BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Fish Betta's and Popeye

So, I have a two and a half year old betta. He doesn't have a name because I have had very bad luck naming fish, but he is a beautiful deep red color. I think he may have a slight case of popeye. Does anyone else here have any elderly/senior citizen betta's that have the same condition? I'm wondering if it is a natural part of the aging process or if it an actual infection. I isolated him to a "hospital cup" and am treating him with stress coat and bettafix (my store finally got the darn stuff in!) and he has a little sprig of anacharis plant in it. let me know what you guys think...

Erin,
Sorry, I'm not sure what to tell you about popeye. You might check the top thread about fish illnesses to see if they have any suggestions. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I guess I should also say that his eyes have been bulgy for awhile, this did not happen overnight. It does not seem to be getting any worse, but it isn't getting better either. For this reason, I am hesitant to say that it's popeye, but I don't know what else it could be besides old age.

I guess you could just give him whatever treatment is recommended for 'popeye'and see what happens. I don't off hand know what that is but I do know there are plenty of sites online with advice on that.

Ok, I did some more research on popeye today, and I don't think that's what it is. It seems like popeye occurs suddenly and gets progressively worse over a 2-7 day period. My little guy has been like this for quite a bit longer than that. I'm leaning toward old age as the culprit as of now. I'm going to continue the bettafix treatment. I figure that it can't hurt him, and maybe it'll make him a little healthier. If anyone else has any other ideas, let me know... Any advice is much appreciated! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

maybe the betta fix will help for the time indicated on the box, but i think jilly once said not to just use it as a preventative, since yukies might become inmune to it and make them stronger. which only makes things worse should he get sick.
try extra salt in his water, or twice weekly salt baths. if it is old age, just make thing very comfy for him and spend lots of happy-time with him.

Well, I don't think his eyes look much better, but my little guy is very busy building a bubble nest. I take this as a good sign, and I think it may be time to stop the medication and let him be healthy in good clean water.