Eye Cloud?

Question

Benny   QUESTION: Dear Jaymie,
As I have written you several times about my little Betta, Benny and you have given me exceptional advice each time, I eagerly request your help again, because Benny seems pretty sick. For the last few days, Benny has been more lethargic than usual. Normally he spends the majority of his time swimming around near the surface of his five gallon tank, and following me from there as I move around the room. However, lately he's mostly been hiding under his little rock formation and only coming out when he notices I've come home and turned on his light. This afternoon I noticed an opaque little dot in one of his eyes. The eye is not bulging, so I assumed that does not mean that he has pop eye, but I have never seen eye cloud before. Could it be eye cloud? If so, what can I do to help him feel better? I added a little Melafix to his tank this evening, because it has seemed to help my sick bettas in the past. I performed a half water change a week and a half ago and it appears clear. I always add water conditioner and aquarium salt with every water change.  He also has a little heater, a filter and two rock formations to hide under or behind.He usually gets fed once a day, a dried bloodworm or a BettaBite pellet.  Sometimes I fast him for a day or so, to stave off swim bladder.  Is there anything else I can do? Is there any other type of food or medication that might improve his health? Thank you so much for reading this extraordinarily long question and for your help! It is greatly appreciated.
Peace,
Megan and Benny

P.S. Every time I perform a water change, within a day or so, a thin layer of slim appears at the top of his tank. I usually turn his filter down so it does to buffet him around the tank, so perhaps that is why? Any advice about this? Thank you, thank you so much! Last question, promise. :)

ANSWER: Megan,

I will have to agree, you have a sick fish. Unfortunately, the photo is a bit blurry, but I do believe I see a bit of Eye Cloud coming on. The number one cause of this illness is bad water quality. It is very important to test the water weekly. A good time to do it is when you are doing the weekly water change. Melafix along with the water changes should help the eye cloud. Do not forget to remove the charcoal(carbon)from the filter while you are treating him with the Melafix. If it is left in, the carbon will remove the medication before it has time to treat. Now, in the picture I see that his gills look a bit red along with some darker pink or red lines in his tail. Is this the way he looks all the time. I am a bit color blind and I asked someone here to help me out. If he looked like this when you got him then he is most likely ok, but, if this is different, then he looks like he is suffering from ammonia poisoning. The water changes need to be done weekly. Do you test the water? If you do, what are the reading? If you don't, it is a good idea to get a water testing kit and test the water often. After you test the water and the ammonia is up, do a 50% water change. After that, do a 25% water change everyday, after the testing, and continue this daily until the ammonia and nitrites are gone. Ammonia, Nitrites and other chemical will not change the color of your water. Even though the water looks clear, it could have a very high level of any of the above mentioned issues. I would also stop adding the aquarium salt to his water. He could be reacting to the salt. None of my tanks have salt and they are all doing great. As far as the film on the water, it is due to the freeze dried blood worms you are feeding him. You can help this by adding an air stone to the tank. This will cut down on that film. If after treating him with the Melafix, the water changes and the air stone do not make things better, or he gets worse let me know.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Jaymie,
I tested the Ph and the color looks normal. He has always done fine in water that is more basic than neutral.  I added just a little piece of a Tank Buddies Ph lowering tablet to see if that might help; it seemed to help the sick mollies we had a few weeks ago. Prior to testing the ph and adding the Tank Buddies tab, I did a 25% water change and added more Melafix.  He's even more lethargic today than he was yesterday.  His color isn't as bright either. His color used to be so bright and his tail was longer before I began using his current, five gallon tank.  He was in a 1.5 gallon tank, but I worried that that was too small and moved him to this one. Do you think it could be the tank that is making him sick? It is larger vertically than horizontally, like a rectangle turned on its side.  Maybe he's not getting enough air? Should I move him back to his smaller tank? I'm sorry, I know that this letter is rambling a bit. I'm just listing all the possibilities I can think of.  Thank you again, so much for all your help.
Megan  

Answer
Megan,

   I am not saying to test the PH i am saying to test for ammonia and nitrites and nitrates. I am not concerned with the PH. Putting him in a larger tank is not the problem he is having. He is suffering from the water you have him in. You cannot see ammonia, nitrates and nitrites in the water. Your fish is either suffering from ammonia poisoning or nitrite poisoning. That is why I am asking you to check the ammonia. Your water can look clear and clean but it could be very bad. Have you tried Bettafix?? It is for fin rot and other problems they may have. If he is at the top gasping for air then yes he is lacking oxygen. If he is at the bottom of the tank and not doing much, then he has air. You can add an air stone to the tank. It supplies oxygen to the tank. If he is gasping then drop the water level to about 5 inches so that he can get to the top for air. PLEASE TEST THE WATER FOR AMMONIA.