[Princess Maki]

About a month ago I saw my betta was less active and hanging at the corner more often. It was when I noticed the popeye in the RIGHT eye I took a closer look and now can see this opaque like disk and don't see the blackness of his eye. I am not sure if this opaque disk is the eye I am looking at. Perhaps the eye is damaged as I also see a scratch? At first I thought it was the lighting and how I was photographing but it seems like this eye seldom shows any blackness. Sometimes some blackness will show but not like the left eye which is normal. He also seems to not see food as well as before and sometimes doesn't eat what falls in the tank. He also has some fin melt. I am treating him with Kanaplex but not sure how to diagnose the eye. Does he have cataracts, injury, or a parasite? Anyone experience this before? I've had him 1 year 5 months. Photos attached below.



Housing:
How many gallons is your tank? 5 gal
Does it have a filter? yes
Does it have a heater? no, I live in tropics
What temperature is your tank? 86-88F
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No only from HOB filter
Does your Betta have tank mates? What kind? No only some plants

Food:
What food brand do you use? Ohm betta pellets, frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms
Do you feed flakes or pellets? pellets
Freeze-dried? no
How often do you feed your Betta? How much? twice a day, small portions. Brine and bloodworms 2 x per week

Maintenance:
Before your Betta became ill how often did you perform a water change? Once per week
What percentage of water did you change? 20-40%
What is the source of your water? Tap
Do you vacuum the substrate or just dip out water? Vacuum
What additives do you use other than conditioner? What brand of conditioner? Prime

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.

Values are always stable
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
pH: 7.6
Hardness (GH): na
Alkalinity (KH): na

Symptoms and Treatment:
When did you first notice the symptoms? Maybe a month ago I saw him less active and hanging at the corner more often. He has some fin melt/rot. Its not very noticeable. It was when I noticed the popeye in the right eye I took a closer look and now can see this opaque like disk.
How has your Betta’s appearance changed? Right eye has popeye
How has your Betta’s behavior changed? Not as active, at feeding time not as interested. Seems maybe difficulty seeing the food?
Is your Betta still eating? yes
Have you started treating your Betta? If so, how? Kanaplex 2 treatments, at least to help with the fin melt
Does your Betta have any history of being ill? no.
How long have you owned your Betta? 1 year 5 months.

 

[Rose of sharon]

Hi,

Sorry about your beautiful betta!

I am not certain, of course, but I am leaning towards an injury that has caused an infection and maybe is leading to his losing some, or all of his sight in that eye.

Hopefully the kanamycin will take care of the infection end of it.

To reduce swelling, you can try an epsom salt bath, if his eye is still swollen. Use only pure, unscented epsom salt with no additives. Use a separate, clean container, and use 1 tablespoon to one gallon of water.

I hope he gets better!

 

[Princess Maki]

Hi,

Sorry about your beautiful betta!

I am not certain, of course, but I am leaning towards an injury that has caused an infection and maybe is leading to his losing some, or all of his sight in that eye.

Hopefully the kanamycin will take care of the infection end of it.

To reduce swelling, you can try an epsom salt bath, if his eye is still swollen. Use only pure, unscented epsom salt with no additives. Use a separate, clean container, and use 1 tablespoon to one gallon of water.

I hope he gets better!

Thank you for your reply. I am thinking injury too from the scratch? from the first photo and yes maybe losing the eye. I have no idea from what but he is a skittish, nervous betta and maybe ran into something. I just put him in the epsom salt bath and will probably relocate him to a smaller container so that he can see the food more easily.. I hope he gets better too.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Sorry your boy is having issues. Bilateral swelling is an indication of infection; unilateral of injury.

You can use Indian Almond Leaves or plain Rooibos Tea as both have antifungal and antibacterial properties. They also have calming properties. I would go to those when the round of Kanaplex is over. Tank should be at least this dark:

 

[Princess Maki]

Sorry your boy is having issues. Bilateral swelling is an indication of infection; unilateral of injury.

You can use Indian Almond Leaves or plain Rooibos Tea as both have antifungal and antibacterial properties. They also have calming properties. I would go to those when the round of Kanaplex is over. Tank should be at least this dark:

View attachment 1037711

Thanks already got the almond leaves in the tank via a powdered version. Perhaps can make it darker. Gave him an epsom bath today for the swelling. Was wondering if I should add AQ salt

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

You don't want to add Aquarium Salt. It causes fluid retention while Epsom Salt acts as a diuretic.

How did the ES bath work? I had a Betta with unilateral pop eye. It took near six months for the swelling to go down although the eye never went back to normal. Another lived 3-4 years with that much swelling. Goes to show there's nothing certain in the fish keeping world, doesn't it?

 

[Princess Maki]

You don't want to add Aquarium Salt. It causes fluid retention while Epsom Salt acts as a diuretic.

How did the ES bath work? I had a Betta with unilateral pop eye. It took near six months for the swelling to go down although the eye never went back to normal. Another lived 3-4 years with that much swelling. Goes to show there's nothing certain in the fish keeping world, doesn't it?

I am not sure if the Epsom bath did anything but will try it again. Today I did last dose of kanaplex with WC. I'm concerned he can't find his food on the sand, sometimes he eats other times it sits there. I will monitor to see if i need to take him out of main tank. I just had one that passed last week. Popeye also but something more systemic that I think somehow related to a tumor/abscess that went into remission and ultimately dropsy. I find bettas hard. After a while they all come down with some strange illness not listed and pass. One i posted on this forum was concluded to have columnaris or fungus but when actually diagnosed at a vet they were parasitic eggs which damaged his gills 😪. Water quality tested is always good with weekly changes, varied diet, single fish. I can only conclude poor breeding of imported fish has resulted many of these problems.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

I agree about lowered quality of Betta. I can't remember the exact word but it means "power growing" so they attain large size sooner. Sort of like administering steroids. I see so many Betta advertised as 12-16 weeks that look full-grow with mature finnage. Maybe sellers aren't exactly truthful about age, either. Finnage sells and normal, immature Betta don't have it.

 

[Princess Maki]

I agree about lowered quality of Betta. I can't remember the exact word but it means "power growing" so they attain large size sooner. Sort of like administering steroids. I see so many Betta advertised as 12-16 weeks that look full-grow with mature finnage. Maybe sellers aren't exactly truthful about age, either. Finnage sells and normal, immature Betta don't have it.
[/QUOTE

The eye and behavior seems about the same. Yesterday I changed the water and completed the 3rd dose of kanaplex. He ate some frozen brine shrimp that I aided him to. One thing I just noticed is he seems to be breathing harder esp compared to my other betta and lightly waving the pectoral fins when at the surface. His respiration may have always been a bit faster, though I never counted the breaths before, so really not sure if this is a symptom. I tested the water and Ammonia and Nitrite are 0. I'm just stumped.