Kait
New Member
Hi! My betta Finnegan developed a cloudy eye (no other symptoms) last month and I haven't been able to clear it up. It's primarily his left eye that's affected, although I've noticed some mild clouding in his right eye too. I've had Finnegan for about 7 months and he lives in a planted 10 gallon, heated to 78 degrees, with a few nerite snails. He has consistently received 10-25% water changes weekly. His water tested 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <5 ppm nitrate, and PH stable at 8.0 when the cloudy eye developed.
Nothing new was added to the tank for two months before his eye clouded up except for a resin filter media which I was hoping would absorb phosphates and combat a mild algae outbreak. The new filter media was added about 24 hours before I noticed the problem and removed immediately after because I suspected that it may have caused the problem. I now believe that the resin was unrelated and he most likely physically injured his eye allowing it to get infected. (He's pretty energetic and has accidentally knocked off scales a couple of times.)
I've been trying to treat this for several weeks now with no success. I first tried kanamycin and metronidazole (simultaneously) administered for about 10 days followed by another week of only aquarium salt. After that I gave his system a break for a week but at that point I noticed his eyes looked a little worse. He was moved into a hospital tank and treated with API Fin & Body Cure (salt and doxycyline hyclate) for 8 days/2 full courses according to package directions. I've removed all the medicine using activated carbon but he is still in the (10 gallon) hospital tank and his eyes are still clouded.
I'm at a loss for what to do now. I don't want the infection to get worse or him to lose his eyesight but I'm not sure I'm even treating for the right thing. How can I be sure if this is a bacterial infection or something nastier like eye flukes?? I would appreciate any suggestions or experience y'all might have.
I'm attaching the clearest photo I have of the problem. It's hard to photograph but when he swims under his light it looks like the entire eye is black except for the pupil which is white.
Nothing new was added to the tank for two months before his eye clouded up except for a resin filter media which I was hoping would absorb phosphates and combat a mild algae outbreak. The new filter media was added about 24 hours before I noticed the problem and removed immediately after because I suspected that it may have caused the problem. I now believe that the resin was unrelated and he most likely physically injured his eye allowing it to get infected. (He's pretty energetic and has accidentally knocked off scales a couple of times.)
I've been trying to treat this for several weeks now with no success. I first tried kanamycin and metronidazole (simultaneously) administered for about 10 days followed by another week of only aquarium salt. After that I gave his system a break for a week but at that point I noticed his eyes looked a little worse. He was moved into a hospital tank and treated with API Fin & Body Cure (salt and doxycyline hyclate) for 8 days/2 full courses according to package directions. I've removed all the medicine using activated carbon but he is still in the (10 gallon) hospital tank and his eyes are still clouded.
I'm at a loss for what to do now. I don't want the infection to get worse or him to lose his eyesight but I'm not sure I'm even treating for the right thing. How can I be sure if this is a bacterial infection or something nastier like eye flukes?? I would appreciate any suggestions or experience y'all might have.
I'm attaching the clearest photo I have of the problem. It's hard to photograph but when he swims under his light it looks like the entire eye is black except for the pupil which is white.
