Betta Fish Forum banner

Betta Has Popeyes & Parasite. Any advice?

1K views 16 replies 3 participants last post by  Veloran 
#1 ·
Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 8
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? yes
What temperature is your tank? 80 normally but 82 now because parasite
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? air stone
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? no tank buddies

Food:

What food brand do you use? tetra bettamin, northfin betta bits, hikari daphnia freeze dried, omega one bloodworms freeze dried
Do you feed flakes or pellets? both
Freeze-dried? yes
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? attempt 2x a day. 12 hours apart. portion size is a couple scoops the tip of a bamboo ear pick (tiny)

Maintenance:
Before
your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? once per week
What percentage of water did you change? 20%
What is the source of your water? Spring water
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? gravel vacuum
What additives do you use? What brand of conditioner? Dr Tim's nitrifying bacteria, Seachem StressGuard, and Tetra BettaSafe

Water Parameters:

What are your water parameters? Please give exact numbers. If tested by pet store please get exact numbers. "Fine" or "Safe" won't help us help you. Important: Test your water before the regular water change; not after one.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.5
Hardness (GH): 180
Alkalinity (KH): 120

Symptoms and Treatment:

When did you first notice the symptoms? 2.5 weeks ago
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? skinnier
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? lazier and twitchy compared to active and no twitch
Is your Betta still eating? 2nd day of not eating
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? yes. 1st week Maracyn Two. 2nd week Kanaplex. This week General Cure (2nd dose yesterday)
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? don't know
How long have you owned your Betta? almost one month
Was he or she ill or suffering some sort of damage when purchased? girlfriend purchased from cup in a pet store so probably
 
See less See more
#5 · (Edited)
I've never seen parasites on but I don't think I've seen him poop either. I don't know what fish poop looks like He has been twitching and rubbing himself on objects so those things made me think he has parasites. He wasn't twitching a couple weeks ago.

Here he was earlier today just laying in the corner. https://www.youtube[com]/watch?v=oTXq-KrrbVA
 
#6 ·
Copied and pasted YouTube link; it doesn't work.

Unilateral swelling indicates injury; bilateral indicates infection. Both Maracyn 2 and Kanaplex treat gram-negative bacteria. So if this is a gram-positive infection it's reasonable that the other two didn't work. General Cure is strictly for parasites and will not help the pop-eye which is the critical problem.

If your filter has carbon, did you leave it in? Did you clear one med before using another? You clear by using carbon. This is recommended for both Maracyn 2 and Kanaplex and for General Cure.

I'm worried that you've hit him with too many medications it too short a time. This in itself can cause issues and may be one reason he isn't eating. You need to give him a rest for a week or 10 days after the General Cure treatment. Then you might try a med that treats gram-positive. However, I'm not as well-versed in OTC meds as are other members. Perhaps someone else can offer advice.

You can also try Epsom Salt baths. Mix one tablespoon of plain, unscented Epsom Salt to one gallon water. Make sure it is completely dissolved. Leave in bath for 10-15 minutes. The caveat is you must stay with the fish and remove at the slightest sign of distress. I would wait a two or three days after ending the General Cure so you won't stress him more.
 
#9 ·
What brand of spring water do you use?
Is there a reason you do not want to use your tap water?

Is he just twitching occasionally as he swims or is he rubbing on the decor and dashing away (flashing)?
Are the plants in your tank still in their plastic containers with the cotton wool?

Poop is the color of whatever they're eating.

Also,
Maracyn -> Gram Positive Bacteria
Maracyn 2 -> Few Gram Positive bacteria, Many Gram Negative Bacteria
Furan 2 -> Some Gram Positive bacteria, Many Gram Negative Bacteria
Kanaplex -> Some Gram Positive bacteria, Many Gram Negative Bacteria. (this covers some of the new bacteria and can work with Furan-2 to cover a more broad spectrum ... very harsh on the fish though).

Most bacterial infections in the aquatic hobby are Gram Negative.
 
#10 ·
Distillata Artesian Spring.
We have hard water in our apartment (TDS meter shows 400+ usually) so I use a zero water filter for the drinking water and a filter on the bathroom shower head. I read that you can't use zero water (distilled) on an aquarium because it doesn't have essential minerals for fish and spring has the minerals except has no chlorine.

He's twitching when he swims but it's alot less severe. Previous to the parasite treatment he was swimming with strange pauses then zooming. When we did a search for fish swimming erratically, found a YouTube video of a fish swimming like him and it said gill or skin flukes--that's when I learned the term flashing. He was also rubbing himself against the tunnels on the decorations.

