[meganz12]

I bought a betta about 7/8 months ago and he has always been very calm and relaxed always very healthy and well cared for. Recently I went on vacation for a week and had people feeding him but I don't trust them to clean the tank so it was not cleaned for a week until I came back. The water was obviously quite messy and I did a 50% water change and siphoned the bottom. I noticed that any little sound I made he would swim fiercly as if he was scared where he has never been this way. Just today I moved my fingers on the outside of the tank and he had no response nor is he eating. I have read about dipping the food in garlic but I am wondering if I can do that with freeze dried worms or if I should go buy brine shrimp. Also are there any ways to help him/cure him?? Is it reversable? I have read about adding salt but I dont want to stress him more than he already is

 

[mutestar]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but have you checked his response to light? Are his eyes cloudy or is there any unusual growth?

I'm no betta expert, but that seems like a basic question to confirm blindness rather than anything else.

 

[meganz12]

I have tested it but I think he gets afraid of the clicking noise but I definately could be wrong. He seems to see shadows or outlines of things because I just held my finger next to him and it took him about 10 seconds and then noticed my finger and bolted off. His eyes dont look very different and they seemed to be slightly protruded yesterday but not today. He also tends to hangout inside his log where it is dark

 

[TheCheese909]

How big is the tank he's in? Does he seem to have anything wrong with his body and eyes?


If he's blind then it would show in his eyes, they would be cloudy (in my experience). And if he is then it's not something to worry about. I owned a one eyed Betta, he was rescued from PetSmart- one of his eyes was missing and he was partly blind in the other. I got him a feeding ring and had to feed him flakes, as the pellets sunk too quickly for him to eat them.

Like mutestar said, try and see how he responds to light, and a bright light on the fish should show if he has any external issues that your eyes can't pick up in regular lightning..

If he's not eating don't worry too much about it, Bettas can go a month without food and live. I would go without feeding him for acouple of days then try some frozen Bloodworms to tempt him. You can buy frozen Bloodworms, Brine Shrimp and Daphnia at PetSmart and PetCo with no problem. Brine Shrimp and Daphina especially are mainly used to flush out the fishs' system as it acts like a natural laxative. Therefore it shouldn't be fed to your fish constantly because it could cause internal problems. Bloodworms are, of course, used as a treat and like Brine Shrimp they should only be fed like so, two to three times a week.

In the mean time you can try getting him some API Stress Coat, you should be able to find that at your LFS, it's a water conditioner and is great at calming fish down. Since you were gone for vacation he may not have gotten any attention and may have been upset about it. Especially if you cleaned his tank right away, imagine being left to yourself for a week (even with friends feeding him) and then all of a sudden the water being changed, it might have freaked him out a bit.

If he has somehow lost his sight it's not something to fret about, Bettas are very smart and can live just fine without their sight. You'll want to not move his decor as it can confuse and scare him and feed him in the same spot every day, or whenever it is you feed him.

Also, if his eyes are cloudy: 1 gallon QT tank, Stress Coat, 1 tsp aquarium salt (it's 1 tsp per gallon), and some API Fungus Cure- or any freshwater medication that clears cloudy eye. You can try with just the Stress Coat and Aquarium Salt for a week first before using any medications. You don't want to use AQS for any longer then 7-10 days at a time.

 

[meganz12]

Thank you so much this helped a lot. Last night I used stress coat and salt and today he seems to already show improvement in his responses. I think my biggest fear was him not eating but after I hear they can go a month that definately helps a lot. Thank you both so much for your help!

 

[marvisq123]

well that's good, it might've just been the muddy water, anyway, hope he feels better!

 

[Ilikebutterflies]

IME they get really flighty if the water has high nitrites or ammonia. I'd probably due PWC's for a few days. That's almost exactly what I came home to after vacation.