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

[callistra]

Erythromycin is a good med, but if you can find Kanaplex (Kanamycin) I'd go for that instead. Less resistant bacterial strains and generally more effective, but harder to find because it's by Seachem which isn't distributed everywhere.

[rmarkham]

Originally Posted by callistra

Erythromycin is a good med, but if you can find Kanaplex (Kanamycin) I'd go for that instead. Less resistant bacterial strains and generally more effective, but harder to find because it's by Seachem which isn't distributed everywhere.

I've already started the Erythro and if this doesn't work I'll give him a rest, and order Kanomycin online

[Sakura8]

Here is why I recommended erythromycin over Kanaplex this time:

"When used for many eye infections (especially when only one or a small percentage of fish are effected), use of Erythromycin at double dose in a medicated fish bath is often an effective and definitely safe method of use." --american aquarium products

That website is a resource whose experience and research in medications I really respect.

[rmarkham]

It's been 3 days and I haven't seen any sort of improvement. How long will it take to notice a change?

[Sakura8]

Could be several days. If he will tolerate it, you can try giving him the baths twice a day. If he shows any signs of distress, remove him immediately though. If after another 3 days there is no sign of improvement, we'll switch to a different med or try leaving him in a regular dosage of erythromycin instead of the baths.

[rmarkham]

Awesome, can I reuse the bath water?

[Sakura8]

Offhand, I'd say yes but for the best results and ultimate sterility, I'd say no. I don't think it will do much harm if you do reuse it, though.

[rmarkham]

Originally Posted by Sakura8

Offhand, I'd say yes but for the best results and ultimate sterility, I'd say no. I don't think it will do much harm if you do reuse it, though.

Okay I figured. I haven't reused any yet and won't start.

[rmarkham]

Still no improvement, even with baths twice daily. I got some new pictures. His eye is still cloudy and slightly enlarged. And overall, he just doesn't look good. It's hard to explain.. his overall demeanor just looks sickly. He isn't as vibrant as he used to be, and does lie on the bottom quite a bit.
I got some pictures tonight, some of them look warped because he was in bottom front corner of the mini-bow. Some are out of focus and some have water spots... I should have cleaned before getting camera happy... but any thoughts? Maybe it's something more serious?
The god news is that he does tolerate the baths very well so he's a little trooper.



Slightly distorted by it being by the bow of the tank, but this is what he does most of the day..








Blurry, but shows the two eyes in one shot


His good side

[Sakura8]

Hmm. I can see a little of the color fading. :(

Is he still eating? He looks a bit skinny. I wonder if we should try Seachem ParaGuard to target any external or internal parasite issues. We can combine this with Seachem Kanaplex at a ratio of 2 parts ParaGuard to 1 part Kanaplex and treat with this as a constant soak for 5 days in a hospital tank. The Kanaplex with target bacterial infections; my concern is if this is indeed a parasitic problem causing the cloudy eye, then he may have developed a secondary bacterial infection as well that is causing the general listlessness.