I saw her eye.
 
#8 ·
Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 80 degrees F
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? None

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? New Life Spectrum and Omega 3
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice a day usually small pieces

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I just got her but my plan was to do about 20-50% water change once a week depending on ammonia levels

What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? Depends.

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Bettasafe and Get started from walmart

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters? I have not cycled my tank so everything is 0

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Her left eye has gotten cloudy
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? She is fine other than she seems to have a little swim bladder issue from over feeding

When did you start noticing the symptoms? Today around 11-noon
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Yes I have started her on Maracyn Two
Does your fish have any history of being ill? I just got her
How old is your fish (approximately)? I believe she's about 6-8 months maybe
 
#9 ·
I believe 20% in a 2.5 gallon tank is not enough. I believe you need to be doing a 50% and a 100% water change every week minimum.
 
#11 ·
Yeah I never even got the chance to do any of those since I've only had her for about a week now but I will defiantly be doing 50% (she stresses fast when I do 100% or she has the past few times)
 
#10 ·
also, if it is an eye infection I would continue with the treatment of maracyn as prescribed.
 
#12 ·
Maybe do 50% every other day in that case.
 
#14 ·
I also have done kind of an experiment with all my fish. When I use a clear cup (doesn't have to be white clear, one of my resident's bettas was a dark blue and I was using a dark blue clear cup for him and he seemed perfectly relaxed, almost scared me sometimes lol) everyone seems fine. But when I took my resident's fish and put him in a red solo cup (sold red outside white inside but looks light red) he panicked. He had a BRIGHT stress line and really would not calm down. But when using the clear cup (which had a crack in the side so I had to through it out) he was fine. I've also found that with my blue girl (still to be named!) she was absolutely stressed in the red solo cup so I now need to get clear cups for everyone so that no one stresses out again (I cannot really tell if my white girl is stressed because I cannot see the stress line but I do believe she is).

But anywho just a heads up on what I've found stresses bettas and what doesn't :p I don't ever use nets with them anymore because I don't want to be hurting anyone!
 
#15 ·
I believe with the Maracyn, you are supposed to change the water every day that you add a dose. you are supposed to add the medicine to the new water.
what does it say for dosing?

also that's pretty interesting about the cups!!
 
#16 ·
I didn't know that's what you're suppose to do but I'll do a 20% water change today and add it into her new water (that would make sense) and it says 2 packs for the first day (for every 10 gallons) and then one pack for the next 4 days. I have marked a test tube for how much I need for a 2.5 so I'm using as best measurement that I have (without actually measuring the amounts).

And yeah I thought so as well and I'm glad I was at least paying enough attention to that to know what helps relax them and what doesn't! But I should do a thread for that :D
 
#17 ·
you should definitely do a thread for that! I am sure many ppl would be very interested.
I read online that when treating with maracyn in a small tank you will want to do a 50% water change every other day and add the appropriate amount of medicine to the clean water.
 
#18 ·
Usually people recommending to take combo of Maracyn 1 and 2. Because one is for gram positive bacteria and another for gram negative bacteria. So if you can use both of them . And you can follow instruction on the box or i would use medications along with 50% daily water changes . Of course you will have to redose with medications new water every time you do a change. There is nothing wrong to do water changes along with med's i even know people who recommending to do 100% water changes along with med's.
About Epsom salt i would hold on , you can use it later after medications if he still need it. But i would buy it any way. And also just in case buy aquarium salt . You can find it at any pet store. It also antibacterial/fungal . Give us update so we can decide which salt you need to use.
About water changes for 2.5 gall really try to do 1-50% and 1-100% a week , i really think it the best water changes. I actually also don't use a net i am afraid to damage their fins. I am using cups to lure them in.
 
#19 · (Edited)
I don't have maracyn one or plus, and when my boy had pop eye way back when I just used Maracyn and it seemed to at least help everything go down. Only I never did a water change during the treatment and he was in a 5 gallon (uncycled at the time because I didn't know what I was doing)


I do have aquarium salt but I then found out that it really isn't as great as Epsom salt (well it's not as 'soft') but in reading I was told to not use AQ salt along with medication, only to wait afterwards.

Right now she is kind of having trouble staying straight. She seems to be having swim bladder issues (I'm assuming is from when I over fed her Monday). I am not positive it would still be going on but I haven't really given her a food free day (until today).

I am hoping once I get the clear cup she will be more relaxed and won't hate me every time hahaha but we'll defiantly see. I may do 100% every two weeks and 50% in between then. That way I'll make sure the ammonia levels don't get too high but I also won't be stressing them out.

