Question about pop eye

by **SiennaBay** Sat 21 Aug 2010 - 16:56

My betta seems to have pop eye and this is the second day I've been treating him with Melafix. I also changed about 40% of his water this morning, and changed 80% yesterday. Here is what I don't understand. During the day, he has the rings around his eyes and his eyes seem slightly enlarged, but at night, you can barely see the rings and his eyes look fine. Then, in the morning, the eyes are enlarged and have rings again. Can anyone explain why this happens?

by **2tall** Sat 21 Aug 2010 - 17:36

I certainly can't explain it! The only seemingly rationality that comes to my mind would be the difference in the natural daylight as opposed to the artificial light at night! Take note and see if it starts at dusk and is more prevalent at dark.

Is the tank close to windows allowing more daylight? Just a thought!

by **liz2** Sat 21 Aug 2010 - 17:55

are you positive its popeye. When I was in a shop this afternoon we were looking at the bettas (of course) and some of them seem to have more prominent eyes. Whereas with popeye its just usually one eye...

by **SiennaBay** Sat 21 Aug 2010 - 18:27

I assumed it was pop eye because when I bought the fish a month ago, there was no trace of the rings around his eyes.Then they gradually appeared plus his eyes look enlarged when the rings are there. They kind of come and go. Right now, the rings are very noticeable. When the rings are there, he barely moves his eyes. Yet last night, I could barely see the rings. When the rings go down, his eyes looked normal size and normal color and he moves them normally. The tank is under a window, but no light shines directly in the tank.

by **2tall** Sat 21 Aug 2010 - 18:35

The sunlight doesn't necessarily have to shine directly into the the tank as to have increased light as opposed to being in a darker corner. I'm suggesting moving the tank unless you start having a problem with algae. I'm just giving food for thought in the difference of the appearance of the eyes.

by **liz2** Sat 21 Aug 2010 - 22:13

go on Google and put "Betta pop eye" in Images and see if it is the same just looked lots of photos

by **silverrabbit** Sat 21 Aug 2010 - 23:46

I've had a CT with an internal infection and both eyes became enlarged, so I think it can happen to both.

It won't go away overnight, keep up with treatment and you should see an improvement. I am not keen on Melafix with bettas but everyone has different experiences and have more luck than me with it.

I think the light is making you see the eyes differently

by **SiennaBay** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 5:59

I did an image search on Google for betta pop eye and there are a couple pictures that come up that resemble my fish but most don't. The eyes aren't popping out real bad -- just a little. Enough for me to notice. Like I said, my fish did not have any rings around the eyes at all when I bought him. He was in very dirty living conditions at the store. According to an article I read on the Internet, rings around a betta's eyes show that the skin is stretching due to enlargement of the eyes (pop eye). I am new to bettas so pretty confused about what to do. I can't tell if the Melafix is helping or not.

by **liz2** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 8:06

Can you put a photo up of him?

by **silverrabbit** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 15:13

I think an internal bacteria med will be better than melafix at this point. See if you can get some meds with antibiotics in them

by **SiennaBay** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 20:25

Click link below to see a couple pics of Flame's eyes. Sorry they're a little blurred. He's always moving! (His tail fins look a little weird here but they are actually perfect -- just a bad angle.) His eyes aren't actually "popping" out -- they are just a little enlarged with pale rings around them. Look at my avatar pic on the left to see how his eyes look normally. Just a tiny bit of pale color above the eyes but no rings!

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by **2tall** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 20:46

I have a c/t with a dark body and face like Flames. He has light colored rings around his eyes too! I wonder if the dark faced ones sometimes just have the rings. Either
that can be normal or I should be concerned about the eyes also. I didn't notice the rings actually went all around the eyes until I looked through a lighted magnifying glassjust now. I wonder what the odds of both of us having one with pop eye at the same time are?

by **SiennaBay** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 21:31

Yeah, this is strange. I found some other websites that mention this problem. Some people seem to think it's normal; others think it's the beginning of pop eye. See links below. Has anyone else out there experienced something similar with their fish?:

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by **SiennaBay** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 21:32

You probably can't tell by my photos but the ring goes entirely around the eye.

by **2tall** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 21:58

It pretty much goes around the eyes of mine too!

by **Taelin** Sun 22 Aug 2010 - 23:07

I have a dark blue CT, and depending on where his eyes are looking, it looks like he has rings around his eyes. My Delta, Shadow, also has white rings around his eyes but I think that's due to his dragon scaling. From the pictures, it doesn't look abnormal to me...As long as your water is clean and he's eating and acting normal, I wouldn't worry too much...

by **SiennaBay** Mon 30 Aug 2010 - 1:05

Thanks to everybody for their help! I've been watching Flame the past few days and his eyes haven't changed, so it looks like his eye rings are normal. So I guess all is well! I've been changing his water more often just to make sure.

by **2tall** Mon 30 Aug 2010 - 1:16

I'm glad to hear that as my dark one has them too and it hasn't changed.

by **Mesatalia** Mon 30 Aug 2010 - 1:45

Yeah and his fins are spread nicely. If it was borthering him, his body language would tell you something's wrong.

He's a beauty. I'm thinking these rings give the appearance of a prominent eye, just an illusion of one. ^_^

He looks happy healthy!

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