What is wrong with my betta?

Wondering if anyone can help me...I noticed yesterday that the scales on David Rose's head seem discolored. I checked him again today and it looks like his gills are swollen?? I zoomed in on the photos so you can see it. Can anyone tell me what's going on?? He is eating fine, but seems to be more lazy than usual. He has always been pretty lazy, but yesterday he didnt want to come out at all. I ordered kanaplex and aquarium salt but it wont be here for a few days. I plan on doing a water change today. He gets weekly 25% water changes. His parameters are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, slightly higher than 5, but less than 10 nitrate. Ph is steady at 7.4. I had attempted shrimp about 2 weeks ago but they all died, but otherwise nothing has changed. I also got him a new full spectrum light (for my plants) and wonder if he was like this before but I just couldnt see it with his old crappy light. Any advice would be SO APPRECIATED!! I hope my boy is ok!! Also worth noting that my tank is fully cycled and established since feb. It is heated to 78-80° and i have a ton of live plants and hiding/rest spots for him.

 

Looks kinda bloated to me in that first picture. Tried fasting for a few days yet? Also, maybe popeye a little bit on the left side? Can't tell but kind of looks a bit swollen from above?

 

I havent tried fasting yet. He had 2 tiny pellets this morning and mostly just so I could get him to come out so I can see him, but i plan on fasting now that i had a good look at him. He has always been very lazy, so his behavior hasnt changed much. Is kanaplex good for popeye? It should arrive in a few days. I've heard aquarium salt is better to do 1st before meds, but i have a snail in there and im afraid getting him out of the tank into a separate little tank will stress him more. What would you do??

 

Sometimes meds is kind of seen as extreme treatment. Since it looks like just one eye, aquarium salt would be the best treatment to start with, as it is most likely from injury, like bumping the eye into something. If you have plants, you would either have to move the betta to do an aquarium salt bath, but if its just the snail in there, would be easier to put the snail in a different container for a couple days with tank water.

 

I have a lot of plants and a snail . I may just make my way to the pet store and get aquarium salt today instead of waiting for it to arrive on wed. He is so difficult to catch, so hopefully this goes well. My girl betta in another tank willingly swims into her cup lol. Thanks for your help!

Sometimes meds is kind of seen as extreme treatment. Since it looks like just one eye, aquarium salt would be the best treatment to start with, as it is most likely from injury, like bumping the eye into something. If you have plants, you would either have to move the betta to do an aquarium salt bath, but if its just the snail in there, would be easier to put the snail in a different container for a couple days with tank water.

So I managed to give him a salt bath. It was incredibly stressful getting him out of the tank, and now that he is back in, he is pretty traumatized. I have the lights off and am leaving him alone. I am going to add some indian almond leaf water to his tank. (hes got a few leaves in there already) Anything else I can do? I'm afraid to do anymore salt baths because trying to get him out is nearly impossible

 

Did your Betta recover? I’ve got a Betta with some of the same symptoms. Darkened face and kind of flaky looking spots. Also, I wanted to chime in about getting your fishy out of the tank with less stress on you and him. Well, it works for me anyway…get a BIG BLACK net. To me the black isn’t as obvious as the white, blue or green nets. I just set my big black net in the tank and leave it alone for a while, half hour or so. He gets used to it. Then pick up the net and entice fishy with a frozen blood worm. When he swims over the net I calmly lift it and he’s in. Key is to be calm. I’m curious if anything you tried helped him!

 

Thanks for the tips!! I will definitely look into trying that next time. I'm pretty sure there was nothing actually wrong with him ‍♀️. I got a new full spectrum light for my plants and I think it just made him look crappy lol. He has been fine since that day...took him a few hours to not be mad at me though haha. He is generally pretty lazy, so nothing has really changed.