What's going on with my fish?!

[mangowallaby]

I came back from class today to find my betta becoming increasingly worse! He had physical symptoms and then an hour later his behaviour changed. Now he's floating at the top of his water (still alive) and I'm really concerned!!

What size is your tank? 2 gallon
What temperature is your tank? 76
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yep
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Just alone!

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Betta bio-gold and the occasional bloodworm
How often do you feed your betta fish? once a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? None

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

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

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? He was fine when I went off this morning to class, but when I had gotten home some scales on the right side of his face appeared to be flaking and his eye was slightly cloudy. It has since worsened to his eye being completely cloudy
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He was energetic but now he's lying on the top of the water on his side.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 4 PM this afternoon.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? added some salt to a quarantine cage and he's in there right now
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Nope
How old is your fish (approximately)? A few months

[mangowallaby]

I don't mean to doublepost, but I finally got a photo and I can't find the edit post button. Whatever Mushi has developed quickly; in a matter of hours he went from being completely healthy to having a cloudy eye and a bit of flaking. I just put him in a 2 gallon tank with aquarium salt and he's not doing as badly. He's not floating sideways on the surface and has gone back to fleeing from the camera! Is there anything I can do but wait?

[ZackyBear]

"Popeye
•Symptoms: One or both eyes will swell and bulge out. It in itself can also be a symptom of Dropsy.
•Treatment: Usually not fatal if treated, but your betta might lose an eye. Conservative: If the swelling is extreme then use ES first. Perform 100% daily water changes. You may be able to treat the popeye with just Epsom and clean water. However, if the swelling goes down but the eyes remain cloudy/white, then switch to Aq.Salt at 1tsp/gal or use medications. Do not combine Aq.Salt with medications but you can continue to use ES during medical treatments. Medication: If ES or Aq.Salt do not do the trick or it is a serious case of popeye, then combine the ES with API Tetracycline, API Fungus Cure, API General Cure, API Triple Sulfa, OR Mardel’s Maracyn. "

[Silverfang]

if I had to guess, I'd say he injured himself. When they injure their eyes, they can turn cloudy or white. I'm a fan of epsom salt for eye trouble.

However since this appears to be an injury, AQ salt may be effective in your case. What dose of AQ salt did you use? You will also need to up water changes while using AQ salt.

[mangowallaby]

OK, so I've been upping the dose of aquarium salt and changed the water twice so far, but he seems to be getting worse. His eye has gone back to normal but it seems like his fins are splintering. I got some stress coat and dumped it in the water, is there anything else I can do?

[Silverfang]

IT looks like he either bit or tore his tail. Did you do anything with the decor?

Sometimes males will get their fins caught on the intake of the filter. It looks sort of like fin biting in that picture, but not quite like any I've seen.

Clean water will help his fins heal. Right now you want to determine what is happening to his tail. If it's being damaged by the filter you'll want to adjust it. If he's biting you might have to change up his decor. If his fins are snagging on sharp decor you might have to replace it.