Hi mccullett and welcome to the forum. Your poor guy. Do you know how he got that sore under his eye?

First, if you could answer these questions that would really help us figure out treatment. In the meantime, put him back into 2 tsps of epsom salt per gallon. It's okay to leave him in this mixture for as long as necessary so don't remove him.

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

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

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

 

Hi, welcome to the forum.

I am sorry you and your betta is going through this. I am not an expert in treating diseases, so I will help what I can, there are lots of experts on this forum and I am sure someone will chime in later.

From the look of your photos, which you did a great job taking them, showed that he does have pop-eye which is also cloudy. I am not sure what the cause may be, but my first thought is he has septicemia which went untreated thus becoming this way. Are you able to get your hands on broad spectrum antibioctics? Kanamycin or Maracyn I & II ? For now, put him in a 1 gal quarantine tank with same temperature water and put in 1 teaspoon of Aquarium Salt (NOT epsom salt) with conditioner and stresscoat/stressguard if you have any. It's not a bath, so must leave betta in the solution after it's dissolved and mixed well. In the meantime, you need to go get antibiotics as soon as possible.

However, please also fill out this sticky as we can try to understand the exact cause of this wound and also the prevention of it in the future.

Good luck!

Oops....posting the same time Sakura did.

 

Not epsom? Are you thinking AQ for the wound, Earthworm?

 

I was just thinking what you wrote.....Yes...AQ for the wound (and the pop-eye) as I think that is even more life threatening?

 

Housing
What size is your tank? i moved him from a bowl to a medium sized kritter keeper
What temperature is your tank? i know its colder than it should be. Im going to look at heaters tomorrow
Does your tank have a filter? no
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? i have a light but i dont think it heats it at all
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? top fin beta bits
How often do you feed your betta fish? 3 pellets 2 times a day but i usually skip one day a week

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? once a week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? top fin water conditioner and tetra algae control

Water Parameters: have not tested them
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? was a white spot yesterday and is now a sore. His eye is also a bit bigger than normal
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? he is usually very sassy and eats like a pig but he hasn't been eating as well and has not been as responsive as usual
When did you start noticing the symptoms? about a week ago he stopped eating normally but i only noticed his eye the other night.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? yeah i put him in an epsom salt bath for 15 minutes with 1 tablespoon per gallon
Does your fish have any history of being ill? no
How old is your fish (approximately)? 2 years

 

Earthworm, right. I said epsom salt but I think you're right, it's more important to keep the wound from getting any more infected as the infection will just make the popeye worse.

Mccullett, definitely do what Earthworm suggests and put him in the 1 tsp Aquarium salt. This will help with the wound and keep it from getting more infected. While he's sick, you may want to change his water twice a week or even more if you can. The cleaner the water, the better it is for him.

 

okay. Im going to the store to get the supplies tomorrow! (Also i just remembered, the heater broke just the other day. Could this have been a contributing factor? Thats why im looking at heaters)

 

okay. Im going to the store to get the supplies tomorrow!

Don't forget to get a thermometer too

Does your LFS stock good range of medicines? Oh...what size exactly is your kritter keeper?

Sakura, would you suggest mccullett to get meds (to standby) for the infection?

 

yeah they should. If they dont ill just go somewhere else. This is the first time i have ever treated a sick beta so im not really sure. Im pretty sure they have meracyn I & II though. I measured the kritter keeper and it was about 7x12 inches. I can put him back in his bowl if thats better for him though.

 

oh and its 8 inches tall...forgot that

 

pardon my math....would it be a bit over 2.5 gallon then?

 

yeah i believe it is. the bowl i have is a 1/2 gallon

 

Earthworm, it would seem like a good idea. I think the Maracyn combo would probably be best. Look for a product called Seachem Kanaplex and if you can't find it, get the Maracyns I and II to have ready.

Mccullett: the next time you do a water change, use a measuring cup (one that holds 4 cups preferably). Carefully fill it to the 4 cup line and add the water, counting each time. There are 16 cups in a gallon, so if you have to pour 4 times, you've got at least a gallon in your kritter keeper.

 

Just an update, Mordechai is doing a lot better today. His eye is almost back to normal and it looks like his sore is healing over. He still isn't eating but he is swimming around like crazy! I'm still going to be getting medicine and a heater later today though. Gotta make sure he actually gets better and stays that way!

 

I'm glad his eye is almost back to normal, that's great news! We can hold off on using any actual meds but I would still suggest putting him in aquarium salt at a dosage of 1 tsp per gallon.

 

That's good news! I concur with Sakura, try to hold off on meds if he is already showing some improvement. If he still doesn't have an appetite, try to entice him with frozen bloodworms or pellets soaked in garlic juice as he needs to keep his strength up.

Good luck! show up some photo updates if you can.

 

ill try that. I got a heater for now and if he doesn't keep improving ill be going back for meds

 

All the white that was around his eye (its there in the picture a little as well) is gone now. What does that mean?

 

With luck, I think that means the sore that was under his eye is healing over.

 

Here he is this morning. I mean, its still not good but...still

 

The pink under his eye seems to indicate to me that the tissue is healing. His poor little eye is still pretty banged up and swollen but if we can get the infection in the open wound down, there's less chance of it making the popeye worse.

 

Hmm...tough to say on a 2D photo...but to me, it looks worse. It appears as if there is a greater chunk of flesh underneath the eye missing (where the white part was). Mccullett, can you tell if the open wound look deeper? The eye hasn't appeared to have improved to me. Sakura, do you think it's time for meds?

 

It doesnt look any deeper to me...just more red. And he is swimming around normally. He isnt super active but he isnt just sitting at the bottom until i try to take a picture or if its getting late.

 

Ok. Sounds good if his behavior appears to be more normal. Eating normal?
What is he in and what treatment regiment and day now?

 

Not eating yet but hopefully soon. Its currently day 4 and I got a heater and thermometer and Friday I'm getting aquarium salt. Hes in a 2.5 gallon thing and I have been changing his water 100% everyday. I'm hoping the heater will help him do better. Hes being a bit more sassy too.

 

all those little bubbles mean no aged water.. highly suggest doing water changes with aged water as he's already really stressed. you can age water by filling milk jugs if you like.. whatever just make sure no soak and rinse really really well with hot water to get the milk out.

I would not hesitate to add meds with that.. your call..

 

Earthworm, sounds like maybe he's okay in the salt for now. But I think if it hasn't healed completely by the time he's out of the salt, we should give the meds a try. The raw red makes it look worse but I think (hopefully!) the red means it's new tissue, while the white stuff we saw earlier was necrotic tissue that fell off. I hope. Now if only he'd eat, I'd feel even more positive about things.