We originally put the plants in the tank still in the pot and wool but I read that we could be introducing fertilizer in the water so we took them out. For plants, from this point on is just be happy adding more moss balls and buying some soft fake plants for the fishy. I threw away the short grass plant because it was getting covered in brown slime, even after removing it from the pot and wool. However, the tall grass plant and moss balls aren't getting covered in brown slime.
I'm nervous about medicating any further. I wish we had some kind of house call fish doctor that could test and cure him. Should we give it a week and try some treatments of something else? Haven't tried Prazi pro for the parasite but we have some lying around. We don't have regular Maracyn or Furan2. I'm afraid his eyes are gonna fall out. Both bulge but one seems to be worse.
As of right now, it's been almost 48 hours since competing the set of doses for General Cure. He still has a twitch but he's not swimming really word like he was before. Today he's been sleeping on the bottom rather than hanging out at the top surface breathing like the last couple days. He even are a little bit of food lat night.
This evening we are gonna do a 25% water change and attach the carbon filter again. I still don't know what to do about his eyes or know if the parasite is gone. Unfortunately we don't have somewhere that can test him and I don't want to overdose his system with meds because yesterday he was in really rough shape constantly surface breathing and wouldn't leave the corner at the top of the water. Today he is extremely improved compared to yesterday but with a small twitch and still not much appetite.

How long do i wait before trying Epsom baths or different meds? I don't want to stress him out but I also don't want him to get worse.
 
#11 ·
What is the TDS of the Zero Pure and the Distilla. The water filter should be close to 0 but I'm not sure of the source of the Distilla.
I'm leaning away from a problem with him but towards a problem with the water that is causing osmoregulation issues. In looking up the Zero Pure water filter, the claim is that it is about the same as RO water. One course of action is to use the Zero Pure and remineralize it with Seachem Equilibrium for his water changes. It could also possibly save you some $$ in the longrun.

You can start him on the Epsom salt, it's safe enough for him and the plants should enjoy it as well. Give him a little break from meds and all the other additives. You can also add some Indian Almond Leaves or a Rooibos Teabag and try remineralizing the Zero Pure water with Equilibrium and as an option, add some VitaChem for him.
 
#12 ·
So I just did a test of Distilla Spring Water and it tested 209ppm...Yikes I didn't realize it was that bad. I just did a TDS test of the tap though and it was 454ppm.

Will putting in the Zero Water (0ppm) make unstable pH? I read that some hardness is good in aquariums due to stabilizing pH. I feel bad for the fish now though. Although I know the water doesn't have chlorine or ammonia, can dissolved solids still hurt him? Is there something I should be buying to help him immediately?
 
#13 ·
Yes, the Zero Water alone will cause issues, if you're using Zero Water with Equilibrium, the latter product adds back in the minerals that will help buffer the water to keep the parameters stable.
It is possible that dissolved solids can cause issues, but not always the case. That all depends on the solids and the quantity, and would require a full water report.
You can try a different brand of water and see what you get. This is the problem with city water, it can be so hit or miss sometimes and I'm not as well versed as some of the water chemistry experts.

The TDS on the Distilla is not that high, it's still under 350, but I suspect many of the issues is because of a mineral imbalance in the water itself.
 
#14 ·
I put some BettaSpa in his tank and he seems to be his old self. I read that the tannins reduce ph levels and provide them a more natural habitatthat helps them feel comfy. The difference is night and day. However, if he had some parasite in his system it may have died and that could explain the behavior change too.
3 days ago
This morning

Thanks for all the help! One last question: is it okay to feed him frozen brine shrimp (not freeze dried) in place of pellets or should pellets be default? We bought frozen betta foods and been feeding him frozen brine shrimp ever since he started eating again
 
#16 · (Edited)
One eye seems to be puffier and one seems mostly normal. I wonder if it's some kind of birth defect? I'm also wondering if I should still put Epsom baths on the schedule. This Betta Spa liquid says I can't add additional salt to the tank since it contains both tannins and salt.

Do his fins look clamped? I thought they were supposed to fan out. I don't know how old he is either.
 
#17 ·
His fins just look a bit droopy, can happen when they have fin issues or an ailment, they don't look clamped as such but I agree, I'd prefer if he fanned them out a little more.
The Betta Spa contains chloride salts, so you won't want to use them with aquarium salt. Epsom salt (plain and unscented) has the opposite effect in that it draws fluid out. That being said, since the chlorides and epsom produce different results, I wouldn't use them together.
You can get therapeutic levels of tannins from IAL or a Rooibos teabag, so if you wanted to continue with the tannins and swap the salts to epsom, you can.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top