Urgent - Popeye + White Protrusions

Urgent - Popeye + White Protrusion BELOW EYE





Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 5 gal
How long has the tank been running? 1 year
Does it have a filter? Yes
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 78
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) Betta, 5 malaysian trumpets (recently added)

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly
How much of the water do you change? 50%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Its sand so both

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API Master Kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20 (my tap has 20 nitrates so I keep bamboo and a lot of floaters)
pH: 8

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? 1-2 daily
How much do you feed your fish? 4 pellets/few mysis shrimp/daphnia/bloodworms occasionally
What brand of food do you feed your fish? 4 pellets/few mysis shrimp/daphnia/bloodworms occasionally
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Freeze-dried mostly

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? 1 year
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? 3 days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? The betta fish just recently developed popeye and also white protrusions from eye SEE PHOTO.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? Dosed epsom salt and regular aquarium salt but not sure if this is effective. May start kanaplex for bacterial infection but seemingly there is white protrusion from fish so maybe parasites?
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No.
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? No.

Similar symptoms of my betta: White Protrusions On Angelfish Freshwater Fish Disease 294454

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now)
The fish recently developed popeye and also a single white protrusion after I changed the substrate from gravel to sand three days ago. I also added in 5 malaysian trumpets from my shrimp tank which may have brought in parasite/fungus which might be the white protrusion? There are just so many factors. I initially thought the popeye was bacterial, so I ordered kanaplex yesterday (arrives tomorrow) and then dosed epsom salt 1tbsp/5gal. Also I added aquarium salt 3 tsp/5 gal just in case, but there isn't any change in behavior. Water change yesterday 60% so today I might just do one too. Today when I got back from school I saw that there was a white protrusion from underneath the affected eye (the other eye is totally fine) so I assume that the popeye might've been a secondary infection from the parasite. However, the other eye is totally fine and does not have the parasite or popeye. It might be good to mention that the betta has some rough fin edges due to the powerful filter (that I have modified) but isn't healing so kanaplex might help with that. I need help determining whether the popeye is bacterial or caused by the parasite, what the parasite is (or if it just fungus or something), and what to treat it. Thank you so much for your time. I've had this fish for almost a year now so I don't want to lose him. Should I still dose kanaplex tomorrow or something like metronidazole flakes/medication or anti-parasitic medication? Also does this look like anchor worms?

 

Hey! Sorry to hear about this. My betta also got popeye recently and I have done a few things to take care of it. Daily water changed of 20%. Mine is also in a 5 gallon tank, so 20% is only 1 gallon per day. I also started doing salt baths, not dips. Dips are a little intense for me so I preferred baths. For popeye, I learned that AQ salt is actually not the salt to use in this case. You want to use pure epsom salt because this is what will release tension and fluid behind the eyes. I just did a salt bath today and I will attach photos at the bottom. This is what I did:
1. Make two 1 gallon baths. Bath 1 should be completely new water, add the prime to de-chlorinate, and add 2 teaspoons of epsom salt. In Bath 2 add 50% (1/2g) fresh water and de-chlorinate and then add 50% (1/2g) of the current tank water (take it right from your 5 gallon tank) then add 1/2 teaspoon epsom salt. Make sure you dissolve the salt completely in the bath. Also make sure to match the temperature to your 5 gallon tank.
2. Get your fish out of the tank and put it in Bath 1, do not acclimate, just put him right in (the one with completely fresh water and 2 teaspoons of the epsom salt). He may be stressed at first, mine sat at the bottom for 5min and then began to swim around. Leave him in there SUPERVISED for 12-15 min. (If he gets stressed or starts to float on his side/looks really bad, immediately move him to Bath 2).
3. Move him to Bath 2. Again, do not acclimate, just move him in there. Leave him in there for 15 min.
4. Move him back into his 5 gallon tank. For this you do want to acclimate him as you usually would. Get a plastic tupperware or his old betta cup and float him. Fill this cup about 1/4 way up with Bath 2 water and then up to 1/2 way up with his 5 gallon tank water. Float for 15 min, dump out as much water from the cup as you can, then release him back into the tank.
In between all this I do the 20% water change.
20 Nitrates is not good. I know it is in your tap water, but you may want to get bottled water, spring water, or figure out a way to get your nitrates down to 0. Nitrates are not as bad as ammonia, but can still cause severe problems. Hope this helped, if I did not explain the salt bath steps well let me know and I will clarify.
In this photo, the fish is in Bath 1, with the high epsom salt content. The Tupperware to the side is
what I used to float him when I was done with both baths. The white thing on his eye could be due to popeye, but the epsom baths should help either way. I would get on top of this asap because his eye seems quite swollen.

 

HI Sien,
Thank you for your quick response! I have dosed epsom salt at 1tbsp/5 gal so around 0.6 teaspoons per gallon in the main tank for the past 2 days already so at a lower concentration than the bath. He still hasn't been getting better, but should I do an epsom salt bath anyway?

 

HI Sien,
Thank you for your quick response! I have dosed epsom salt at 1tbsp/5 gal so around 0.6 teaspoons per gallon in the main tank for the past 2 days already so at a lower concentration than the bath. He still hasn't been getting better, but should I do an epsom salt bath anyway?

Yes I would do an epsom salt bath today and a water change if you have not done one yet. You can do it every day until the swelling goes down, or every other day if your fish really stresses out! Like I said with mine, he really stressed the first 5 min but was completely fine after that. He is back in his main tank and his eye swelling has gone down a lot after 1 bath. I would also look into lowering your PH to 7. Highest 7.5. Both the betta and snail will be happier and healthier at this PH level. Don't worry about continuing to add salt in the main tank because that low of a dose really will not do much and might just make him uncomfortable in his 5g. Focus on the baths and water changes. He should get better quickly .

 

Awesome. So you don't think the white thing is a parasite or anything right? Have a great night.

 

Awesome. So you don't think the white thing is a parasite or anything right? Have a great night.

I think it is related to the popeye. I've seen weird stuff like that show up with other fish who have popeye. If anything, the salt should deal with it if it is a parasite/fungus. If the white thing does not go away after a couple salt baths/days I would then look into dealing with that as a separate issue. Have a nice night as well!