[Annakazam]

Hi everyone, my fish has been sick for about a week and a half now. I noticed that he was hiding more in the morning and after that noticed that he had developed a lump on his head in the days following. Moved him to a hospital tank and started treatment with maracyn, it seemed like he was improving, bump went away. On day 4 of treatment his eye was swollen and he was very lethargic. It seems like he is breathing a little hard. This has continued since. Tried Fritz paracleanse after a 100% water change because I didn’t know what else to do and he seemed worse after the maracyn (although the bump went away) He will swim up to the surface for air sometimes, but mostly stays on the bottom under the heater. He has eaten some frozen blood worms or brine shrimp that have sunk to the bottom, but isn’t very interested, hasn’t eaten today. Will not eat pellets.

Housing
What size is your tank? 10gallons (both tanks)
What temperature is your tank? 77.8-78.1
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
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?
Omega one betta bites, frozen blood worms, or frozen brine shrimp.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Twice 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? 25-50%, recently did 100% change in hospital tank
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Seachem Prime, Fritz Dark Water

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

Ammonia: 0 (both tanks)
Nitrite:0 (both tanks)
Nitrate: less than 5.0ppm, not easily to tell but looks more than 0 (hospital tank) between 5 and 10ppm (main tank)
pH: 7.4 (hospital) 7.3-7.4 (main)
Hardness: don’t know
Alkalinity: don’t know

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Had bump on his head to begin with, went away with treatment. One eye has been swollen since day 4 of treatment.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
First noticed that he was hiding more in the morning and seemed that his head looked a little different, noticed bump on his head a few days later, some trouble eating pellets—moved him to a hospital tank. He was decently active until day 4 of treatment when his eye swelled up and his energy plummeted. He now mostly lays on the bottom of his hospital tank, under the heater— sometimes partially on his side.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About a week and a half ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Maracyn to start, bump went away. He has had one dose of paracleanse
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? About a year? I’ve only had him about two months.

Ive been doing my best and have done research to the best of my ability, but I’m still inexperienced, I’m not sure what advice to listen to online and I’m struggling to figure out what else I can do. Please, if you can help him, help me.

Thank you!

 

[Anastasia3rd]

Hi, can you post a picture?

 

[Annakazam]

My cameras not great, so I don’t know if you’ll be able to see anything, but here you go:

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

The photos aren't very clear. Is the tank cloudy always cloudy or is it the meds? How long between treatments? Did you give him a rest? Why the parasite meds? Did you see something that would indicate he needed?

A close-up so we can see him more clearly.

Thank you for filling out the form; it really helps.

 

[Annakazam]

Cloudiness is the meds, it’s not usually cloudy. He had a day in completely clean dechlorinated water between treatments, so maybe not long enough?. Treated for parasites because he got worse after maracyn treatment (besides the bump going away) and wasn’t sure what to do, thought maybe it was something internal and felt like I was running out of time to help him. Sounds like maybe I jumped the gun. I’m not seeing anything on his body that would indicate external parasites, no ich spots or anything else. Just an enlarged eye, lethargy, no appetite. He is in clean water now. All my pictures are blurry unfortunately, might be my camera, he also likes to be in the places that are the most difficult to photograph. I tried again but the photos are not much better. I’ll try again tomorrow.

 

[Annakazam]

Was able to get some better ones using a flashlight.

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

Unilateral pop-eye is normally injury. Bilateral is an infection. It might be coincidence when it happened.

Did you check all of the decor looking for burrs or sharp edges? You can do that by running fine mesh or hose over them. If the material snags then so will his fins. They also might be such as to cause injury.

Until someone else gives you an alternative treatment, I would suggest floating and Indian Almond Leaf or plain, decaffeinated Rooibos Tea teabag in his tank. They have antibacterial and antifungal properties. You can also brew a strong tea of either and pour in his tank (make sure to condition). Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator. Water should be this color or darker:

 

[Rose of sharon]

Epsom salt baths helped my female when she had unilateral pop-eye. It relieves the pressure behind the eye. As long as it's not too stressful, use a teaspoon of plain epsom salts per one gallon of water. Make sure that the water is the same temp as the tank water. Leave him in for about 15 minutes, and then put him into a small recovery container filled with tank water for about 5 minutes before returning him to his tank.

And using Indian almod leaves helps a lot, too. Russell's advice is very good, and has helped me in the past.

 

[Annakazam]

Thank you for the advice everyone! He is swimming around now (still resting sometimes) and his eye is much better. I’m hoping we are out of the woods. He’s eating again, but still not interested in pellets, but may be because he’s been spoiled from bloodworms and brine shrimp and lost the taste for it, lol. Just got some spirulina brine shrimp to help balance his diet. It’s looking like he’ll make it after all!

 

[Kotacat]

Thank you for the advice everyone! He is swimming around now (still resting sometimes) and his eye is much better. I’m hoping we are out of the woods. He’s eating again, but still not interested in pellets, but may be because he’s been spoiled from bloodworms and brine shrimp and lost the taste for it, lol. Just got some spirulina brine shrimp to help balance his diet. It’s looking like he’ll make it after all!

I'm so happy to hear that! He's beautiful, I hope he makes a full recovery.