I accidently bought a fish with popeye

I just recently (today) bought a new betta, named Darth (Vader). He is completely black so in the store I hadn't noticed that his eyes were bigger than any other betta fish I've ever owned. Being completely black, I'm having a hard time getting a photo of him where you can see his eyes properly but they definitely are protruding especially in comparison to my plakat in a separate tank. Even though I have no photo evidence to show, I really do think it is popeye. His tummy is also barrel bellied, as if he has been over fed- something else I am able to see now that he has a quality tank light on him and space to swim properly, does this have anything to do with his eyes? Or is it a seperate issue?

Anyway, how should I go about treatment? I have kanaplex on hand but have not yet used it. Darth lives with 1 mystery snail and 2 blue cherry shrimp, straglers from the tank which was previously a shrimp tank. I was thinking of removing the inverts and starting a treatment of kanaplex directly into his tank..? I've never had a fish with Popeye before and as stated never used this medication.

The tank is 60 litres, and has been cycled completely. It is live planted and am, nitrate and nitrite all 0. Heated and filtered.

Should I proceed with kanaplex treatment or not? Help much appreciated.

For additional info: Darth is active in his new tank and he did not have a problem with food tonight. I would like to make sure he does not get worse. Thanks for reading and any input provided

 

Well, I did some digging and..

Kanaplex active ingredient is kanamycin sulfate and potassium sulfate, which are gram negative medications (the kanamycin sulfate anyway). and popeye tends to be caused by an internal gram-neg bacterial infection. Given that your betta is experiencing both the bloating, and the swollen eyes, I'm thinking you are correct in your diagnosis.

Rather than dosing the kanaplex straight into the tank (which you can also do for good measure) I would soak his food in the medication and feed it to him that way. For internal infections, the medication won't work as well if you dose it in his tank, whereas if he ingests it, it's going straight to the source and should affect the bacteria that's causing the issue a little quicker than it would if you ONLY dosed it into the tank. . I'm wishing him and you luck. I've never used kanaplex but I've heard great things about it.

 

Well, I did some digging and..

Kanaplex active ingredient is kanamycin sulfate and potassium sulfate, which are gram negative medications (the kanamycin sulfate anyway). and popeye tends to be caused by an internal gram-neg bacterial infection. Given that your betta is experiencing both the bloating, and the swollen eyes, I'm thinking you are correct in your diagnosis.

Rather than dosing the kanaplex straight into the tank (which you can also do for good measure) I would soak his food in the medication and feed it to him that way. For internal infections, the medication won't work as well if you dose it in his tank, whereas if he ingests it, it's going straight to the source and should affect the bacteria that's causing the issue a little quicker than it would if you ONLY dosed it into the tank. . I'm wishing him and you luck. I've never used kanaplex but I've heard great things about it.

Thanks so much for your response. I have had a look into it too and online it says I'll need another product called focus to bind the meds to the food so I'll go and see if my lfs has it and if not I will opt for treating the entire tank until I am able to find it.

Here is a photo of Darth, was able to get a photo this morning.



He looks a little less bloated today but that is definitely Popeye, right?

Edit: I wazzed up some frozen blood worms and some of his pellet food (Thera+a "non medicated regular pellets + garlic") with the kanaplex last night before knowing about Focus and refroze it. He ate it this morning with no problems, I was able to separate the pellets which would have soaked up the bloodworm/kanaplex mixture(?) will this be okay to feed him the medication or should I go out and buy the recommended product Focus?

 

Hmmm Well....Theres a really good resource posted on another thread. the thread was Kanaplex vs Erythromycin - which is the better medication. I believe that resource mentioned which medications would more readily absorb into a fish's system than others...Maybe kanamycin is one that does not bind well and that's why you need the focus...

I would say it wouldn't hurt to try - if he eats the medicated food, then you can guarantee he's getting some of the meds in him to affect the issue. BUT it's hard to say whether or not the betta is actually taking in those meds through his system, or if he's just pooping them out.

I actually just fed my geophagus some nitrofurizone before reading that nitrofurizone typically does not absorb into the intestinal tract in this way...Some medications are better for internal remedy than others.

The thera+ pellets are a good product, by spectrum brand? good choice.

As far as it for sure being pop-eye...if it is, you've caught it early. I've seen pop-eye that's much more developed, but I do see a bit of white/swelling behind his eyes, and maybe a bit of bloating. - Though I'm looking at him from a picture, so if you're noticing these things obviously than I would say it's more than likely pop-eye.

 

CIR 84/FA084: Use of Antibiotics in Ornamental Fish Aquaculture

This was that resource I was talking about. It may seem like a lot initially but there is a TON of great medication information on here and if you scroll down far enough, it'll list out the type of aquarium medications, what they're used for and how they're best used. Real good stuff.

 

Hmmm Well....Theres a really good resource posted on another thread. the thread was Kanaplex vs Erythromycin - which is the better medication. I believe that resource mentioned which medications would more readily absorb into a fish's system than others...Maybe kanamycin is one that does not bind well and that's why you need the focus...

I would say it wouldn't hurt to try - if he eats the medicated food, then you can guarantee he's getting some of the meds in him to affect the issue. BUT it's hard to say whether or not the betta is actually taking in those meds through his system, or if he's just pooping them out.

I actually just fed my geophagus some nitrofurizone before reading that nitrofurizone typically does not absorb into the intestinal tract in this way...Some medications are better for internal remedy than others.

The thera+ pellets are a good product, by spectrum brand? good choice.

As far as it for sure being pop-eye...if it is, you've caught it early. I've seen pop-eye that's much more developed, but I do see a bit of white/swelling behind his eyes, and maybe a bit of bloating. - Though I'm looking at him from a picture, so if you're noticing these things obviously than I would say it's more than likely pop-eye.

The article is very helpful! From what I can tell and from what seachem says about kanaplex is that it does get absorbed readily through ingestion. I decieded to order focus and medicate as the kanaplex is supposed to be medicated, in case you are correct in that he might just be pooping out the kanaplex when it is not being used with focus/ in case the focus aids in the ingestion process.

Happy to report that Darth is not acting like a sick fish, so I have high hopes he will make a full recovery. He's such a lovely boy, thanks so much for your help