He’s in a very well established tank, 120L, 24.5c, planted tank, it’s at least 3 years old. He has golden white cloud minnows and Pygmy corydoras for tank mates. I got him fully grown from a pet store, I was told he was around 6-8 months old. I’ve had him for nearly 2 years now, and I love him to death.
I normally do a 25% water change every 10 days, but in the past month have been doing 50% water changes every week.
Parameters:
pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5.0ppm
I first noticed he had one eye sticking out after coming back from a trip at the start of march. I did some research and figured it must of been an injury as it was only affecting one eye.
I removed the ornament I thought might have injured him, added some catappa leaf tea bags (from seachem) after doing a 50% water change and he seemed to perk up, but the bump has been unchanged. Today I noticed he has a small bump above his right eye.
Editing to add: Unfortunately I can’t get Kanaplex in my country.. Methylene Blue, Wunder Tonic and Malachite Green (which is a minimum 1-2 week back order) are the only options.
Editing to add:
https://i.redd.it/g3dbc5uijgtg1.jpeg
Posted by secret_juggernaut
3 Comments
I’d look into setting up a hospital tank and getting some antibiotics. It could have been an injury but it can also be infection that causes it and it’s in his other eye now. Kanaplex is my go to antibiotic
that second bump appearing above the right eye is what worries me here. unilateral popeye can sometimes just be an injury, but when it starts showing up on the other side too that usually means bacterial infection has spread internally.
i had a betta develop popeye after what i thought was just a scrape, waited too long, lost him. wish i’d treated sooner.
second the kanaplex recommendation from the other commenter. i’d also add epsom salt to the hospital tank, about 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, it helps draw out the fluid and reduce swelling. your params look solid so that’s good, at least he’s not fighting bad water on top of this.
the catappa was a nice move but at this stage you really need actual antibiotics. how long has that second bump been there?
tannins aren’t an effective antibiotic for infections like this. kanaplex is the way to go. when my betta had popeye, a few days of kanaplex mixed in with bloodworms cleared it right up. this case looks more severe, though, so you may need to dose it for a longer period of time.