My beta has an enlarged eye and swollen mouth. He barely swims or eats. His color has not changed.?

Question

Help save "Stinky". He gets his gallon-size bowl cleaned every 4 days and is fed 4 pellets of food twice a day.

Answer 1

I totally agree with the person above who said cotton mouth and popeye. treatment would be easy and if you start right away he should pull through.

to prevent this in the future, give hima proper home. bettas are tropical fish that need water temps around 75-85F and when kept at room temp in the average house are around 65F. the lower temp weakens their immune system and makes them prone to all kinds of nasty things. the close living conditions in a bowl are a breeding ground for these all kinds of nasty things that are just waiting to attack your betta. when not at optimal health he's got almost no chance of avoiding getting sick.

it is easy to understand how your betta feels when kept in a bowl or vase at room temp. considering water at room temp in most houes is around 65F that's about 20F lower than they need. so think of it this way, some one is keeping you in a 45-50F closet. this closet has no toilet so you're forced to go on the floor. your care could vary depending on your caretaker, most will feed you either twice a day or 3 times a week from under the door. it's the same food every time. while your care taker is recommended to clean out your closet every three days to keep the floor clean of your "waste" you're lucky if you get a caretaker who cleans it once a week, most will clean it once a month or when they remember. can you survive? for a while, but you'll quickly be in poor weakened condition, and most likely end up sick and dead.

for a happy healthy betta get a 5 gallon tank with a filter and heater. do 20% water change once a week via siphon this way you can also vacuum the gravel. give him a few plants (preferably live, plant food is VERY cheap) but if not live silk so as not to rip his fins.

how much you feed him is fine as long as he eats it all, however, you may wan to consider feeding him a bit of the inside of a thawed frozen pea every other week to promote proper digestion.

it seems like you really care about your fish since you change him so often, most people don't bother, but even the better than most care you provide isn't healthy. good luck!

*edit aobut cleaning the bowl and filters*
beneficial bacteria grows in the gravel and filters and such, but is washed away every time you clean the tank. washing the tank as often as you do is ideal, however it is also bad because it washes away the bacteria needed. this is why filters are recommended, you don't have to do full water changes to the bacteria stays. however, if you plan on ignoring everything I've said at least listen to this, please don't cut back on cleaning, with that small of a bowl it needs to be cleaned very often.

Answer 2

Well you're overfeeding and possibly overcleaning the bowl. You are cleaning it too often if by cleaning you mean taking out all the water and replacing with new. You're destroying all the beneficial bacteria you need in the water if you do this. This will cause a buildup of the poisonous waste produced by the fish (pee/poo). This constant cleaning is stressing out the fish and making it more prone to whatever disease it has gotten. Also, get the fish a bigger home. A betta really deserves at least a 5 gallon tank with some filtration and definitely a heater.

Answer 3

OK first of all, you are over feeding this poor fish. 1 pellet twice a day is more than enough.

Second, a gallon bowl is nice but not really large enough for a 2 inch fish.

3rd of all- when you change is water are you ensuring the water temps are the same?

4th of all - your fish either has a tumor, has an obstruction in his air pocket or he has swim bladder.

A good home for a Betta is a small 5 gallon tank by the way. They are happier that way. And they adore java ferns.

Answer 4

I had a Betta with the same problem. He had a small tank about the size of a fist. He may not be moving because they like small space. He also had an enlarged eye and swollen mouth. I searched this and found out it is a tumor.Mine's eye popped and he died. I would take him to the vet immediately.

Wishing You Luck!!

Answer 5

The eye is popeye, and the mouth could be Columnaris (aka mouth fungus despite being a bacteria). I'd recommend a broad spectrum antibotic like trisulfa, or marcyn plus.

PS- You are over feeding him. He only needs to be fed once a day 6 days a week. Overfeeding leads to bad water conditions. Which in turn leads to fin rot, popeye, and eventual dropsy.

Answer 6

Enlarged eye: "Pop-eye"
Swollen Mouth: "Cotton-Mouth"

Both bacterial infections caused by poorly maintained water.
As already mentioned, gallon-size bowl not good for long-term keeping.

How to cure above:
Change water every three days--go to petstore and get ampicillin.
Pop-eye isn't fatal but if you don't start working on it soon, your betta could lose an eye.

Answer 7

Poor Stinky. Our betta was feeling bad a couple of months ago. I went to Petco and they have these blue drops, some kind of medicine you can put in his bowl. It helped ours perk up in a matter of days.

Answer 8

Aww, that's sad. My beta never had anything like that..but I cleaned him every 2 days and fed him the same amount. I don't know what could be wrong..have you tried calling the store where you got it, or a petcare center? ): Hope it feels better.

Answer 9

i have 2 beta's and i'v had that happen b4 and my advice is cut back on food and do your best not to clean his bowl that often...

food:2 pellets a day

bowl: clean his bowl once every week

to you & stinky good luck!
=)

Answer 10

Hazel Eyes are a blend of brown, green, blue and gray. So if someone is wearing a blue shirt and they have blue eyes their eyes are very bright because of the shirt they're wearing. If you have hazel eyes you have lots of different colors. So when you wear a brown shirt your eyes might look a little more brown, and if you wear a green shirt they might look more green.