What's wrong with my betta?

He is lethargic and appears to be breathing heavily, he is not eating and he has some kind of growth or hole on the top of his head, but no other spots or holes or anything. The lethargy started about 2 weeks ago and the other symptoms came after. I treated him with API fin and body cure for about 4 days last week and I can't really tell if it helped. I was planning on taking him out of his tank, putting him in a bowl with new water (for a few hours) and cleaning the entire tank, but I don't know if that'll help or what I should do. I've had the charcoal filter out for a week because I've been using the antibiotics. Any thoughts or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Hello and welcome to the forum!

He looks terrible!

It looks like he has hole-in-the-head disease, fungus, pop eye, and dropsy, @Colin_T, what is the best route to go? I think he is far from recovery, I think you would euthanize him, I am sorry.....

PheonixKingZ said:

Hello and welcome to the forum!

He looks terrible!

It looks like he has hole-in-the-head disease, fungus, pop eye, and dropsy, @Colin_T, what is the best route to go? I think he is far from recovery, I think you would euthanize him, I am sorry.....

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The pop-eye has been there for a while (6 months or so) but didn't really appear to effect him that much in terms of appetite or energy level; I did try to treat it but the treatment didn't work (aquarium salts and 2 rounds of antibiotics).

I did some research on the other diseases it could be, especially hole in the head because it looked like he has a large hole in his head, but it seemed like usually the holes are smaller and there are more than one (based on the pictures I've seen online anyway) and I couldn't see any other holes. I ruled out dropsy because there was no pinecone scaling and he doesn't appear swollen or bloated and has remained pretty much the same size. Am I missing or not recognizing some other symptoms?

It could be a fungus - would antibiotics help with that? I also was wondering if he possibly cut his head and now it's infected. He has been swimming a bit more today than last week and has actually been swimming a good amount since I first posted this, so hopefully that's a good sign. I also put some salt in his tank a couple hours ago so maybe that helped? I'm mainly wondering if I should put him in a different tank and clean the first one or just keep him in his tank with the antibiotics and treat him with a second round of them. I don't want to shock him by changing all of the water but I also don't want to keep him in infected water. I do want to try to save him if I can.

Oh God, he’s sick! No offense but the tank looks extremely dirty too! First thing you need to do immediately is clean that tank! Do a 80% water change and vacuum the gravel. Use dechlorinated water. How big is the tank and how long have you had him? He is suffering. I have never seen such bad Popeye. He needs immediate attention if he has any chance of living. We need the following info:
Tank size
Water parameters( ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings)
How long have you had him?
Anything else in tank with him?

Edit: No need to remove the betta while cleaning.

I don’t see dropsy or fungus. I believe you’re dealing with a serious bacterial disease. Most such diseases are a direct result of water quality. Continue to do daily 70% water changes (yes, daily) for 2 weeks. Get some Seachem Kanaplex and API Furan-2. You may have to order them. Pet Smart carries them at times. They are the strongest antibiotics and treat both fungal and bacterial diseases when combined. They will also treat Popeye. Good luck!

@Colin_T, please help us! I do agree with you @Deanause, but I wanted to see if aColin_T has anything else to say.

I agree with Deanasue, the fish looks bloody awful and needs help now.

Did the fish make it?