Betty With Popeyes! Help!

I got my betta a little over 5 months ago from petsmart knowing he had popeye. I've tried multiple treatments including: epson salt baths, bettafix, and daily water changes. Currently I'm treating him with kannaplex but he still hasn't shown any signs of improvement. He seems like he can see fine and with a bit of help he eats okay. But once I stop treating him his eyes get larger and cloudy. I don't know what to do at this point. Has anyone ever heard of popeye being permeant? Or is there anything else I can try??

 

Popeye itself can be easily treated and if it`s not treated its a symptom of an underlying illness in a betta fish. You should first off try to keep his tank extra clean so I suggest doing a 75-100% water change and sanitize (just soak in hot water) all the décor and gravel as well as doing a good siphon. After cleaning his tank thoroughly you should start treating him Ampicillin (this med comes in capsules that treat 10 gallons so open it up and use the correct amount of powder after figuring out the correct dose for your tank size.). If this works to be safe once his eyes go down treat him for one more week and remember to keep his tank very clean!

 

Hi, welcome to the forum

What size tank? is it heated and filtered?
Do you have a test for ammonia and nitrites?

I personally would not rinse the gravel in hot water because a lot of the nitrifying bacteria reside on the gravel as well as the filter and you'll end up causing a cycle bump and having additional problems with ammonia and nitrites then.

Depending on the cause, popeye can actually be tough to treat. If its caused by an injury, its pretty easy to treat but if its like what you're describing it can be harder because its probably bacterial and not knowing the bacteria makes it kind of hit and miss with the medicines. I just went through this myself in my sorority. What finally worked for a couple of tough cases and I used every medicine available before that, was as a last resort I picked up some Sulfaplex which can be dosed for a few weeks if necessary and it finally cleared up on two of my girls, one who had it pretty much since I got her also. Triple Sulfa is sold at many pet stores and it won't hurt your cycle.

 

Thank you both so much! He's in a heater and filtered 5 gallon tank. It runs at about 78 degrees and tests 0 for ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. While treating with Sulfaplex would I do water changes and should I leave the filter running?

 

There are directions on the back with API Triple Sulfa, you do a water change every 48 hours. If it starts working you can dose longer than indicated on the box. Yes, you can leave the filter running.

 

Great thank you!