Hello, a friend of mine reffered me here to you guys. I don't have goldfish but have had 2 bettas for the last 2.5 years.

This morning I noticed that one of them has a googly eye. Its all bulged out and bubbly looking. To me it looks like a goldfish eye ( kind of bug eyed) and not a betta eye now. It was not like this yesterday. Their tank is incredibly unsophisticated. They have been living in those dual betta tanks for the last 2.5 years, these ones... I took out the little trees long ago, cus they looked so cramped with them though.

They have no heater, no lights, no filter etc. But it's worked for them and they have thrived in there, so I haven't wanted to change anything. Well this morning when I noticed his little eye bugging out like it is, I went to Pecto and they gave me Penicillin for fish that they eat... Gel-Tek Penicillin told me to wait till tomorrow (becuase I had already fed them for the day) and then follow the directions on the bottle. She called it popeye but I am not sure if that is what hes got or not.

I did purchase another little tank, I don't have too much room as they are my work desk buddies, and separated them into their own tanks so hopefully my 2nd betta won't get sick too. Plus I was worried about doing any medication with them both in the same tank cus the other betta seems to be just peachy.

Is there anything else I can do for him? I will be so sad if I lose him after 2.5 years.


Thank you in advance!!

Yep, that sounds like popeye to me I think that you should use somthing a bit stronger than medicated food. Maracyn two should clear it up quick they also sell it at mmm and many other pet stores. Its just a simple pill you add right to the water:) The other betta i would put in a seperate tank while medicating just to be safe.

I dont know if this helps much, but Good luck to your fish!

also you will need to make sure the medicated food will be ok with any other chemicle you put in the tank

Yeah, definetely popeye - that is what it sounds like, Sionell. Oh, and !

How often do you change the bettas' water? Do you add any water conditioner/dechlorinator with it when you change the water? Matching the temperature, so the water temp isn't too big of a difference between the new and old water?

How big is the tank the sick one is in right now? One gallon, two gallon? In addition to the medicated food I would indeed go with the Maracyn II, and add some epsom salt in the tank as well. You'll need 1/8 teaspoon per 5 gl - that is why I was asking how big the tank is. If its smaller than 5 gl, then all you really need is a tiny little pinch.

Lets see that we get this thing beat and out the door...

Thank you very much for the responses as well as the welcome.


Goldfish22 - Thank you I did seperate them yesterday before I tried any medication which was attempted this morning. I am acutally on my way back to the store in just a few minutes to get the MaracynII.

Ranchugirl - I change out their water totally every 2-3 weeks and do 1/2 tank additions about every 10 days or so. I don't add any conditionor to it at all as I give them bottled water and didn't think it had the same issues as tap water. It's been fine for them for the entire time I have had them.. up until now I guess. I do match out their water.. The new water I just let set out on my desk for a day then change them so all the water is room temp.

I think the tank the sick guy is in now is a one gallon. It's just another small desktop tank. The epsom salt... Is that different than Aquarium salt? I have that sitting here but no epsom salt. (I tried my hand at 5 little puffers in a 10g tank a few months ago, but lost them all to ich after only a week.. really sucked, but I still have the aquarium salt from them.)


Also um - What do I do if he's ingoring the little penicillin drops? He didnt eat them and 2 of the drops have gone down the bottom of his tank now, the other 3 drops are still floating on top. He looked like he was going to take a bite a few times and then changed his mind... now he's just ingoring them totally.

Hi there

As for the fish not eating the food, bettas are pickey eaters at the best of times. If he doesn't eat it within a few minutes you should just remove it. Hopefully you can get the maracyn so he'll get medication that way.

Since there is no filter in your tank, you should start doing water changes much more frequently. I have one betta in a 3 gallon tank with no filter, and I typically change about 50-75% of the water about every 5 days. This will help to keep them much healthier in the future

Hey Sio! Glad there's been some answers about Beans - or was it Frank? Told ya the folks over here rock!!!

Sionell, the epsom salt is different than the aquarium salt, and you can't use both together. For issues with swelling and retention, the epsom salt helps draw the fluid out of the body - aquarium salt doesn't do that. This is strictly something that epsom salt can do.

As Chrissy mentioned, those bettas, although very hardy little things, do need more frequent water changes. I have one in a 3 gl tank with no filter, just a few glass pebbles and two spider plants sticking their roots in there, and he gets a water change every 4-5 days. He changes in behavior if I forget - he gets lethargic and isn't as eager to eat anymore. They can stand quite a lot, but just a little more frequent water changes will do a whole lot for yours.

If he doesn't want to eat the drops (nothing new with bettas), maybe you can trick him? Mine gobbles up bloodworms, they are his favorite. So, when dropping in a bloodworm, and the betta goes for it, just at that very moment when he wants to grab it, add a drop of the medicine. If you get lucky, he'll eat both. In any case, with finicky eaters, water born treatments are often the solution out of that dilemma.

How is your betta now, Sionell?