# Cloudy eyes



## Ishy (Apr 14, 2009)

I have a male Betta in an 8 gallon BioCube with 2 African Dwarf Frogs, 2 small Otocinclus and 2 tiny guppies.
The for last month or so, I have seen sporadic small abbrasions on the side of the Betta but they have healed up nicely by themselves so I have not been too worried about it and figured he may have scraped himself on something.
For the last week, his one eye has seemed to get progressively cloudier, starting with just a small speck of cloudy whitish coloring. Today the other eye is cloudy too and both are about halfway covered with the cloudiness. He seems a little out of spirits but is eating fine. He eats Betta food, steals a bit of the Guppy food and also joins the frogs in eating live blackworms, which is fed manually to avoid escapees. I have frozen bloodworms but rarely feed those as it seems to be a messy meal.

pH is 7.9
No Ammonia
No Nitrite
Low Nitrate at around 2 (I can't seem to get it up, maybe I change the water too often?)
Live plants (not thriving particularly)
Smooth aquarium gravel (natural, no dyes)
Half of a fist sized (women's fist) geode as decor
A bit of an algae problem (Hair Algae, I believe) but it's not really bad

Any suggestions on the cloudy eyes? What could it be? Frogs are really sensitive to a lot of medications so I'm quite leary about using those.
Any other input and suggestions on my general setup/feeding, etc.?


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

One of the occupants in the tank is bullying him somehow and causing the damage or he is damaging himself on the decorations somehow. He is going to end up with popeye before this is over in one or both eyes and should probably have a hospital tank set up for him so he can be medicated to prevent him losing his eyes. At the very least he needs very clean water conditions, cleaner than he can get with a tank with substrate and other occupants. So if you have a clean tank with no gravel or sand and no other decorations in it just fill it with water that you have treated and even if you do not have a filter and other things for it he will be okay during this weather if your home is warm (around 78 to 80 degrees) and he gets daily water changes of about half the water. (I have even used a clean, new bucket that has never been used for cleaning or other supplies as long as it has a light cover like a piece of plastic canvas over it that can let air and light in but not allow the fish to jump out.) He should not have a light if his eye is damaged as it can make him see shadows and go wild and injure himself trying to get away. 

I have seen really clean and clear water clear this up alone but to be sure and since he has other injuries I would get some Maracyn to treat him. One packet treats 10 gallons of water so you will want to use about a fourth of a packet if you use a bucket and do not fill the bucket to the top. I would not put more than a couple gallons of water in the container so that he is not close to the top and will not jump. This way you change out a gallon of water daily and it is good.

Please let us know how things go with him as this can become a serious problem.

Rose


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