After effect of Popeye

[mrbprint]

I picked up a pretty little betta from the LFS and after I got him home I noticed he had Popeye, severe in one eye and to a lesser extent in the other. I put him in clean water with some salt for a couple of days then changed the water(90%) and treated him with Maracyn Plus for 10 days on 3 day WC and retreat. He is doing very well and his RT eye is normal with vision but his LT eye is hanging out and cloudy.

What should I do? Just leave it to fall off or try to remove it. I just moved him to his permanent home in a divided 5g, from his 1g container.

[Sena Hansler]

Oh my! I have never seen popeye do that! well, don't try to remove it. you can cause more harm than good. Keep an eye on him. The cloudiness suggests he is blind or going blind in that eye. Can you post a picture of him? front view and the side of his left eye

[mrbprint]

Here is pix of Popeye Facebook

Facebook

[Sena Hansler]

It isn't showing up lol. says it is unavailable.

[mrbprint]

Lets try from here http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...m/popeye-3182/

[Sena Hansler]

goodness me! That to me looks worse than popeye I am used to .. Usually the popeye I see is this http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=popeye...t:429,r:17,s:0

I'm definitely a bit worried about it, as I can now see how it's "hanging" there basically by the cover of the eye. Being in both eyes before, that popeye was probably from bad water conditions, so to see it to this extent is pretty bad. I'll message a couple people to see if they know more than I do.

However I still recommend not removing it yourself.

[mrbprint]

I realize that there is no saving the one eye and he seems no worse for the wear. He is blind in that one eye but he is eating ok.

[Oldfishlady]

How is he acting other than the eye...still eating, swimming without issue, responsive to you etc.....I assume he is okay since you moved him to the 5gal....

I wouldn't try to remove the eye, it should fall off on its own and fish generally can still live a normal life with just one eye even with limited vision in the other...they have an extra sense organ call the lateral line that functions like echo location

You will want to prevent a secondary infection and since you have already used antibiotics-what I would do now and this is if he is otherwise okay....clean like temp dechlorinated water from frequent water changes

[mrbprint]

He seems happy and adjusting well to only one eye. I plan to just keep him in clean water with epsom salt 1 tsp/5g until all healed. I have him in the same conditions as my other 2 Bettas that are doing great, 2 fat little piglets. RO filtered water from the supermarket dispenser, 6.6-6.8 PH and 80 F, an established sponge filter, AZOO substrate to keep things buffered to the upper 6s on PH.

[Sakura8]

OFL, would you recommend epsom salts to help bring down the swelling in the other eye or would that not be a good idea?