[newf]

I have just cleared up my betta's pop eye, and he was doing great. Back in his tank and was fine. I noticed him this morning looking funny. It looks like his head was swollen around the gill area. I took him back out and put him in my QT tank again. I am not sure what happened, but he I can definitely see his gill is swollen on one side and the scales are a bit raised. He is in a heated, non filtered gallon tank by himself. I am not sure if I need to use AQ salt, or epsom salt on this. I could use any suggestions you all have.

I attached a couple of photos. They aren't the best, but hopefully you can see what I am talking about.

Thank you for your time.

 

[newf]

No one has any information on whether to use epsom or AQ salt? I would appreciate some help as I want to make sure I am using the correct one.

thank you

 

[Silverfang]

Epsom salt is used for any type of bloating or swelling. Plain, unscented, dye free epsom salt. It can be picked up at the pharmacy. It's used for bloat, constipation, pop eye and even dropsy. 2 tsp/gal should be safe to start him out with.

 

[newf]

Thank you for replying. I appreciate that

 

[Sakura8]

Has he been doing any darting or rubbing? And what was the cause of the popeye? Could be related to his swollen gill. Silver is right, epsom salt is the way to go here to reduce the swelling.

 

[newf]

Sakura..not sure what caused the pop eye. Although he likes to jamb himself behind the filter at times. I think he injured his eye that way. His eye is fine now, but the gill underneath the eye is still inflamed and swollen. He looks a bit better, but still won't eat. I have been putting oak leaves in his tank, and that seems to have improved his behavior some. He seems to be more active, but his gill is still swollen and the scales are raised a bit. I am not sure at this point what exactly is going on with him.

 

[Sakura8]

Keep using the oak leaves, especially if they are helping. You can bump up the epsom salt to 2-3 tsps per gallon. Sounds like he either has some kind of irritant in his gill or it's got an infection. If he doesn't get better on the increased does of epsom salt, we can give him a day or two in clean water and then switch him over to aquarium salt.

 

[newf]

Ahhh..ok. I was wondering if I could switch him out to AQ if the Epsom salt didn't work. Thank you for helping me out.

 

[Sakura8]

Yeah, if the epsom salt isn't reducing any swelling then that might be an indicator that he has an irritant in his gill and needs extra slime coat to help with it. That's what the AQ salt will do.

Keep us updated.

 

[newf]

Ok..I gave him two days clear water, and started him on AQ salt last night. He hasn't changed any, and now I am going to try the AQ with the tannins. He just seems so sad. He stays in the corner of his quarantine tank and refuses to eat anything. I am hoping that the AQ salts starts working soon. It's been a week since he ate anything that I have seen. He still looks ok other than the fact he still has swelling in his gill area.

Thanks again for the help everyone. Hopefully he will get better now that he is in the AQ salt.

 

[Sakura8]

Poor little guy. Have you tried soaking his food in garlic juice? Crush up fresh garlic, add a bit of tank water and mix, and then soak some of his food for several minutes. Garlic is a good appetite stimulator. You can also use the juice from a jar of already minced garlic.

Ideally, I'd like to give the AQ salt time to work but if you want, you can look for Seachem Kanaplex (it's hard to find and usually has to be ordered online) or you can try API Furan-2 to treat a bacterial infection.

 

[newf]

I will try the garlic tomorrow and see if that helps his appetite. I would like to keep using the salt, but if he doesn't show any improvement soon, I guess I will have to try something else. The API sounds like a plan. Thank you for your help Sakura. I appreciate it greatly

 

[Sakura8]

Sure thing. I hope we can get him feeling better, poor guy.

 

[newf]

I decided to get the API yesterday as he isn't improving. So I did the first treatment yesterday. I tried the garlic idea, but he still wasn't interested in eating it that I could see. Guess time will tell this week if he gets any better.

 

[newf]

Kim Chi died last night after weeks of battling whatever it was that he had. Thank you to those who replied to this thread with help for him.

 

[Sakura8]

I'm so sorry, newf. You did everything you could and I'm sure Kim Chi was appreciated all the love you showed him.