Fish injured while cleaning tank

Thank you for responding so quickly. Before his injury, he would eat everywhere, surface, middle, bottom of tank. He would eat small pelleted food like, Omega One Betta Pellets, Atison's Betta Food, Hikari Micro pellets, Omega 1 Blood Worms, Hikari Freeze Dried Brine Shrimp.
However, he was never interested in my Emerald Cory Cat's Hikari Carnivore Pellets, Omega One Shrimp Pellets , or Hikari's Sinking Carnivore Pellets. My Betta would hover over them, almost daring my Cory to try to eat them, but he would never touch them himself. Then he would go away and let my Cory eat.
I try on occasion HBH Super Soft Krill pellets and Wardley's Tropical Crumbles, but they not on his list of favorites.
I will try presoaking his favorite pellets, that usually would float forever, except that he eats them so fast. I will add some of Vita Chem liquid Vitamins and try to deposit them where he hangs out in the corner of the tank when he is not in the log.

Strangely enough my Betta never hung out at the bottom of the tank until I got my Cory Cat and then he would be there most of the time. He was especially fond of 3 Oto Cats that I had. He would be with them all the time.

I will let you know how he does.
 
my cories really like hikari sinking wafers. You could also try feeding some frozen (defrosted to feed) bloodworms to him using a turkey baster as well. Just be conservative in the amount and be sure to be every dilligent with the water changes to make sure the water stays pristine for his healing.
 
Hi,

I want to thank you again for your suggestions. The pet shop where I go to gave me a sample frozen cube of blood worms last night. My Betta eats the freeze dried ones before this injury.

I gave him a small sliver this morning. He did not seem to notice them or maybe had no interest. I dropped a few pellets down over him and he ate one of them.
Not being able to see out of one eye is definitely a problem for him. Besides the pain and stress of the injury he now has permanent vision problems. He has been eating about 1 piece of food a day.

He had gone back into his log most of the day. Tonight my mother called to tell me he was out and swimming around with two straight shots to the top of the tank. By the time I got there to sprinkle some food on the surface he had settled down mid level up against the air and temperature monitor hoses.

Upon closer examination, he had reinjured the area beneath his eye. Tiny flecks of blood were coming from the site. It looked like he might have hit the top of his head also.
Being he is handicapped with the loss of sight in one eye, his depth perception must be off. He is in a 3 gallon Eclipse tank with the filter inside in the top if the tank. He could have shot straight up and with his lack of depth perception injured his head again on the corner of the filter intake. Or he could of hit his head on the log. I was not there to see it happen.

Poor guy. He went back into the log and will stay there for the night. I hate to take the log out, he feels safe there since he has been injured. If he is going to reinjure himself what else can I do?

Do you think getting a larger tank would help out? The answer seems obvious...more room to move without running into something. I had planned to do that as soon as I moved in 2-3 months. I probably should not wait. It would be harder for him to find food with only one eye and poor depth perception. I will have to give this some serious thought.

Another option would be to take him out by scooping him up in a small container and feeding him in that so he can find his food easier, until he has healed and is feeling better.

Thanks for listening.
 
Things are looking up

[FONT=Arial, helvetica, verdana, times new roman]Hi,

I just wanted to update you. I bought a Hagen Marina Multi Breeder unit that hangs inside the aquarium. It is 8x4x4.25. This has helped my Betta get to his food much easier. He ate several blood worms today over 3 small feedings. He actually hit the surface of the water like a Bass catching a surface insect on a lake. He jumps us and snaps the blood worm and twists. He has not been able to do that since his injury.

I can't explain how good it is to see him progressing. I know he is not happy about being isolated but until he has time to convalesce and eat well, this is where he stays.

My Cory cat came up on the front side of the Breeder Unit and stayed there up against the side for one or two minutes as my Betta came up to him. Remember, for most of the past week the Cory spent each night in the log with the Betta, something he never does.

Well it looks like the New Year will have a bright side to it after all. Once again thank you so much for keeping touch and showing your concern. I will let you know when he is strong enough to release back into the aquarium again and is better able to catch his food in a larger body of water.

Happy New Year![/FONT]
 
Sounds like great improvement!
 
Glad to hear he's doing better! :)
 
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