Betta Hole in Head, Cloudy Eyes, Won't Eat

Topic: Ok i got up this morn and my bettas color is now grey, his head is turning white, and his eyes are cloudy. I don’t see anything on this body that looks like a disease. Everything is normal but the cloudy eyes and color. He ate 1 freeze dried blood worm this morn but will not eat tonight. *I just looked at my betta again. He has hole in the head!! Oh my gosh! Whats the beat med for him? need some help as soon as possible!

 

Answer from Chris W.
My first initial thought is that your ammonia level is too high. Ammonia is literally poisonous to betta fish and it creates this “decay” to their body. In a lot of instances, the tap water that is coming out of the faucet of the fish owner is too high in level of ammonia. So if your not doing intense testing with a testing kit.. then your not going to see the ammonia. I would actually love to know what size tank you are using but I’m guessing it’s very small because if the decay is as intense as “a hole in it’s head”.. then there must be a smaller amount of water which would make it a stronger solution (more or less). What filter do you have running on your tank?

I don’t have a lot of experience in this type of thing but if I were you and your looking to buy a “medicine” than I would get a water testing kit or an “ammonia” decreasing agent. Again.. I don’t have a ton of experience with that type of thing but that would be my help. Maybe someone here on the platform can better answer this. After all, I am just one person and someone else out there may be much more knowledgeable on this topic.

Posted by Barbara K.
If the tank is small, you should be doing %90 water changes and adding a small amount of salt to the tank and possibly be feeding him a “pea” if he has organ problems going on. I can’t say what the problem is but dirty water is what brings on almost all sickness and disease like this. I have lost many betta fish to things like this and it really is hard to cope with. Good luck to you and hopefully you can figure out this nasty virus or bug.

Posted by Matt J.
What size is your tank and what kind of conditioner are you using on your water. Water conditioner is a big deal and sometimes the fish don’t agree with the type or brand that you are using. I have had bad luck with some of the super cheap ones because I thought that it was just a water conditioner and wasn’t a big deal. After have a lot of fish die on me.. I switched to a better brand that had proven results and my aquatic inhabitants are much happier now. Hopefully you don’t lose your fish but be ready for it because they do randomly die here and there. It’s just the price of this hobby.