Help with betta fish eye problem

[duskon]

I'm stumped on what this could be - it's only affecting her left eye. It kinda looks like something's stuck to her eye. I initially thought it might be cloudy eye, but isn't that usually an issue on the inside rather than the outside?

[coltin]

Could you please provide a side view of the fish, maybe that'll help identify what's going on with its left eye?

[duskon]

I'm no expert but the cloudy eye thing does seem to affect the inside. I'm inclined to agree with you it's something on the outside, that's what it looks like to me anyway.

[duskon]

There you go.

[coltin]

It's likely just the fish's natural defense mechanism kicking in, where excess mucous is produced to aid in the healing process of the damaged eye.

The body's response to the injury is to generate more mucous to shield and protect the affected area, which in this case is the eye.

To help the fish recover, I'd recommend doing a 75% water change and a thorough gravel cleaning of the substrate daily for the next week. Also, be sure to remove chlorine and chloramine from any new water before adding it to the tank.

[duskon]

Thanks so much for the advice, really appreciate it. I've been thinking about how to clean the sand better - got any tips on that?

[coltin]

For cleaning a sand substrate more effectively, I'd recommend using a basic model gravel cleaner. One thing that's worked for me is to kink the hose, which helps prevent the sand from getting sucked out with the water.