[Rubylovesfish]

My betta Kendrick has popeye, he is laying at the bottom of the tank and in lethargic and also wont eat much. I don't know what to do, so far Ive been giving him Lifeguard from the brand jungle, its day 3 of doing that. Since then ive noticed a tiny bit of improvement but it doesn't seem like enough. Your supposed to for 5 consecutive days but im worried its not working fast enough. I don't know what else to do and need help.

Housing
What size is your tank? 1 Gallon its all I can keep
What temperature is your tank? 74-84 all the time.
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? Yes.
Is your tank heated? No but my room is always warm so the water is always at the right temp.
What tank mates does your betta live with now? None.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Betta pellets.
How often do you feed your betta fish? 1 time around noon he eats about 3 pellets.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? About 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? Stress Coat, Ammonia clear water conditioner, even though our water is already free of chlorines etc just to be sure.

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

Ammonia: I don't know
Nitrite: I don't know
Nitrate: I don't know
pH: 7.0
Hardness: I don't know
Alkalinity: I don't know

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fishs appearance change? Budgling eyes, clamped fins, Kinda pale. Hes a dark royal blue and black.
When did your start noticing the symptom's? About 4 days ago.
Have your started treating your fish? If so, How? One tablet of Jungle Lifeguard a day for 3 days so far, I don't know if I should keep going.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Yes, fin rot and maybe another but I cant remember. Nothing to serious he got over it.
How old is your fish? I don't know Ive had him for a little over a year, when I boughthim he was already pretty big.

Thanks everything helps.

 

[MikeG14]

Hi Ruby,
Could you post a better picture? I kind see anything in the one you posted.

Popeye is a symptom, not a disease in itself. It can be caused by many things, one being poor water quality.

You need to be doing 100% water changes every other day in a 1 gallon tank. Be sure to cup him & re-acclimate him every time. Or you could do 50% each day and leave him in, it will be less stressful.

An antibiotic would work best as a cure. Do you have access to a good local fish store, Petsmart or Wal-mart?

We can relieve the symptoms with an in tank Epsom salt treatment.

I would really like to see a better picture to make sure he is strong enough for one. I most cases of popeye the fish will behave normally as if nothing is wrong.

Take a cup of water out of the tank. Add 1 Teaspoon per gallon of Epsom salt to the cup and allow it to dissolve. Slowly, over a period of 1/2 hour pour the ES mix back into the tank. Do your water changes as recommended, but remember to add 1 tsp. of ES back in for every gallon you remove. Epsom salt & Aquarium salt cannot be used together. So if you used it recently do a 100% water change to remove it before the ES treatment. Keep this up for no longer than 10 days.

This will help relieve the pressure building up behind the eye.

I would switch your water conditioner to Seachem Prime. Add 2 drops per gallon when you condition your water and 1 drop per gallon a day to keep the ammonia build up in check. Prime can lock-up the harmful ammonia for 48 hours until you can do a water change.

You will need a test kit. I would recommend getting an API Master Test Kit. This way you can accurately keep track of your water parameters. It will help us see whats going on in the tank.

I'm seeing a 10° fluctuation in temperature. Try to keep it steady at 78-82°.

 

[Rubylovesfish]

Thanks you and Ill start doing the everyday changes. I have epsom salt here at my house so ill try that. What kind of antibiotic can I buy? Yes I have access to a walmart. So should I stop with the lifegaurd? Hes weak and rarely swims around the tank almost like hes confused. I almpst thought he passed I just got home but hes gills are moving slowly. Ill change the water and start the epsom salt. Thank you so much

 

[MikeG14]

Please make sure the Epsom salt is plain magnesium sulfate. No scents or aloe.
It might be best to go straight to medication. He might be too weak for an ES treatment at this point.

Wal-mart carries Jungle Labs medications. They should have a product called Fungus Clear. We could try that. Do not get JL Fungus Eliminator. It has Aquarium salt in it and can react badly with ES if you already started the treatment.

 

[Rubylovesfish]

Progress!

So I started the fungus clear and did his second dose today I was wondering when to do the next 100% water change or do I do snother dose? Hes doing better he swims a little more. Still doesnt eat much 1 pellet if im lucky. His apperance is still not very good except his eye swelling has gone down but hes still greyish around his face and gills instead of black. So what do I do next?

 

[MikeG14]

Since you are taking out the medicine with each 100% water change, I would suggest you re-dose with the medication each time. If the swelling has gone down in the eye, I would discontinue the ES. It will be less stressful for him. We can always go back to it later if needed.

 

[VivianKJean]

I agree with Mike, you also need a heater though. Your room actually isn't warm enough. 74 is much too cold for a betta. Also temperature fluctuations are not good for bettas and could have caused the problems you are experiencing as well.

There are a bunch of heaters that a good for a one gallon. The hydro theo 25 watt has actually been proven to work in a one gallon, you jut have to keep it turned down low.

Your heater will actually help clear up your problems.

 

[MikeG14]

There are a bunch of heaters that a good for a one gallon. The hydro theo 25 watt has actually been proven to work in a one gallon, you jut have to keep it turned down low.

Your heater will actually help clear up your problems.

Good suggestion Viv, I never know which adjustable heater to recommend for 1 gallon tanks.

 

[VivianKJean]

I bunch of members on here have had luck with the hydro in 1 gallon tanks.