# Betta with cloudy eyes



## Amethyst123 (Mar 4, 2011)

One of my bettas has cloudy eyes. I've had him for about 8 months, and when I got him his eyes were clear and he seemed to no problems with vision. He responded to my approach while I was still several feet from the tank. Now both eyes have a white cloudiness in them or a white cloudy film covering them - not sure which. His right eye is worse, but it is there in both eyes. The eyes are not protruding more than usual, and he lacks the white skin stretched around his eyes that is often mentioned in descriptions of popeye. He seems to be having vision problems, as he often misses his food pellets on the first try, especially if they are on his right side. In addition, his tail and fins are ragged, but show no indications of infection, and there is nothing in his tank that could be ripping them, so I think he's nibbling on them. He is eating, is active, and appears otherwise healthy.

He has been housed in 1/2 a divided 10g tank most of the time I've had him. A couple of weeks ago I moved his roommate into another tank, did a complete water change (to keep the cycle from crashing I kept the filter media, plants, rocks, and most of the gravel in the old water until the new water was conditioned) and gave him the whole tank. The tank is filtered and cycled, and I change about 40% of the water every week or so. Temp is at 82 at the moment, and I have been using aquarium salt with most water changes, though I didn't add any during the last water change since it didn't seem to be doing anything beneficial anyway. I'm not where the tank is right now, so I can't give you current stats, but every time I test I get 0 ammonia and nitrites and low nitrates (usually around 5 - 10, sometimes a little higher, but always under 20 ppm). 

I've been trying to find some information on what might be causing the eye cloudiness and how to treat it, but all I can find is info about popeye, or cloudiness with popeye. His eyes aren't protruding any more than normal, so this isn't very helpful. I have some Maracyn II, but haven't used any yet. I really don't like using antibiotics unless necessary. I don't even take them myself unless I'm certain that I have a bacterial infection and it simply isn't going away on it's own.

Any suggestions? Things to try before or other than Maracyn II?


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Did you use any biological starters to cycle the tank, like Stress Zyme or something like that? Those can really screw up the tank cycle and the readings. :/

My first advice is to stop adding the aquarium salt with water changes; it's best not to use AQ salt unless it's absolutely needed for infections/fin rips etc. Long term usage of AQ salt can result in kidney damage. 

Has your guy been showing any other signs of ill health? Not eating, rubbing on things or flashing, lethargy? Anything like that? And how long ago did the cloudy eyes develop?


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## DarkMoon17 (Apr 16, 2011)

You can usually treat "eye cloud" without medications. Your husbandry looks good so I'm not sure what caused it though. 

QT him and float the container in his tank to keep him warm. Do daily 100% water changes. Treat him with 1tsp/gal Aquarium Salt. You can premix it in a clean gallon jug to make water changes easier. Do not continue salt treatment for more than 10 days. As Sakura said, aquarium salt should not be used long term and can actually be harmful if used too often. If you don't see any improvement after 4-5 days then increase to 2tsp/gal aquarium salt. If there is no improvement after 10 days then we will talk about medications. If his eyes begin to swell or get worse with salt then we will have to change treatment so let us know.

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## Vounn (Dec 29, 2013)

Does your betta has clearer eyes now? Cuz my betta has cloudy eyes recently and he missed his pellets on the first try as well.


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## LittleBlueFishlets (Nov 10, 2012)

Vounn - This is an old thread....

Start a new thread. Copy/paste the form from this thread into it. If possible, also include photos.


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