[brothermichigan]

One of our Bettas is displaying unilateral popeye. We noticed it a bit more than a week back and decided to treat in-place with Kanaplex and the occasional epsom salt dip (at a concentration of 1 Tbsp per gallon.) The Kanaplex seems to have done its job as the swelling around the eye is no longer red/pink, but the swelling has not subsided significantly and the fish is still pretty lethargic. We are planning on moving him to a hospital tank and treating with Furan-2 for any secondary infections, but I was wondering about adding epsom salt directly to the hospital tank at lower concentrations rather than continuing to stress him with constant trips back and forth between the tank and high-salinity baths. Is it safe to add epsom salt directly to the hospital tank at a concentration of something like 1 Tbsp per 5 gallons, or could that potentially be harmful given that I expect him to spend about a week in the tank?

 

[Discusluv]

Do you see any external, secondary bacterial issues on the fish that would make you believe that the nitrofurazone is necessary?
This infection is in one eye, correct?


Edit: With single eye infections in aquarium, they are primarily gram +. I would recommend that, instead of another gram negative antibiotic, which both the kanamycin and nitrofurazone are, that you use a gram + antibiotic. Either erythromycin ( if fish not eating) or neomycin directly in food with binder like Seachem Focus or food grade gelatin product like Knox gelatin (if eating). Also, do a low dose of epsom salt directly in aquarium for length of treatment with antibiotics. 1/2 tsp per 5 gallons of water. This dosage amount is all that is needed to get positive effects.

 

[brothermichigan]

Thanks for the advice! My wife has been conversing with another Betta keeper who specializes in rehabilitating Bettas from big box retailers, so that's where the Furan suggest came from. Our Betta is eating, but unfortunately Neoplex is basically the only Seachem med we don't have at home and no local stores carry it, so we picked up some Maracyn and moved the affected Betta over to the hospital tank with the medicine and the suggested level of epsom salt. He seems to be doing fine for now and was even swimming around exploring the tank a bit. We'll keep an eye on him for the next week or so and I will provide an update.