[cjstl]

Hey all,

I took a long break from the forums. This isn't how I wanted to come back, but my betta, Yadi, is very sick. I first noticed his eye looked strange a few days ago. Then, yesterday, he buried himself in a clump of hair algae that had grown in his tank. I managed to get him free, but it looks like he scratched the eye on something. It is hugely swollen and he has an open gash on his face underneath it. He is now floating slightly sideways at the top of his bowl.

There is so much conflicting information out there on how to treat him, that I don't know what to do. I bought some API aquarium salt and bettafix. I also have erythromicin on hand.

Can someone please help?

 

[goodbytes]

First step is to do a large water change to get the water quality up. Then you will want to add the salt to a .5% salinity. I'm not sure how big your bowl is but adding .5% of the volume in salt should do the trick. This will create a hypertonic solution that will pull out the excess fluid via osmosis. I'm not sure if injury has anything to do with it as you had already observed popeye begin to develop but pictures may be of use to those more knowledgeable than I. Unilateral popeye is usually just a symptom of an underlying infection or other condition so your antibiotics may come in handy.

You could also go and buy a 10 gallon aquarium, let it cycle, and then ditch the bowl. It can be very difficult to keep good water quality in such a small volume of water and fish diseases typically result from poor water quality that stresses their immune system. Question: is this bowl properly heated? If the water temperature is too low this can also be a stress factor for Bettas.

 

[cjstl]

Well, sadly Yadi passed overnight

I've had him for at least a year-and-a-half, so maybe it was old age. Time to give him the proper fish funeral.

 

[goodbytes]

Don't despair, their lifespan is only about 2 years. 1.5 years is a great run.