Bettas with cloudy eyes at LFS?

[KeeperOfThePlants]

I recently visited an LFS near my school, and as I was perusing their betta section, I noticed quite a few of them had cloudy eyes. I even saw one with some milky membrane (similar looking to an eye lens) peeling off of its eye. :( This is a shame because many of them were quite beautiful. I did not notice anything out of the ordinary with the bettas at this store besides the cloudy/milky eyes. The cups they were held in looked a lot cleaner than those at my local Wal-Mart. My question is, if I were to bring one of these bettas home, how could I get rid of the eye problems? Will it go away on its own or is this a serious condition?

Thanks all,
Eric

[MattsBettas]

Sounds like a fungal problem?

[carbonxxkidd]

I saw a dragon scale boy at Petco today that actually had scales growing over his eyes. I've heard that is normal with dragons. Is that what you saw?

[KeeperOfThePlants]

@carbonxxkid Those definitely weren't scales growing over it's eyes. It was semi-transparent, like this: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AngelsPIX.../asfur0eye.jpg

but the cloudy membrane (just like the clear lens type thing on top of our eyes) was peeling off on one of them. :/ I've been reading around online and from what I can tell it must be from either bad water quality or fungal infection, but nothing on how to fix it.

[carbonxxkidd]

If it's bad water quality it should clear up with clean water, right? Poor fishies :(

[KeeperOfThePlants]

I know right? :( I'm thinking about going back there to rescue some of them. I just hope I don't need any really expensive medications.

[callistra]

Epsom salts (pure 100% magnesium sulfate) and a gram positive antibiotic will be needed. Suggest Seachem Kanaplex, Maracyn Plus or Furan 2.