View Full Version : Question about a beta
Niever01
12-09-2005, 10:41 AM
Hello everyone, Im new to the forums and I have a problem. You see...this morning when comming downstairs, I went to feed My sones pet fish when i noticed my it had one eye bigger than the other. Is this something fatal? or are there some medication i can get in order to help it recover from it?
:(
knashash
12-09-2005, 11:02 AM
Its called Pop-Eye and ts an internal bacterial infection.....its not serious if you treat it right away. I use something called Prima-Fix....pick up a bottle at any fish store and follow the instructions. Might be a good idea to change the water before you strat the treatment....also...make sure you use a water conditioner when changing the water.
Is the betta in a bowl? Does it have a filter? If you are not changing the water enough, pop-eye can happen, but just do the treatment and he should be fine.
Niever01
12-09-2005, 11:30 AM
Thanks alot for the help!
I regularly change the water once a week.He's in a glass bowl. Im going to start using water conditioner from now on ( I asked the pet store owner and he told me that drinking water was sufficient).
echoofformless
12-09-2005, 12:55 PM
Drinking water, as in spring water or filtered water? Those ar acceptable. But not distilled water. However, tap water is usually just fine as long as you use dechlorinator and it's the same temperature as the water in the bowl. (Temp shock can stress a fish and bring its immune system down.)
There are several meds that work for pop-eye, though Pima-Fix and Mela-Fix are not that strong and work more to speed healing than to stop the disease. Try one of the Mardel Labs products. Their website should tell you which one treats pop-eye. There are also some medicated foods that treat internal infections.
Bettas do best in a small aquarium with a filter. Also make sure you're not overfeeding, as that can foul the water quickly and once a week water changes will be insufficient to deal with the waste. Feed only two or three flakes or one or two betta bits a day. But ideally you should be changing the water every few days if there is no filter, no matter how much or how little you feed.
Good luck and I hope everything will be okay.
Galaxie
12-09-2005, 1:10 PM
Do you really need to use water conditioner if there is no active filter?
I dont know about pop-eye but to answer Galaxie...
Yes, water conditioner's main purpose it to remove chlorine, chloramine and some remove ammonia. Another way to get around water conditioners is to let it sit out with a powerhead creating surface agitation. This will allow the chlorine and chloramine to escape eventually. I like water conditions becauase of their convenience.
Even if there is not a filter, removing the chlorine chloramine are key because these two can cause many problems with fish, even in low levels.
Aries
Larissa
12-09-2005, 2:00 PM
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but surface agitation will not cause chloramine to gas off, that only works for chlorine. With chloramine, you must use a water conditioner to break the bond between the chlorine and ammonia. If you are using bottled water you do not need water conditioner, however I wouldn't use bottled water myself.
Niever01
12-09-2005, 2:26 PM
Well i just got back from petco. I bought some dechlorinator and got that Melafix. I comepleteley replaced the water( I just changed it yesterdaythough), and the fish looks like his old self again (he use to just sit at the bottom motionless) Thank you all for your help and echoofformless, I'll have to check on that web page(thanks).
If in a filterless bowl I would suggest doing small water changes everyday. It really doesn't take that long to do and freshwater is always a good idea. At the very least a 50% water change every other day would be good.
knashash
12-09-2005, 2:37 PM
Feed only two or three flakes or one or two betta bits a day. But ideally you should be changing the water every few days if there is no filter, no matter how much or how little you feed.
Only 2 Betta Bites a day? Your betta must be starving........ I personally feel you need to feed more than that. Maybe like 10 betta bites a day.
acadialover
12-10-2005, 11:58 PM
Remembering that your fishes stomach is about the size of his eye... 2 or 3 betta bites is not starving your betta. i generally feed mine 4 at the most, plus a varied diet of fbw, fbs, and daphnia on alternating day's. I also fast my bettas one day a week, they are healthy, and very happy. In their 5 gall. heated filtered tanks, i do water changes several times a week, about 2 gallons each time with gravel vacs. i have live plants in there also. if i only had a bowl, i would definitely do small change every day. Clean, fresh, conditioned water... ah, fresh air for our fish!
10 betta bites a day would be a bit much I think......but if that's what you've been feeding him and he seems fine, I guess I wouldn't change it.
I feed mine only 3 a day with an occasional treat of live flightless fruitflies (only because I have them on hand to feed my dart frogs) or live black worms.