Possibly overfed and cloudy spot on one eye

[marauder]

Housing
What size is your tank? 2.5g - Now 10g
What temperature is your tank? Raised from 76F to 80F to see if warmer water helps, keeping at 80F until he improves.
Does your tank have a filter? Yes, Previously Betta Bow 2.5 now Top Fin 10
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? Aqueon Betta Food Pellets - Also Freeze Dried Blood worm as treat, so far he doesn't like them though.
How often do you feed your betta fish? About 3-4 Pellets 3 times a day.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Weekly
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? At least 50% when he was in the 2.5g - Have not changed since we moved him to the 10g tank today.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Aqueon BettaBowl Plus Conditioner

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

Ammonia: Has been 0ppm - Checked again when I noticed change in behavior - Closer to 0.25ppm and immediately did a 50% water change - Now in new tank with 100% new and conditioned water
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
pH: 7.4-7.6
Hardness: NA
Alkalinity: NA

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Cloudy spot on eye. Maybe always been there, but with his behavior I've been watching him so close I'm noticing things that may have always been that way. I tried to look back at pictures of when I got him but my camera quality was not the greatest.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Lethargic, doesn't notice when we approach his tank as he has done so previously
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About a day and half ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Fasting for about 24hrs so far. Going to start daily water changes but not sure the % on a 10g. Raised temp to 80F.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Had him for about 1 week - Has been healthy and active until now.
How old is your fish (approximately)? Not sure




Everything I've read so far in my books leads me to believe it's possibly overfeeding with the exception of the cloudy spot on his eye. It's not his whole eye. Hopefully he just bumped into something, it's only on one eye and it's not the entire eye. I do not notice any other physical symptoms, but I'm still new to bettas.

His behavior is what caught my attention. He has been "suspended" in the water a lot, in the 2.5g he was laying on the bottom corner and I would have to tap several times before he'd even move his fins. I thought he had passed this morning, he was on the bottom completely motionless, head on the gravel but still vertical. I had to tap pretty hard on the tank to verify he was still alive. He finally came to and he is still able to swim around fine, but he's more inclined to just float around doing nothing.

I had to change his tank, he was in a Betta Bow 2.5g tank but when I cleaned it today the acrylic scrubber damaged the tank so I had to return for an exchange. I figured it was best to just go with a 10g tank since it was only a few bucks more and it would help to lessen the fluctuations in his living conditions while he gets better.

[Sakura8]

Is he bloated?

This will sound weird since you just got him a nice big tank but you should put him into a small QT container, a bowl or even the cup he came in from the pet store. Float that in his big 10g so he can stay warm. Mix up 1 gallon of dechlorinated water and 3 tsps of epsom salt, let the salt dissolve first. Fill his QT container with that. It will help with any bloating and the overfeeding. Cut back on his food to about 4 pellets a day total, but break it up into small meals over the day.

The cloudy eye may be due to poor water quality from the pet store. Clean water will help clear that up. Hope he gets better and keep us posted.

[marauder]

He's not bloated thankfully. We fed him according to all betta food recommendations on the packaging, but it seems everything I find online says to feed about half that much.

I fed him 1 pellet this morning and he almost came out of the water to take it.

Seeing a couple pinkish/red spots on the tips of his tail fins, and it appears either one eye is slightly swollen or the other is slightly sunken in. Doesn't look too extreme. He's no longer lethargic, swimming around quite a bit now. Going to attempt to take a photo of his condition.

[marauder]

My camera takes amazing outdoor pictures, but I'm apparently lacking skill to manipulate it's controls for indoor quality. Anyway, here are the best pics I could get, he wouldn't really give me any good head-on shots. I noticed his eyes appear to move around based on where I moved, and he'd swim to that side of the tank.

Pic #1 shows the cloudy spot on his eye. He wouldn't let me take a shot of the other eye, but it has a similar mark.

Pic #2 looks like his right eye is swollen compared to his left.

Pic #3 shows the red spots on the tip of his caudal fin.

[Sakura8]

Nope, not bloated, that's good. Actually, except for the bit of red on his fin and the cloudy eye, he looks quite good. His fins are a bit clamped but that may be him trying to settle into his new home. You can still QT him and do epsom salt treatments at 1 tsp a gallon if you feel like he needs it but since he's not bloated, it's not a "must do" thing.

