This betta cloudy eye guide is going to teach you everything you need to know about cloudy eye. You’ll be pleased to know that cloudy eye is easily treatable and preventable. But, don’t take it too lightly. If your betta is suffering from cloudy eye and you do nothing, then he could end up dying.

The Complete Betta Cloudy Eye Guide

This guide will be broken down into a number of sections. Such as what cloudy eye is, why it happens, how to treat it, and how to prevent it. It’s important to know all of the information surrounding cloudy eye. Even if you’re reading this article for fun, you will still learn some new information that is going to help you keep your betta healthy! So first of all…

What Is Cloudy Eye?

Cloudy eye is a disease which causes the lens of your bettas eye to become cloudy and opaque. However, there can be a wide range of causes to cloudy eye so it’s important to diagnose cloudy eye correctly for the best treatment.

What Causes Cloudy Eye?

Cloudy eye can be caused in a lot of different ways, but it normally has one route source. Poor water quality. The only exception to the rule is if your betta has cataracts. You can often confuse cataracts with cloudy eye because of how similar they look. The biggest tell-tale sign that its cataracts is if your betta is old.

However, if your betta is still young and it’s suffering from cloudy eye then it may be being caused by internal parasites. If this is the case then there may be other symptoms as well as cloudy eyes (Such as in the case with Popeye).

Another common cause of cloudy eye is a bacterial infection. If you think your betta is suffering from a bacterial infection, then the treatment will be similar to internal parasite treatment.

And in some cases, it can be a dietary deficiency, which is often caused by malnutrition and not feeding your betta a healthy amount of food.

But the most important thing to remember is that poor water quality will be the underlying reason for the vast majority of these problems.

The Symptoms Of Cloudy Eye In Bettas

There is only one massively noticeable symptom caused by cloudy eye. And that’s a grey or opaque film covering your bettas eye. You are also likely to see mucus building up as its body tries to fight whatever infection it has.

Because of this, you’ll notice his vision will be impaired and he’ll have a hard time swimming and finding food.

If you notice any other symptoms along with cloudy eye then it could be another disease. For example, cloudy eyes are often a symptom of Popeye. If you notice your bettas eyes bulging out then you shouldn’t treat him for cloudy eye at all. (If you think that your fish is suffering from Popeye then you can read about everything you need to know!)

(Or if you don’t notice these symptoms in your betta, then they may be suffering from something else! Check out this article on all the diseases and illnesses your betta can end up suffering from.)

How To Treat Betta Cloudy Eye

Cloudy eye is one of the more treatable diseases. If you notice it and act fast your betta will make a full recovery in no time. Here are the steps you should follow.

1. If your betta is in a community tank, then if possible move him to a quarantine tank. (If you don’t know how to set up a quarantine tank then now’s the perfect time to learn.)
2. Set up your quarantine tank as you normally would and add conditioned water. (Remember to leave it for 24 hours before adding your betta.)
3. After 24 hours, slowly introduce your betta to the quarantine tank. Make sure you float him on the surface in a bag for 20 minutes before adding him in.
4. Once your betta has been added to the tank you should add some aquarium salt. 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons is enough. Before adding the aquarium salt you should stir it in a small amount of your aquarium water until it’s diluted.
5. As well as using aquarium salt you can also add some API stress coat. This is going to help reduce your bettas stress and build up his slime coat.
6. Remember to only add more aquarium salt and API stress coat when you’re changing the tanks water.
7. While you’re doing this you should also be performing water changes on your main tank. If your tank is 5 gallons you should perform a 50% water change every 3-4 days. If it’s 10 gallons you can do a 25% water change every 3 or 4 days. And as the tank gets bigger you can change less water in longer amounts of time.
8. Because poor water quality is the biggest cause of cloudy eye you should be testing your main tank. Your tank should have 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite and no more than 20ppm nitrate. If you notice more than this you should keep performing water changes until the water reaches that level.

