Poor Old Sunny

[guppler]

I don't remember exactly when I got Sunny, maybe around a year ago, but he's the only betta I have right now. I named him Sunspot because of the random dark red spots on an otherwise pinkish yellow fish. I liked how one of his pelvic fins was bent to resembe a mantis arm, but I don't know if he was born that way or if that was an injury. Eventually that fin sort of disapeared, and I guesse he's never been a great looking fish by show standards, but looks aren't everything. I even had him in my comunity with baby cories and small, but aggresive Endler guppy boys with big long bright red tails that the deliberately waved in hios face and he didn't even care.
Then a couple of weeks ago I was feeding them and it seemed like Sunny was lunging at food but missing, as if he couldn't see it properly. I was starting to wonder if he was going blind from old age when my mom, looking from a different angle, said to look at his eyes. One was definitely bigger than then other. I took him out of the comunity and put him in a 1 galon critter keeper, then on my way out of town, I gathered him and some meds and other supplies, including a diagnosis chart from an old box of fish meds, as I suddenly realized he probably had popeye. His eye is better now, but he spends most of his time in a bottom corner of the critter keeper in unnatural positions, like tilted sideways or standing on his tail. I keep checking to see if his gills are still moving. I've had him on melafix and gave him a couple of doses of an antibiotic when his eye looked bad, but now I just want to change his water again and see what happens. I don't think he'll go back to the comunity. None of my bettas have stayed in there for long.

 

[cutecotton]

sorry to hear that your betta go so sick It's good that you treated the popeye though, is his eye much less swollen now? You'll be surprised at how hardy some bettas are though, my friend had one that i swear was going to die any minute and then through a lot of care and water changes he recovered and was active once again you can never tell how he'll be until the very last minute so don't give up!

 

[33moths]

Perhaps if none are staying in for long it would be best to give them their own housing.

 

[aDcOoL]

Interesting...my betta is always tilted sideways or standing on his tail as well...but I don't think he has "Popeye".

 

[guppler]

His eye isn't puffy at all anymore but now it's getting redder and just today it's gotten so cloudy It almost looks like the one eye is gone. He stays so still sometimes i have to look really close to be sure his gills are moving or pat the side to see if he wiggles. I'll definitely at least use melafix again, but I might need something else too. I'm really happy when he gets the strenght to swim up to the top and especially when he manages to catch a bit of food. Should i drop a litttle air stone in? or would salt or something help? I might make the water shallower for a while.

Oh, I do generally give beta's their own housing, but i've tried females in my comunity a couple of times and I think at least one managed to scratch herself on something and got in fected and another ate a guppy tail. This is the first male I've tried in the comunity and the first day or so I wasn't sure I'd want to leave him long, but he's so mellow for a betta, he never bothered anybody. I am starting to wonder if they are more succeptible to diseases in comunity tanks. I have lots of critter keepers in at least 3 different sizes that I usually keep bettas in and Sunny had lived in a 10g tank with an ADF and a couple of loaches for months and they all got along fine, but then I wanted the tank back for hatching fry, and I thought he might like the comunity better than a little critter keeper.

It is weird to see him totaly balanced on the tip of his tail or all slumped over sideways for hours at a time. He probably has an internal infection now, and the eye looks as bad as when it was all puffed out, it's almost like it just popped or something, but it did look better for a couple of days. He looks in worse shape than all the baby goldfish i'm trying to save until they can find suitable homes. I guess I'll borrow the melafix back from them. He'd almost match them if you go by color and size.
Last night when I went to bed, he was standing on the tip of his tail with his nose pointed straight up and waving one pectoral fin, but not the other. I asked him if he was saying bye.

 

[Fifi]

So sorry to hear about Sunny's illness.

Why don't you try to put abit in the tropical fish emergencies section amd see if anyone there has any answers to help you?