# Female has Cataracts???



## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

The queen of my sorority has cloudy white spots on her eyes that don't affect her behavior, but make me really nervous. Any ideas????


 Housing
What size is your tank? 
*10 gal sorority*
What temperature is your tank? 
*80-82*
Does your tank have a filter? 
*yup*
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? 
*8" bubble curtain*
Is your tank heated? 
*yup*
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 
*5 other girls, 4 Zebra Danios, albino bristlenose pleco*

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? 
*Hikari Betta-Bio Gold, TetraColor Flakes, OmegaOne Betta Buffet flakes, Frozen Brine shrimp*
How often do you feed your betta fish? 
*Twice-ish a day*

 Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? *
Every third day*
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? *
30% every third day, 50-75% every fourth change.*
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? *
Jungle Start Right Water conditioner*

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: *N/A*
Nitrite: *Safe*
Nitrate: *Safe*
pH: *7.6*
Hardness: *Slightly hard*
Alkalinity: *Low*

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? *
The largest female in my sorority has developed white spots on her eyes, taking up most of the lower half of her eyes. The spots are symmetrical and identical.*
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? 
*It hasn't, really. She is still very active, with good coloring and no clamping. I think it's affecting her vision, but she can still find her food and tell the other girls who's boss :]*
When did you start noticing the symptoms? *
Three days ago. *
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? *
Since I don't know what it is, and none of my other girls are at all affected, I've haven't started treating her. *
Does your fish have any history of being ill? 
*Nope, she's always been pretty darn healthy. She does have a slight swim-bladder, equilibrium problem that causes her to be a really derpy swimmer (Hense the name, "Tweak"), but I've chalked that up to a genetic disorder. *
How old is your fish (approximately)? *
I received her as a present last Christmas, and she's grown about twice her original size, so, maybe 18 months? *​


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

I think the cloudy eyes are just a sign of old age. I'm going to assume she's about 2"-2.5"?

My betta's got the cloudy eyes as well, but it was probably attributed to the lack of care from his first owner. His original tank water tests results were in the 5.0+ range for ammonia & nitrites were even worse.

As long as your girl can see her food, don't worry too much about it. 

A clear photo of her eyes would be helpful though so I can see if it looks like mine.


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## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

Thanks a bunch! I'll try to get something up this evening :] 
And yeah, she's around that size, definitely longer than 2 inches. It makes me happy and proud and sad all at the same time to think she's just getting old :' }


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## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

*Pictures!*

A close-up of the left eye. Ignore the little light squiggly on her chin :3










And here she is from the front. You can see that the white patches are on both eyes nearly identically. 










And Yup, just measured her, she's almost 2.5 inches long.


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## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

So whatcha think?


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

Those look like run of the mill cataracts to me! Does your fish have any iridescence? I know that bettas with iridescent layers are very prone to eye clouding as they age because the iridescence actually starts to grow over their eyes. But these do look like actual cataracts and not overgrown iridescence.


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

Sorry I've been busy, but great pictures. I can't get that close with my camera.

I agree with BS. It looks age related. If the white spots weren't symmetrical I would think tank rubbing. As long as she can see and eat her food, there's not much you can do. Take measurements with a ruler & keep that in mind once they reach a specific size, maybe the others will start to display that as well.

Noticing the little change in her eyes also means you're extremely observant. 


Akoya's got white eyes, but the longer I've had him the more his eyes get these little red spots, but it's from his coloration not any disease. But those little red splotches around his eye area makes him look PISSED or stressed like he's not getting enough sleep or drinking too much coffee


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## MollyJean (Dec 29, 2009)

TheShadyBird said:


> A close-up of the left eye. Ignore the little light squiggly on her chin :3
> 
> 
> 
> ...


... OK so off topic... but while I was looking at these pics my husband glances over and says "GAH! What the &@!% is THAT!?!?" I told him what it was and he is making fun of me for thinking that is cute, lol!

Alright, anyway... Amazing that you noticed them! Are there at problems eating at all? I bet as she gets even older and they get worse, there will be problems. But that's what garlic is for


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## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

MSG said:


> Sorry I've been busy, but great pictures. I can't get that close with my camera.
> 
> I agree with BS. It looks age related. If the white spots weren't symmetrical I would think tank rubbing. As long as she can see and eat her food, there's not much you can do. Take measurements with a ruler & keep that in mind once they reach a specific size, maybe the others will start to display that as well.
> 
> ...


Haha, yeah, I probably spend half an hour each day just watching my girls, they're so active and do such a good job of begging for my attention! 

I have two girls, Tweak (girl here) included, that I've had for about 8-10 months longer than any of my other girls, I'll definitely be keeping a closer eye on those two. 

Your baby sounds so adorable, I'm very glad you rescued him into such a loving home!



MollyJean said:


> ... OK so off topic... but while I was looking at these pics my husband glances over and says "GAH! What the &@!% is THAT!?!?" I told him what it was and he is making fun of me for thinking that is cute, lol!
> 
> Alright, anyway... Amazing that you noticed them! Are there at problems eating at all? I bet as she gets even older and they get worse, there will be problems. But that's what garlic is for


XD My SO thinks I'm crazy for liking Bettas so much, but he's crazy too so we match lol!

And nope, no trouble eating really, but I've got an eagle's eye on her from now on. If she's getting cataracts now, I'm worried about what other effects of old age she's going to experience. 

I've heard about people using garlic and garlic extract in aquarium settings, but I've never gotten a clear description of what it's good for, mind enlightening me? Especially if you say it will be helpful if she gets to the point of not being able to see her food!


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

*The f bettas are definitely fun to watch....*

This is the primary reason I haven't started up the 20G tank. I'm not sure if I should place the tank inside my bedroom next to my desktop. Currently I have a small guppy tank next to the pc but they bore me to death. It definitely got more exciting when I put in f-betas in their tanks to check out their temperament. Most of the betas ignored the guppies, but there were some that wanted to treat them as food/invaders especially the bite sized ones. 

Due to my little social interacting experiment I ended up losing the smallest guppy & almost lost another guppy that was MAULed almost to the point of death by my female because Mr pesky nipped her fins. The other girls didn't seem that ANGRY when they got attention from the guppies, but Mr Neon green gups was always the biggest instigator & because of it is really badly damaged. 

Neon green lucky I came home early that day to see him half dead pressed up against the bottom of the floating breeder cage taking his final frantic breaths until I dunked him in k salt water solution for a couple hours. 

If it wasn't for the info I learned in this forum, gups certainly would have died.


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## MollyJean (Dec 29, 2009)

Garlic smells (tastes?) wonderful to betta fishies. You put it on their food. Not the whole clove, of course, just the juices: Crush a fresh garlic clove to release the juices, then put the juice on her food. How you do this is up to you, but it doesn't take much. I use a spoon, crush the garlic with the back of it, then press the back of the spoon against a few food pellets and roll them around. My fishies love the stuff. I've got 2 picky eaters and they both gobble the food right up.

I've heard you can use the garlic oil from capsules too, but haven't tried that.


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## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

Okay, update, her eyes have cleared up?! 
I don't know why, I didn't do anything special, but here eyes are clear now :] 

I don't trust that they'll stay that way, but it's nice to see her pretty eyes they way they were :3


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