White eyes

[DarkElf_Mairead]

K my betta recoved from the fin fungus, got it back, but before I treated it the fungus went away again. Don't know if that's relavent to this problem though. My betta seems to have a little milky white on both his eyes. it's on the lower outside I think. Any ideas? It's just a little tiny semicircle.

 

[Iggy]

That sounds like an infection to me. I wonder what is going on... sounds like he is getting sick quite often?

I would use Kanacyn, a stronger anti-biotic to treat him for the next week or so... just to make sure he can completely recover.

 

[ashleigh]

how are you keeping him? Does he have a filter, do you do water changes, is his tank heated?

 

[DarkElf_Mairead]

Yeah he has a filter, I turn it off at night cause it kinda bugs me, it's pretty close to my head lol. He's in a 5 gallon tank with a heater and I change the water when I can. He lives with a small frog and a pair of snails. The only place under an hour from where I live that sells fish stuff is a Walmart, so I'm not sure what they have that I could use, they kinda have a limited supply. There's a pet store in a small city an hour away but I don't know my way around there, especially coming from my college. I'm sure Walmart has SOMETHING I could use though. The wierd thing is, last year he was in a 2 1/2 gallon with only a small undergravel filter and he was always healthy. Oh, and one of my friends online said he heard your not supposed to change the water but every three months because betta's live in the muck where they get them in China. Is that true?

 

[ashleigh]

nope- that night be the problem. rice paddies are enormous and well filtered (and usually in thailand,and bettas are usually domestically bred these days, anyway) . I don't know about frogs but snails put out a decent amount of waste- I would go to at least 10% weekly water changes (should be no problem with a five) find a gravel vac that works for you if you can - and that should keep his tank a little cleaner and help with his frequency of illness. If you can't get to Kanacyn- does wal mart carry the maracyn line (can't remember which is for infections)? those are okay too

 

[DarkElf_Mairead]

I have a gravel vac, that works nice. I noticed earlier that the water is a bit cloudy, I'll change it when I'm done with classes. The aquarium is too heavy for wussy little me to carry long, but I can roll it to the bathroom on my wheeled desk chair lol. I know your not supposed to complete change the water if you can help it. If I suck out about half the water, refil it, suck out half again, and refil it ect until it's clean is this ok or not. I usually do that about every other week, or so.

 

[ashleigh]

See what others think but I don't think it's necessary that you change that much- 10-20% is a nice maintenence level.

 

[DarkElf_Mairead]

Ok the best walmart had was MelaFix. The lady there said she uses it for her fish. It's an Antibacterial Remedy and claims to treat, among other things, eye cloud. I"ll give that a shot. Move the sea monkies to the half gallon bowl and put the fish in the 2 1/2. Have you heard of this stuff?

 

[twoluvcats]

Oh, and one of my friends online said he heard your not supposed to change the water but every three months because betta's live in the muck where they get them in China. Is that true?

So not true!!


changing up to 25% weekly the best maintenance schedule. Get yourself a bucket to siphon into so you don't have to worry about moving the tank.

Walmart sells Jungle's Fungus Clear fizzy tabs (ashleigh they don't carry ANY mardel/maracyn products ). they treat both bacterial and fungal infections and have always worked great for me.

 

[Iggy]

Alrighty...

a) No, bettas need clean water. Muddy Tailand rice fields is not the same as dirty tank water.

b) Change at least 25% of the water weekly, use a gravel vacume to remove debris. There is NO problem with doing larger (50% to 100%) water changes as long as the new water is the same pH and temperature as the old water.

c) Jungle Anti-fungus is an excellent anti-fungus medication BUT its not the best anti-biotic. Melafix is only a MILD anti-biotic, so I would not depend on it to treat a serious infection. Start with melafix first and see if it clears it up.

 

[DarkElf_Mairead]

I'm using my plastic trash can to do the water changes now My betta's eye cloud isn't bad. There's a petmart an hour away, might get there this weekend, and about an hour the other way there's a great pet and hobby store that has TONS of aquariums and such, saltwater and freshwater, everything it's beautiful So I'd like to go there. I'll tell my friend if he still has his betta to change the water more often. I always have anyway, if not for the fish, then for the other critters. He called his a Japanese Fighting Fish but I'm sure it's the same. I also have Jungle Fungus Guard, which fixed his fin fungus last time. He's so cute, he jumps a little out of the water for a sea monkey