Also I did about a 20-25% water change just now and added her days dose of Maracyn Two with the new water. I have put it in and am now just hoping that helps. When using the medication before I would only do water changes at the end (in reading it says water changes aren't necessary but since it's not a cycled tank I probably should anyway).

I was also going to buy Maracyn Plus unless I hear bad things about it. I know bettafix will harm the betta more than help it heal so that's why I don't like the idea of medication so I'll also stock up on Epsom salt.

Here are some of the pictures I just took:

So here is a cropped picture of one I took


Here she is again, she was swimming down and trying to 'get to me' hahaha she's so sweet! Cropped


Here's another picture of her 'bad side' cropped


Here's a picture of her good side, Cropped


Trying to capture what she looks like head on, Cropped


I don't know if you can tell be she's swimming a little sideways, which is what I believe is her swim bladder issue...she seems to be getting better as I watch her though, and this is her bad side. Cropped


She looks so pitifully sad in this picture :( and this is her bad side, cropped


Another comparison cropped, her left is the bad side and her right is the good side


Uncropped picture of her


Another uncropped picture



Another cropped picture of her bad side


One of the best I think of her from a head on angle, cropped


Another cropped photo



Cropped of her 'bad side'



I know that's a ton but I hope it's helpful!
 
#20 · (Edited)
It ok if you using just Maracyn if you can i would still do daily water changes along with meds and redosing.
Maracyn plus is very good medication for bacterial infection. Just now you don't need to use it since you already using another one.
He can't stay straight you saying, and he is not really bloated i would fast him like you saying you did today. See if he will get better. If he get better then it good you can start feeding him tomorrow but start with a little bit of food. Not sure how much you usually feeding him? Don't give him freeze dried blood worms or flakes. Also if you can find frozen dapinia in the store it also good when betta constipated. If he is not better then you can use Epsom salt.

About water changes if you will try to do 100% every 2 weeks then do 2 or even 3 -50% water changes a week and vacuum the gravel to remove all debris out.

About bettafix yes it very bad for betta labyrinth organs because it has tea tree oil in it and can suffocate them. The any medicine with ''fix'' has TTO that can coat the labyrinth which can block them taking in air from surface.

Also you saying that you was afraid to use aq salt once with medications and used Epsom salt instead
I just want to give you an example under which conditions you can use both salts treatment. Well it always also depend on each case and more symptoms to decide which one you need to use.
Aquarium salt for injuries,wounds,external parasite, fin damage/rot(not plant tolerant)
Epsom salt for buoyancy issues,swim bladder problem, constipation, pop eye, dropsy...

Both have a antibacterial/fungal effect
Both you can use in doses of 1tsp/gall up to 3 tsp/gall depending on what /why you treating . Also usually you need to make daily 100% water changes.
Aquarium salt you can use 10 days up to 14 days in some cases - NO linger than that
Epsom salt is very mild and you can use it long term and in some cases like chronic constipation you can use it in low doses indefinitely.
Both always pre mix first and make sure it dissolved .
 
#23 ·
Just to say (and NOT to be rude! I promise I'm saying this nicely! lol) she is a girl not a boy. She's one of my two big eared girls :) and she does have eggs

I will continue to do a 20-25% water change along with her medication for the next 3 days until the treatment is over. I also don't have Maracyn Plus on hand so I would have to wait anyway before I would have it.
And She was swimming fine after a while, I think I just over fed her and should have just given her a break instead of feeding her again the next day. But she seems to be swimming a lot better now :) I also never ever give my bettas freeze dried food or flakes. I only give them New Life Spectrum, Omega 3 pellets, and frozen bloodworms (unfortunately here there aren't a lot of frozen or live food choices so Bloodworms are all they have).

I know that their ammonia levels do not get too high so I feel like 2-3 times a week of 50% water changes is too much. I could go 4 days (or more depending on if I was out of town) without changing the water from my previous bettas (who were boys) and they were fine. I do test the water so of course the first sign of ammonia would make me jump to change it. Of course that's normally (without a sick betta).

I know how bettafix effects the bettas and also what AQ salt does. I had been mislead at first and had been told that it was great to just add in the water to help fish breath. Of course no one told me to not add the FULL amount that was allowed and I was then informed. But I wasn't as informed about Epsom salt.

I finally did get it though and I'll wait to use it until after my treatment with Maracyn Two :)

And I also know to premix, don't worry I'm not a total newbie at this :p just never had a betta actually develop pop eye from being completely healthy. I've only ever handled bettas who already had it.
 
