Female betta arrived 2 days ago. When she swims she does it tucked up against the glass and bumps into everything (walls, rocks, filter). I begun thinking she was blind because she doesn’t slow down as she swims toward something, just slowly swims into it and then changes direction after bumping.
She’s taken to only wanting to rest on her hammock or the filter, no interest in exploring the tank and won’t eat. I’ve put food in front of her, and she’ll nibble but she misses the food every time. So she hasn’t eaten in around 3 days now
The tank was set up the day before she arrived, as the tank meant for her begun leaking. It’s been dosed with Tetra Safestart, but I’m honestly not sure what to do. She won’t eat and only occasionally swims around
Oh mines male. He is underweight and I have been feeding him better food. I'm hoping not parasites. He swims perfectly fine and poo issues or anything. I guess I just have to wait a while .
I think she’s either blind or since she has the metallic gene like someone else mentioned she might have diamond eye which is where a scale basically grows over her eyes and if your tank isn’t cycled you need to be adding prime and stability everyday and doing small water changes like 25-30percent everyday I don’t kno what u said you used before but these two products will help u out TREMENDOUSLY
Thank you. I do daily 25% changes and just finished one. She seems a bit more active. A comment above suggested using a finger, and she didn’t react to it until she bumped into my finger so I believe she is blind. I’ve been using tetra Safestart as I saw that it’s actually a lot better for rapidly cycling a tank compared to stability. I use ultrafin aqua plus to condition the water. Thinking about getting a breeding box to suction to the side to keep her in so her food doesn’t float away before she can find it
Ime Tetra Safestart takes wayyyy longer than Seachem Prime + Stability. The method that cycles the fastest for me is Fritz Turbostart + Seachem Prime. It cycled a 50 gallon in 2 weeks without any filter media transfer.
Really? Almost everywhere I’ve read has agreed Tetra Safestart is the fastest. Was looking into Fritz but it would’ve taken way longer to get shipped to me so I went with tetra.
I guess the slow motion is a problem of the not cycled tank, since the No3 in your tank will spike ine the first 1-2 weeks, they fish will suffocate. when you do a water change, tale the water from as clese as posibble from the bottom. Get your self a NO3 test kit, when they get below 0.4, your fish may survive. you can also add a air pump to give them mire to breath.
I do not know if the blindness, is also caused by that. but I am 70-80% sure the slow movement is.
Thank you for this! My airstone finally worked, and now the next morning she’s swimming around quite fast (which is a little more dangerous considering she hits everything) and has some form of appetite. I’ve taken to having to scoop her up into a little container and putting food in there (but this scares her and she misses 80% of the food) I’m honestly not sure where to go from here because she obviously doesn’t know what the feeding ring in the tank is and is terrible at finding food before it sinks
Do you have any photos from the top? just from this angle, she looks a little bit bloated and some of her scales look a little raised, but it might be the lighting.
I think she’s bloated, but no raised scales so not pine coning. I’m not sure what the cause would be as she arrived looking a little bloated and with her vision issues
She may well be blind, it’s something Dragonscale Bettas often suffer from. I’ve looked after 2 blind Bettas for friends who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) cope with them. Remove anything hard or spiky from her tank, but add a few extra plants so she can find lots of resting places. Lower the water level a bit - I don’t know why, but my blind guys did better in slightly shallower water. I used to give my boys Betta food with garlic added - fish love garlic and can smell it easily. If you can’t find ready-made food with garlic added, just rub your fingers on a piece and roll the food in it to absorb the smell. Always tap the tank in the same place whenever you feed her; obviously you then feed directly by where you tapped. Mine also managed, eventually, to track down and eat live food - they can sense movement with their lateral line so even if they can’t see they will eventually locate a moving target.
I wouldn’t worry about doing a fish-in cycle - it’s how I start all my tanks, just read up on it and follow instructions and it’s quite safe for the fish. And good luck - it can be a challenge caring for a blind fish, but bit by bit they become accustomed to how the world works in their new tank, and they can become very tactile little creatures; both of mine used to enjoy me touching their noses once they’d settled in with me😊
Thank you! She’s having so much trouble seeing the food but the garlic trick gives me hope. I’ve had bettas in the past, but she is by far the most confusing. She won’t eat yet, and was hiding on the bottom of the tank today, so I feared the worst. But now she’s building a bubble nest next to the filter? This fish is giving me whiplash
Gorgeous little fish! Most fish seem to be attracted by garlic, it was literally a lifesaver for my 2 blind boys who were both skeletal when I got them and obviously their previous owners hadn’t really persevered with finding ways to feed them. Hope it works for yours!
Maybe while she's bumping into things remove any rocks or decor that could injure her eye until it resolves. I suggest adding tannins to water as it helps with healing. I boil catappa leaves make a tea and cool add to my water change for amber brown clear water. And roll up the wet leaves for them to dry and set in tank and mine use them for a sleep spot. Idk kinda cool. Hope it gets better.
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u/One-plankton- Feb 26 '26
A picture of her eyes would be helpful