Rings around my betta's eyes

[SiennaBay]

Hi!
Suddenly my betta has developed thin, pale blue rings around both eyes. They were never there before. Is this weird or is this something bettas just get naturally? He sorta looks like he's wearing glasses. His water is fine -- keeping it clean & testing it. And he acts fine -- really wild actually. He zips all over the tank.

[silverrabbit]

I've seen a betta look like this when it has "pop eye". Do his eyes look more sticky-out than normal? If not then it might just be normal markings

[SiennaBay]

Great, his eyes do look like they are slightly larger than normal. What should I do? I just got a new ph kit and checked the ph in his tank. It is close to 8. The ph for bettas is supposed to be 7, right? I put some aquarium salt in the tank and had changed half the water last night.

[silverrabbit]

Bacterial meds are the way to go - I don't know what you have over there but looks for meds that treat bacterial infections like cloudy eye, pop eye etc

[SiennaBay]

This is weird. I adjusted the ph in my fish's tank this morning, and all day his eyes still had the ring around them, and now tonight, there is only a trace of a ring on the tops of both eyes. They otherwise look much better. Does this make sense??? I am still going to buy some of that Ampicillin stuff.

[2tall]

Sorry I wouldn't know the answer, but I'm happy to hear he looks better!
I didn't know about the Ampicillin being available, just Tetracyclene for an antibiodic. I should read more I guess! Good news anyway about Flame!

[yvonnewolfe]

My bettas get rings around their eyes when their older. I've had "old man" for three years now, and he just developed white rings around both eyes. He is very healthy too. Hope this helps..........

[SiennaBay]

Hi, I don't know how old my fish is, but I do know that he didn't have any markings around his eyes at all when I bought him about three weeks ago. This morning, the rings were back. So I changed about 80% of his water, lowered the ph. This is really strange.

[silverrabbit]

Be careful about adjusting the pH - someone on here lost a whole divided tank of bettas from using the pH down or something.

I hope he gets better for you soon

[SiennaBay]

Is there anything else I can do to adjust the ph other than using "ph down"? The ph in our tap water is pretty high. I thought that maybe that was affecting the fish.

[silverrabbit]

What is your pH? mine is around 8 or a bit above and the bettas do fine in it

You can add bogwood or indian almond leaves (IAL) which will stain the water a light tea colour by releasing tannins and it's the tannic acid that will lower your pH. You use 1 leaf per 30litres I think

[2tall]

I let my IAL sit in a small container of water a few days after it browns up like
a strong tea. Then I toss the leaves before they mold. I was warned not to them sit longer than two weeks. This was recommended by the Thai owner where I purchased my c/t's and it does discolor the water a bit.

[Time-Out]

pH down is fine as long as you dilute it. It burns anything it touches otherwise. And no more than a couple of tablespoons per 150L at a time.

[SiennaBay]

I ordered some Ampicillin but since the rings on my fish's eyes were even bigger today, I went to the store and got a bottle of "Melafix". Anyone have experience with it? It's supposed to be antibacterial and it says it works for pop eye. The thing I don't understand is, the instructions say "Remove activated carbon if possible. Add 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons). What does that mean -- remove activated carbon?

[2tall]

If you have a three stage filter there is normally a carbon pouch of sorts if I'm correct. You could just tub him and that way you won't affect the filter or tank! What kind of filter is it?

[SiennaBay]

It's an Eclipse 3 tank. It has a blue filter pad and a seperate bio-wheel. I just changed the filter pad today actually.

[2tall]

Is that the tank where the light and filter are contained in the hood?

[2tall]

I called Petsmart and the blue pad does have the carbon in it. You need to remove the blue pad or it renders the medication ineffective. He said you can treat the whole tank and don't have to tub him.

Whatever happens don't shoot the messenger! Good luck!

[SiennaBay]

OK, I was thinking that the filter wouldn't work without the pad. I just took the pad out. I hope I'm doing things right. I changed about 80% of the water before I added the Melafix. My fish is suddenly acting a little less feisty than normal. I had looked around the Internet and I read that Melafix can sometimes have that effect on a fish. I'm going to change about 25% of the water tomorrow and add more Melafix. I've heard both good and bad about this medication. Some people say it works great for popeye and others say it doesn't and that it's not a true medicine. So I don't know what to think. I guess if this doesn't work I'll try the Ampicillin or Maracyn.

[SiennaBay]

Also "Thanks" for going out of your way to call Petsmart. I appreciate it!