Both the cloudy eye and red spots appear to be water quality related from the pet store. Keep his water as clean as you can, maybe use Stress Coat, and hopefully those issues will clear up.

And yeah, the instructions on the food packaging are ridiculous. If a betta ate as much as he wanted in 2 minutes, he'd explode or something. Bettas. Love. To. Eat.

[marauder]

Thanks so much for your help so far Sakura8.

That's what I'm hoping, other than the visual queues, he's acting very happy. He'll eat if I offer it, and chases my finger waiting for me to drop food. I did this mostly to check his eyesight which appears to be good in both eyes. Have only fed him 1 pellet today so far. Working from home today, so I'm able to keep an eye on his condition.

I have the filter off as it created a bit of current. I need to baffle the filter before I start it back. I have already treated the water with the bettabowl plus treatment... Is it ok to add this API stress coat+ to the already treated water? It came with the tank and is pre-measured for ten gallons.

Also came with a pack of stress zyme+ but it looks like this is for boosting the biological filter so I will hold off on this until his condition improves.

[Sakura8]

Yes, you can add Stress Coat to pre-treated water since you are using it for its healing purposes and not water conditioning. Handy it's alredy measured out, too.

Just toss the Stress Zyme, using biological agents to hurry along the cycle can actually really mess up your readings.

I'm really glad he's so hungry, that's a good sign and good to see his eyesight seems okay. Even if it wasn't, he would probably do all right since fish navigate mostly by their lateral line and he can learn to find food by his sense of smell.

[marauder]

Update, earlier it appeared his eyes are improving. His protruding eye has reduced to a slightly more normal state and the cloudy spots are going away not getting worse. I went ahead and picked up a bottle of Mardel Maracyn Plus anti-bacteria per my local fish store's suggestion. Everything I mentioned to him he would finish my sentences, so based on my observations and research it appears he has ulcers and popeye likely lead on by the poor water condition that was ~.25ppm ammonia. I have dosed according to instruction as well as changing 1 gallon of water today. Is 1 gallon of water changed daily excessive, perfect, or not enough? I'd rather not do 100% water changes each day, but if that's par for the course I guess I have no option. I just want to avoid any further stress.

I was able to pick up a glass scrubbing pad since it was the only thing I could find at the fish supply that was not $12. Is this ok to use as a filter baffle? I rinsed properly, etc.. but I mean long term. I think it's great to have the extra biofiltration surface, but I want to make sure I'm using the right medium. It does an amazing job of completely removing any current, can hardly tell it's running.

If there is anything that I have learned, bigger tanks are much better. All of this could have been prevented had it not occurred so quickly. Also, never give up... I thought a few times he was dead, but true to his pedigree he's a fighter. I think he's going to make a full and happy recovery. Thanks again for all the help, whether direct or indirectly through searching related posts.

Here are pics of when he was starting to improve, his eyes are a little better now. Just adding these for reference.

[Sakura8]

I definitely agree with the popeye, although I'm not so sure about the ulcers. I don't see ulcers but of course, if you see them that's something else entirely. I'm glad to hear his eyes are getting better. Clean water and the Maracyn will help tremendously with that. Is he currently in a 1 gallon tank? If so then yes, you'll need to do 100% water changes during the course of treatment. To avoid stressing him, use a small plastic cup if you have one to scoop him out instead of using a net. Often the suction of the cup will suck him right in, making it very easy to catch him. Sometimes they'll even swim right in on their own.

You can try the glass scrubbing pad but I'm not sure how well the water will flow through something that thick. If it doesn't work, at least you have a scrubbing pad to clean the tank. Does your filter have a flow adjustor?

His fins look good, just a bit clamped. I don't even see much of the red that I saw in other pics. Is he eating?

[hmckin20]

i would definitely double check this but the API meds for fungus cure (covers fungus, mouth fungus, body slime and eye cloud, fin and tail rot) i bought today mentioned "eye cloud" and defined it as such:

Eyes develop a white haze and/or protrude from the head. Slimy patches appear on the body. Fish may scratch on objects and exhibit rapid breathing. Infection may cause abnormal osmotic function resulting in fluid accumulation to the eyes and/or body.


also, i have a ten gal, and do about 20% once per day without a filter. with a filter i was recommended 20% once per week. since you have a filter daily changes aren't as necessary when he gets better.