Cloudy Eye Caused By Malnutrition

If you think that your bettas cloudy eye is being caused by malnutrition then you should still follow the steps above. But on top of that, you should also make sure that you’re feeding him lots of vitamins and nutrient-rich food. Live food is always a great choice. So try adding bloodworms, daphnia and mosquito larvae to your tank once a week.

On top of this, you should make sure you’re buying high-quality pellets for your betta as well. I use Aqueon Betta Food Pellets because they have all the nutrients bettas need in them,

How To Prevent Cloudy Eye In Bettas

The best way you can stop your betta suffering from cloudy eye it to make sure the water quality in your tank is good.  The key to improving water quality is to make sure that the ammonia and nitrite are at 0ppm and nitrates are below 20ppm. Here are a few ways you can do that:

• Perform regular water changes in your tank. If you have a smaller tank you’ll need to perform larger water changes more often. Whereas in a larger tank you’ll only need to change 25% of the water every week.
• Make sure you’re cleaning your tank as well. You should use a gravel vacuum to get any rotten food and feces out of your gravel.
• Every once in a while remove all ornaments and give them a clean, this includes plastic or silk plants.
• Make sure you have a good filtering system that can adequately clean your tank. A filter should be mechanical, chemical and biological. The mechanical removes debris, the chemical removes chemicals from the water and the biological will get rid of any biological waste.
• As well as this you should change the filter cartridges when necessary.
• You should test your bettas water regularly to make sure the ammonia and pH are good.
• Make sure you’re not overstocking your tank. You should have a maximum of 1 inch of fish per gallon. However, this is a general rule of thumb. Bigger fish will need more room to swim.
• Don’t put your betta in a tank smaller than 5 gallons. While they will be able to survive in smaller, it’s not going to be good for his health.

How To Prevent Other Causes

• Make sure you are feeding your betta regularly and a variety of healthy food. Bettas are predominantly meat eaters so make sure you’re feeding them live food with their betta pellets.
• If you think other fish are stressing your betta out then remove them from the tank. Stress is going to weaken your bettas immune system and make him more prone to disease.

Is Cloudy Eye Contagious?

A betta with cloudy eye will not be able to pass it onto other fish, so in that sense, it’s not contagious. However, the conditions which cause cloudy eye are likely to cause it in other fish as well. If you see it multiple fish in your tank then you’re going to have to take rapid action to fix the quality of water in your tank.

And remember cloudy eye can also be caused by malnutrition or could be a symptom of other more dangerous illnesses.

Is Cloudy Eye Fatal To Bettas?

If left unchecked any illness a betta gets can become fatal. However, luckily cloudy eye on it’s own is less likely to become fatal. As long as you treat your betta and adjust the water he should make a speedy recovery in no time. If you notice the symptoms are getting worse or more symptoms however this can be a different story. You should go to your local aquatic center to get a diagnosis if this is the case.

So while cloudy eye on it’s own is unlikely to be fatal if it’s the symptom of something worse it could be.

Mastering the art of Betta fish care can be tricky, but not at all impossible. Click here to read everything you need to know about it!

Recap

So the good news is that betta cloudy eye is relatively easy to treat and unlikely to become fatal. If your betta does have cloudy eye here are the main points to remember:

• Cloudy eye is most likely going to be caused by poor water quality. However, it can sometimes be caused by a nutrition deficiency, or if your betta is old, cataracts.
• The only symptom of cloudy eye is eyes that have become grey or opaque. If you notice other symptoms such as eyes bulging out it is a different illness. (Popeye)
• To treat cloudy eye you should use aquarium salts and stress coat additive. Also, make sure you’re changing the water in your main tank.
• You’ll need to make sure the ammonia and nitrite levels are 0 ppm and the nitrate levels are below 20 ppm.
• To prevent cloudy eye you should make sure the quality of your water is good. Performing regular water changes and cleaning the tank often are the best ways.
• Also, make sure you’re feeding your betta a mixture of live food and high-quality pellets.
• Cloudy eye isn’t contagious, but if the water quality in your tank is poor then your fish are more susceptible to a whole range of illnesses.
• Cloudy eye isn’t fatal but it can cause vision loss. If water quality doesn’t improve however your betta is likely to get a deadly illness.