# Cloudy Eyes/Blind/Pop Eye?



## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

My Female Halfmoon Plakat is having site issues. She's missing her food and doesn't react to my finger near her face. Her eyes do not look like they're protruding in any way. They just look like they're getting cloudy or like a film is starting to glaze over them. I've researched some other threads regarding eye issues - some state to treat with Epsom for Popeye and some say to treat with AQ for cloudiness. I've attached a couple of pics and I have no idea what mild popeye may look like. On a side note: A few days ago she looked completely egged up. Her ovipositer was protruding and I was expecting to see eggs in the tank the following day. Instead she had a milky substance in her ovipositer/anus area and she looked noticably thinner. She also passed a very long, whitish/browish poop. I'm assuming it was all egg related, but I haven't experienced a true egg passing before. This would be my first. I assume this isn't related to the eye issue, but I wanted to add it. 
Housing 
What size is your tank? 10gal divided
What temperature is your tank? 80
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? Divided w/a female

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? bloodworms/pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? 2x day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 1x week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime and Seachem Flourish (Plant Fertilizer)

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

Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:10ppm
pH:8
Hardness: ?
Alkalinity: ?

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Cloudy eyes
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Missing Food
When did you start noticing the symptoms? 3 days ago
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? No
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No
How old is your fish (approximately)? 6 months? (purchased from aquabid, so I don't know. She was full grown when I got her)


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

I don't really see a cloudiness to her eyes at all. Can you get a straight on picture of her eye? They don't look swollen at all so I think if it is eye cloud you could just treat with aq salt.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

I can comment on the eggy part. If she did pass her eggs, she most likely turned around and gobbled them right back up. The white stringy waste you're seeing is eggy waste as she passes it back out of her system. Remember my sick girl with the strange waste? Helen is doing the same thing my girl was. 

She definitely doesn't look like she has popeye. She might have a slight bacterial infection causing her to get cloudy eye. I would treat her with AQ salt and see if that helps any. 10 days for the treatment. 

I hope she gets better very quickly. I'll be thinking of both of you.


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## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

Thank you ladies! I'll do a 10 day AQ treatment. I already have the QT tank set up. 

@pataflafla - I know, her eyes don't look swollen at all. When I take pics she looks completely normal, but I can see a difference just because I know her. I'll see if I can get a straight pic of her. Her right eye seems worse than her left, that's why I made sure I posted pics of her right one. Almost looks like a scale is trying to grow over it or something?? But the photo looks normal so it's confusing to me too. When I put my finger on the tank, closest to her right eye she doesn't react at all. But she reacts with the left eye. I could just be paranoid because my goldfish went blind do to my poor husbandry - surely caused by excessive levels of ammonia. Now I'm a water chemistry fanatic 

@Sakura - I knew you'd be able to answer my eggy question  She's still passing poo and getting smaller by the day. Exactly like your girl did. I wasn't sure if there could be any connection, that's why I posted it.

So thanks again ladies - I'll give you an update.


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

Maybe it's her dragon scaling going over her eye? I know that tends to be a problem with dragons.


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## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

I wondered about her scaling coming over her eyes. I sure hope that's not the issue  She's QT'd in her 2.5 w/AQ Salt. I looked up treatments and found a thread stating 1 tsp/gal. for 10 days. Should I do 100% water changes daily in a 2.5 gal? The thread I was reading was directing someone who was floating their betta in a cup vs. using a QT tank. I don't want to over-cup her if I don't need to. She hates to be cupped. I tried to get better photos but she just doesn't like to hold still. I'll try again tomorrow since her QT tank doesn't have any plants to get in the way.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

In a 2.5g you probably only need to do 50% a day but you can certainly do 100% to be on the safe side. The benefits of being cupped usually outweigh the stress the betta goes through but I still don't like doing it if I can help it. What's the temp in your house? Here near Sac, it's warm enough that I don't need heaters (water stays around 77). If it's warm enough in East Bay, you could head off to a pet store and get a 1 gallon drum bowl and QT her in that and she wouldn't need a heater.


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## flowerslegacy (May 10, 2011)

It was blazing hot here over the last few days, but now it's cooled off (whew!). Both of my QT's currently have heaters though, thanks to my husband. He "forced" me to get Cassius a few months back when I wasn't prepared, so I ended up with a few extra pieces and parts. I can't help but wonder what may have caused Helen's eye issues?? A few weeks back, when I was in the middle of cycling the girls 10 gal, I moved them both to their QT tanks because of overly high nitrites. It was the first time I used a net because I didn't want to dump any nitrites from their cups into their clean water. It's the only episode I can think of where she may have sustained any type of eye injury - although nothing significant happened. I just don't like nets. Or, perhaps it was when I first got her in the mail, back in July, from Aquabid. She was missing tons of scales and during the healing process she was producing tons of slime coat. Her entire tank and betta log was sliiimmeeey. I was using a little AQ salt though, to help her heal. I don't know. Her water has been perfectly cycled so I'm just curious as to what would've caused any type of bacterial issues. She shares a tank with Ruby and of course I want to avoid anything contagious or having issues arise again in the future.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

It's really hard to say. It doesn't seem to be a serious infection, thank goodness. If I had to guess, I would say it was a slight side effect from the high nitrites but it's impossible to rule out injury. I would think, though, if it was from her traumatic shipping experience, that it would have shown up sooner. Either way, I think a bit of AQ salt will clear it right up. If AQ salt doesn't clear it up but it doesn't seem to get worse, then it might be possible her dragon scaling is starting to cover her eye, like Pataflafla said. 

And I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a weather change.


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