#22 ·
The red dots is her skin pigments, the only one that actually considers me is the one that was on top of her head, but there are no unnatural red dots on her nose, at least from what I can see. And I finally got Epsom salt! Going to be using that soon :D
 
#24 ·
Lol i know sometimes i give to much details, believe it or not i saw so many post where people just don't realized what you can or can not to do. And it not their fault,but outcome is sad.
And you saying that they can go 4 days without water change i agree. For my 2.5 gall i do sometimes 100% water changes about every 5 -6 days, but then i do full water change though.
Give us update how she doing:)
 
#25 ·
Oh trust me I didn't mean any of that in a bad way! I would prefer you to give over the top than not enough! I was just reassuring you that Opal is in pretty good hands lol
I don't know why that lady would push for it but she really said that she would do 3 weeks of 20 or 50% water changes and would do 100% once a month...I argued with her (not meanly but just asking about ammonia and what not) and she said her bettas were fine. So who knows, I was going to go by what they seem most comfortable with

And she's doing good today :) this morning she seemed a little side ways but not a lot and now she's swimming around normally! Her eye is still cloudy but hasn't expanded anymore so I'm hoping she's on the road to recovery! I did a 50% water change today and accidentally had too much water so I had to take almost a cup and a half out -_- i hope she got enough medication (I let the water sit for a minute in her little tank before taking it out)!
 
#26 ·
How she doing? I looked at the pictures again and i don't think she has pop eye and if she is not swimming side ways , and if she otherwise acting healthy i would not even give her salt. Just keep water super clean and keep eye on her.
I just texted Sakura8 about your betta. I think if she is not swimming side ways and don't have pop eye, just cloudy eye then usually aquarium salt is recommended. The reason i wrote Epsom salt because it would good for pop eye and for constipation or for swim bladder problem.

I will let you know what Sakura's advice ,she is really knowledgeable :)
 
#27 ·
She is doing better :) yesterday though (I didn't think I fed her too much at all, just about 3-4 pellets of the New Life Spectrum) and she was swimming a little sideways. Honestly when I've noticed her off balance she's never been fully sideways but she's not exactly straight either.

Saturday was the last day for the medication so yesterday I do about a 75% water change (I didn't want to stress her out with cupping her until today). Today I'm going to do 100% and make sure to clean everything of hers.

Her eye is still cloudy and still more puffy than the other one. It never got bigger (thank goodness!) but it doesn't seem to really have gone down. I'll make sure to keep her water really clean and I'll do a 50% water change every day and Thursday I can do a 100% and see what happens. Should I be using aquarium salt then or Epsom salt?
And how much per gallon (since she's in a 2.5 I might only put in the amount for 1.5-2 gallons just so I don't over do it).
 
#28 ·
Still cloudy eye , still puffy, and still swimming a little sideways go ahead and use Epsom salt on her.
For Epsom( unscented) salt don't worry it very mild and should not stress her out. Use 2 tsp/gall . It can be up to 3tsp/gall. So don't worry to over do it. And also it can be used long term.
Also try may be spleat those pellets two times a day. One in the morning and one in the evening see if it would help her.
 
#30 ·
Ok I did a 100% water change today and I'll add the epsom salt tomorrow. And I feed them all day and night little pieces so that they won't bloat.
 
#32 ·
Lol no I was up because we had an outdoor cat inside for the night in the lobby and I wanted to make sure no one kicked him out (it was freezing!) and I meant I feed them morning and evening about 3-5 pellets and I usually feed them less in the evening. And trust me I'm careful, I lost my first ever betta, Rodger, because I brought a sick one from petsmart and the stress of moving to college and then him getting the disease was not good at all. I do miss him :'(
 
#33 ·
Hi Roemegie. I didn't realize your betta was an elephant ear.

I skimmed the thread a bit but if your girl is acting normally, swimming normally and eating normally, then I would not worry about her popeye. In my experiences, elephant ear bettas tend to have bulgier eyes than other betta types. From what I saw in your pics, she's completley normal.

If you are still concerned, you can keep her in some epsom salts for another week but I think she's okay. :)
 
#34 ·
Yeah my boy bad when had pop eye and his brother did too (both from petco). I've noticed almost all the big eyed cases in cups are usually elephant ears but I literally just looked over at her and she looked a little sideways again -_- I'm going to do a 50% change and add some Epsom salt for her and I may do a little for my white elephant ear just in case :)

But thank you!! I'm hoping it's nothing but genetics! It's just her eye is cloudy :(
 
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