# Betta's Eyes Turned Black?



## Jregis (Oct 15, 2015)

So I bought a new betta exactly a month ago after my first failure of owning one after he got sick. Everything has been fine and normal until this morning when he started acting lethargic and this afternoon when I noticed that his previously brown eyes had turned completely black. When I bought him, he was a blue butterfly betta with a ring of white on the edges of his caudal and anal fin. The white's gone away and his fins are mostly blue now, but I'm not sure that has to do with the black eyes, since the color change was almost a week ago. I just have no clue what his current problem is.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Please fill out this form, we need info! 

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=612810

And that sounds like natural color change for a marble. Butterflies often are marbles (that's where they come from originally anyway, the gene I mean) so they will lose their white or whatever color it is that is the BF band around the fins. That's all normal.


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## Jregis (Oct 15, 2015)

Oh right, sorry. I'm brand new to this site!

Housing: It's a 0.75 Gallon cube tank with no filter, heater, airstone, or tank mates. The temperature is ~75 degrees F.
Food: I feed him Aqueon Color Enhancing Betta Food in pellet form. I've never fed him freeze-dried food and I feed him about 4 pellets every other day.
Maintenance: I change out about 2/3 of the tank's water once every week and I don't clean the gravel, just take any waste out with a dropper. I usually use a tap water conditioner with every water change to make sure it's clean.
Water Parameters: I don't have a test kit yet and will buy one later today alone with any medications I might need for his problem.
Symptoms: As I said before, he's lethargic (sits around the bottom of the tank and isn't as active as he used to be). His eyes have turned completely black. He still eats normally and doesn't ignore any food or spit it out. Today he seems a little more active, but it is still concerning. I'm unsure if his color change has anything to do with it. (I still haven't figured out how to attach pictures.)

I hope this all helps. I am really stumped with this case and I couldn't find anything on black eyes and lethargy.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Pictures can be attached by hitting *"Go Advanced"* and then in the tool box above the text box, there is a small *paperclip *icon. Hit that and it brings up a pop up window, *Browse *for your picture and then hit *Upload*. Pictures will attach in the order you uploaded them, or you can click the downarrow of the Paperclip icon again and place the image files where you want them in the message.

Well, if anyone hasn't said it yet, Welcome to the forum! :-D

But, are you aware that your tank is too small and your water changes inadequate? I realize that Pet stores can be deciving and most of the times (though, there are rare occasions) pet store employees don't really know what they're talking about! Betta's are tropical fish which means they need a heater. This and the fact that you only do once weekly water changes for less than a gallon is why your fish is lethargic. Betta's will conserve their energy when it's cooler/cold so they will become lethargic. Color change has nothing to do with this. Then, with the water changes, you're allowing the ammonia and nitrite to build up and hurt him.

Here's an analogy that may help you put yourself into your fishes shoes so to say:

Picture yourself locked in a 5 foot by 5 foot bathroom, you've got a toilet but that's it. You're fed every day or every other day and you can use the toilet but you can't flush it, it maybe flushes once a week or every other week. Eventually, that toilet is going to overflow and get everything everywhere.

That's a bit how your Betta feels. He's being poisoned by his own waste unfortunately. So, until you can upgrade and at least get a heater (filters aren't necessary but they make your life 10x easier and healthier for your fish!), you should try to use the dropper to suck out waste daily and do a 25% in the middle of the week and a 50% at the end of the week. You can do a 100% but be ware that this is stressful for your fish which is why we usually recommend larger tanks; you won't have to do a 100% at all (or very rarely).

So in all, the color change has nothing to do with the lethargy that your Betta is experiencing.

Let me know if anything doesn't make sense to you or if you've got more questions, I'd be happy to answer and help you out! It's the reason I'm here ;-) I may not respond immediately as I'm in college and whatnot, but I will eventually get there!!


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## Jregis (Oct 15, 2015)

Thank you so much for your help so far. 

I am very aware that the tank is much too small, but I am in an environment that does not allow me to have that large of a tank. I have been planning to buy a bigger, maybe 5 Gallon tank, but I'm not sure where I can put it. 
But I will definitely invest in a heater with the weather getting gradually cooler now and I will perform more water changes throughout the week. I hope that will help with his lethargy and that the black eyes aren't a problem.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Even a 2.5 would be better and still easier for you to take care of since you won't need the daily water changes ^_^

For now, try to keep him in the warmest part of the house and keep a towel around his tank, this will keep the heat in for him. You don't have to fully cover it but if you put it over the top and three sides, that will help out.


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