Betta Suddenly Goes Blind?

[Ryomaechizen]

Hi guys! Need help here..

5 days ago, i witnessed that my female betta spit out her third pellet and never again want to eat anymore after that. She looks pretty weak and hanging around near the water surface.

Done some research so i suspected maybe constipated due to overfeeding (I didn't realize my brother is feeding her at random times while i was away). Can see her belly is slightly bloated, well just a bit and it seems pretty pale on her belly area while all her other body part is blue.

So i planned to make her fast for 3 days, i changed the water level so that she can take air easily as the water is now shallow. My heater was taken, so i decide to put her tank near the window so that sunlight can reach the tank (I live in borneo, It's hot here). All was okay till 2 days ago, i realized she wasn't responding to my finger anymore or to her reflection from a mirror.

Saw her poo around the tank so i bet her belly is okay now that she is actively swimming around but she BUMPED on every corner of the tank after swimming along the wall. Tested her with the feeding stick she loved to follow around - no respond.
My finger to the tank wall - no respond.
Her reflection from a mirror - no respond.
Dropped a pellet near her - ignored swim pass it.
Touch her body with my finger - She was shocked and swim away!

I realized that her eyes is a bit darker, was like her pupil is slightly big. Today i checked again with a torchlight, then i can see as if there are lenses on her eyes. It is very clear when i took pictures of it on different angles:

http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/7...1220003643.png

I can see the different between her eyes and her sister eyes. Can anyone tell me what do you think it is? Popeye? Infection? What should i do? And she IS already seems blind, she didn't respond to anything unless i touch her.

[ChoclateBetta]

First off soak her food in Garlic juice it will help her find it with smell.

[Ryomaechizen]

Done it earlier, it seems she's still not into food at the moment. I continue to monitor her poo, her belly is still bit pale. Any suggestion on her eyes? Is she permanently blind? Anyhow, i want her to survive no matter what.

[ChoclateBetta]

Sounds like Internal Parasites.

[Ryomaechizen]

Internal parasites for the belly part? Any medicine for that? Does it affect the eye too? Was afraid if it is cataract that people usually mentioned of..

[ChoclateBetta]

I only think is explains the not eating.

[sainthogan]

She has stress stripes, so something is definitely going on. I don't know why she would suddenly go blind though, and I'm not sure if it will be permanent. You may want to consider private messaging oldfishlady or sakura8 to see if they have any experience with this.

[Oldfishlady]

Sorry you girl isn't well.....Need some more info...

How old is she or how long have you had her and has she ever been spawned.
Any past health issues and if so, what and how treated. Have you tried any treatments for this problem. And this all started 5 days ago..correct....

Tank size, tank mates, additives used, live plants, filter, how much and how often are the water changes, water temp.
Can you list all the signs/symptoms

It does look like her eyes are somewhat swollen, the stripes may not be stress per se-both stripes and color changes can be normal since it is also used for communication and camouflage.
Fish have what is called a "Lateral line" that is used somewhat like echo location and a blind fish can usually function and find food without issues. Her running into the walls is due to something else IMO.

Right now what I would recommend-Epsom salt (Not aquarium salt) Tannins and good nutrition
First-QT in a small container that can fit into a heated tank (attached so it doesn't sink) to maintain a temp of 76-77F for treatment- Cover the top with plastic veggie wrap to retain heat humidity for the labyrinth organ.

Mix some treatment water in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water-Add Epsom salt 3tsp/gal and if you have a tannin source of either IAL (1lrg crushed/gal) or dried Oak leaf (20 crushed/gal) add this and let it steep for about 30min. Shake well.

Using this premixed treatment water-make 25% water change every 15min for 1 hour today. Place her in a dim lit quiet location for now.
She needs to stay in the covered QT in this treatment water for the duration of the treatment period of 14 days.

Starting Tomorrow-using the premixed treatment water make daily 50% water changes.
If you added a tannin source the Tx water should look darker every day and this is what you want.

Nutrition-If you have access to live mosquito larva-offer several rinsed a couple of times a day to boost protein intake to support the immune response. Otherwise-feed good quality varied diet in small frequent meals. I wouldn't fast for more than 24h.

Good luck...

[Reefing Madness]

Sounds like another case of the Boo-Boo eye to me. Popeye usually takes out both eyes. the film over the eye tells me its in the process of healing itself. Souns like he ran into something, and it will repair itself in a couple weeks time.

[Ryomaechizen]

Originally Posted by Oldfishlady

How old is she or how long have you had her and has she ever been spawned.
Any past health issues and if so, what and how treated. Have you tried any treatments for this problem. And this all started 5 days ago..correct....

Tank size, tank mates, additives used, live plants, filter, how much and how often are the water changes, water temp.
Can you list all the signs/symptoms

I bought her around 6months ago, and she never spawned(but i do planned to breed her)no past health issues on her she's all good and healthy only the recent slightly bloated and stop eating that i made her fast. The stress stripe occur when i moved jer to a new tank and its only temporary and then she's back calm till now. Just the eyes are the problem now, was afraid if it had to do with me moving her tank near the window for fair heat from sunlight(coz my heater was taken).

Currently i just bought aquarium salt n took some cattapa leaves, i haven't put em on yet. But i'll follow your advice. She doesnt have any tankmates, she live in 8gallon tank with plastic plants, temperature is bit cold now coz i my heater broke down, i changed her water 100% once a week. Gave her pellets and mosquito larvae at feeding time.