sick beta fish

[Maxkolbe]

My beta fish has been looking kind of bad for a while now. One of his eyes is swollen and he has lost sight in it. I attribute this to old age. Last night he started acting strange which leads me to believe he is either bliind or very near it. He so started lying on the ground and panting hard. Is there anything I can do for him? He is in a 20 long with some ember tetras and cpd's. There are live plants so that may limit my treatment options. One of the tetras is starting to have a bulging eye too but not as bad. What do you think I should do? (The picture is from a couple days ago. I've had him for about three years so he's starting to get old)

 

[Maxkolbe]

So tonight I did a water change and then made a ball with the floating plants that I put him in so he could rest closer to the surface. I'm also going to keep the lights off and hold off on feeding him and his tankmates. Anything else I should be doing?

 

[TheMightyOscen]

Well with the swollen/bulging eyes, I would hazard a guess that your betta is suffering from popeye. It's a mycrobacterial infection that basically causes the fish's eyes to bulge out of its head, it's pretty easy to treat - clean the tank and carry out water changes. A slightly acidic pH also helps. If none of that works then gradually increase your temperature to 86 degrees and add a little salt to the water - and I mean a little! The percentage of salt added shouldn't be any higher than .6% . Hope this helps!

 

[Maxkolbe]

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately it was too late. He died last night. I'll use those suggestions for the tetra though. Anything other than warm water and water changes? I can't use salt because it would kill the plants. I have had success in using a high strength quick salt bath for gill flukes in the past. Would that work here? Thank you again.

 

[TheMightyOscen]

I'm sorry to hear that and it could work...although I've never had experience with that technique. Perhaps use that if all else fails.