Betta family

Hi! My 8yr old son has had a male betta fish for 2 years. He loves Blub-Blub very much, and says he wants to be a fish doctor when he grows up. One of Blub-Blub’s eyes (the iris only) has recently turned a silvery white, so I’d like to learn the cause, and if he needs treatment. He’s a very active fish (always reactive to a person approaching) and we’ve seen no change in his behavior or appetite. Google searches mention popeye or cataracts, but I’m not sure about those since the pupil still looks very black, and there doesn’t appear to be swelling. He’s in a filtered & heated 10 gallon tank that we keep at about 80 degrees. No other fish, but the 2nd of 2 mystery snails recently died (lasted about 2 months).

Need more pictures showing both sides of the fish and under normal white light. Also a picture showing the fish from the front and above would be helpful in identifying pop eye disease.

Maybe this video clip will help...

Emk said:

Maybe this video clip will help...

Click to expand...

Video taken yesterday, just after I replaced 2 gallons of water. And I believe we have “seed shrimp” that appeared a few months ago. And actually I just took some decent still photos that I’ll share.... OK, now it seems I can’t add more than 1 photo at a time, but the eye to the left of the photo appears normal, while the other has an iris that is looking very light and silvery. It’s not at all cloudy, and the pupil looks normal as far as I can tell.

He doesn't have pop eye disease.

I wouldn't worry too much about the colour of the eye. Sometimes fish lose the colour or it changes depending on their mood. I haven't seen it happen to Bettas before but is common in livebearers. If he can see out of it and is eating well, then don't worry.

What you need to worry about are his fins because they are clamped up, and he is skinny around the head, and he has something white on his right pectoral (side) fin.

Clamped fins are usually caused by poor water quality or something in the water irritating the fish. Big (75%) daily water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate every day for a week should fix it. Then do it once a week after that.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Being skinny around the head is generally lack of good food. Offer him frozen and dry foods.

The white thing on the right pectoral fin looks like a juvenile anchorworm, which would be uncommon in a male Betta but can infect any fish. I need better pictures of that side of the fish. You can also google anchorworm and see if it looks like what is on the fish. If it is anchorworm, you can treat it with salt (2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres of water for a couple of weeks). Or you can pull the parasite out with a pair of tweezers.