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Betta has white spot on eye
Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center:
General message area: Betta has white spot on eye
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Ken Nielsen
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Monday,
February 11, 2002 - 01:59 pm
I have a Betta that is in a 2 gal tank at 72 degrees with
filter system. It is located in a slightly shaded area near
a window. I have 3 snails in the tank with him. I do not
add salt. I use bottled filtered water and do a 1/2 water
change every two weeks. A short time ago I noticed a white
spot on one eye that does not seem to change or go away.
Any suggestions on how to treat this?
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fishman
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Tuesday,
February 12, 2002 - 04:04 pm
Well I dont know much so wait until you hear from someone
more knowlegable, but I think it might be popeye. I am not
sure what you should give a beta though as I am new with
them. but like I said wait until you hear from some smarter.
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joycedonley
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Tuesday,
February 12, 2002 - 09:00 pm
Ken waiting on Kick to advise you. Hopefully she will check
in soon as she knows a lot about Bettas. I do know she will
ask why you aren't adding salt to the bettas tank!
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Kick
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Tuesday,
February 12, 2002 - 09:38 pm
Ken before I can tell you for sure, you need to try to describe
in detail what this "white spot" looks like. Does
it look like a bubble over his eye or does it just look
cloudy. Also is it under/over his eye or directly over it.
My first thought is of popeye or cloudy eye, but before
I know for sure I need the better, detailed description.
Joyce is right. I highly advise aquarium salt in betta tanks.
There are so many good properties of this as far as bettas
go, and it could be even the salt will help the problem
that he is experiencing.
I also am not an advocate for spring or distilled water
with bettas. The trace elements that are found in regular
tap water are extremely important for a betta's health,
and as long as the water has been treated with a product
for the neutralization of chloramines and chlorine, there
is really no reason to waste money for special water.
I will be looking to hear from you so that maybe we can
sort out what is going on and I can give you options for
possible treatment.
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Pandora
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Thursday,
February 14, 2002 - 07:28 pm
Yup, agreed with the others. We do really need to know a
better description of the "white spot" over the
eye...whether it's a diffuse cloudiness, or a distinct
small white spot. Just two things I should mention here
from your msg, however, 72 is a bit low for the betta, and
this may not be stable if it's just an unheated small
tank by the window, it may be dropping below this temperature
at night without you knowing it. I would try to keep it
at 76, if for no other reason, than to keep the betta active,
since they do tend to be metabolically sluggish fish and
sometimes when they get this way, they're more at risk
for disease.
Other thing is about the spot... if it is a distinct small
white spot with clear edges, suspect ick, which can grow
on any membrane, even that of the eye.
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Ken Nielsen
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Friday,
February 22, 2002 - 12:38 pm
You guys are the greatest! I first want to report that "fishy"
is doing great. The "pinpoint" white spot he had
on one eye is gone. I put (I know Kick did not recommend
this as I saw it in another thread) some soluble copper
salts formula (2 drops in his 2 gal. tank) about
a week ago. It worked - so I assume it was ick. I now have
raised the temp up to 75 and am adding 1 tsp of aquarium
salt to the tank at each water renew, every two weeks. I
love this forum. We can only be better fish curators with
the exchange of information you will find here. Thank You
All So Much ("fishy" thanks you too.)
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Ken Nielsen
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Friday,
February 22, 2002 - 12:44 pm
Kick, our local fish shop recommends our local tap water
too. Do I just 1.) remove the fish and put him in a
smaller container with his present fish water 2.) vacuum
and replace vacated water with tap water 3.) put in
the treatment chemical 4.) wait overnight or the recommended
time 5.) put the fish back into his home?
Let me know if this is the recommended routine - I am obviously
new at this... Thanks again.
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joycedonley
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Friday,
February 22, 2002 - 01:03 pm
Ken I will let Kick know you're waiting for her input.
She's a pretty busy gal, but hold on!
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boofish
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Friday,
February 22, 2002 - 05:09 pm
I know I'm not kick, but here is the method I used when
I kept a betta in a 1gallon bowl:
let water sit out overnight in an icecream pail (or
whatever) Then I used a smaller than usual grvel siphon
sucker thing (it was marketed as a "junior")
to suck out water and vacuum gravel with fishy still in
the bowl. I'd do about 75%. Then add dechlor, aquarium
salt (dissolve it before hand) and new water.
my theory was that the less times you handle your fishy
the less stress you put them through...
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Ken Nielsen
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Friday,
March 01, 2002 - 02:26 pm
So you add the dechlor after you have let the water sit
overnight? I think I will put the dechlor in and salt too
then let it all sit/dissolve overnight then add it as the
new replacement water after vacuuming out about 75% like
you said. Does this sound ok?
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boofish
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Saturday,
March 02, 2002 - 12:09 pm
I think so...just make sure the salt is dissolved well!
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