blue acara has popeye - what should I do?

[hbeth82]

Started talking about this fish on a previous thread, 'blue acara won't eat' but things are getting worse. He'd been in my boyfriends tank, where the nitrate levels had risen to 40+ since the tapwater had gotten over 30ppm (but 0 ammonia & nitrite). Plinko hadn't been acting like his normal self (not eating or swimming much) and was gasping, so moved him to my 55 a week ago, nitrate about 10ppm, 0 ammonia & nitrite. In my tank, he became a bit more active but in the past week he hasn't eaten as much as he used to devour in one day.

Yesterday I noticed that he's developed popeye. I have a 10gal tank that I can treat him in and some PimaFix & MelaFix, but not sure if I should. I figure there are two possibilities:

1. Is it possible that him not eating was the starting sign of popeye and so when the popeye clears up, he'll feel better?

2. Or, with him already being sick, popeye is just one more drop in the bucket and I should consider stronger treatment?

I'm really hoping it's option 1, that he'll get better when the popeye subsides, but not too sure. Thoughts?

 

[mfdrookie516]

lots of water changes. i had a fish get popeye during the course of another disease that affected my whole tank. i dosed pimafix and melafix daily, along with a 50% pwc. within two weeks, all fish were better, including the one with popeye

 

[hbeth82]

Great, thanks. Whatever may be wrong with him, it doesn't seem to have passed on to any of the other fish, so I'm guessing it's just due to the high nitrate levels in his previous tank. Would you recommend putting him in isolation tank, 10gal, or treating the 55gal?

Thanks!

 

[mfdrookie516]

thats one of those hard decisions imo. moving will stress it more, but you dont want to risk spreading anything. Personally, i would leave it in the tank and treat the whole tank. both pimafix and melafix are natural, no harmful meds or anything, and lots of people use both as a prevention in qt, so i would just go that route

 

[hbeth82]

moving will stress it more, but you dont want to risk spreading anything.

Thanks, that was kinda my concern too, that he's been through enough that the stress of moving to a much smaller home would only make him worse. Don't think popeye is contagious (likely wrong) and none of the fish in my tank or in boyfriend's tank seem to be having same problem so not too worried about other fish having the same problem, but glad to know that the meds won't mess up the other fish or the tank itself.

 

[dkpate]

Popeye can be treated with just salt and clean water too. It's usually fluid build-up or an internal parasite.

 

[hbeth82]

Thanks but with all the little cory cats I have, prefer to avoid using salt. Unfortunately Plinko seems to be getting worse - still gasping, randomly sinks, and looks like he has trouble getting his body to move the way he wants (almost got himself stuck in my nana anubius), just weak in general. Also hasn't eaten anything as far as I can tell. Hate watching him suffer but also hate the idea of 'putting him down'.

 

[dkpate]

You don't have anywhere else to put him? Hmmm, well I would just keep the water super clean, like changes every day, and see how he does. I managed to save mine from deaths door! I hope you don't have to put him down

 

[hbeth82]

I have 10gal but don't have good filtration for it and (this will likely sound stupid but) haven't yet have a fish leave the tank in better condition than when it was introduced. Going back to what mfdrookie said, I was worried that moving him again & putting him in the 10gal would just cause more stress and harm than good. A few minutes of the day, he looks better but overall worse.

For lack of a better description, most of the time he floats around like a slightly disabled blimp - bumps into things, wobbles a bit, and sinks when staying in the same spot for more than a few seconds. Still not eating.

Should I try moving him, find other treatments, or has it become a lost cause?
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/mfdrookie516-24638.html

 

[mfdrookie516]

i would just keep up the daily water changes, melafix, and pimafix for a few weeks and see what happens... i spent $50 (not to mention the cost of emptying and replacing 75g of water every day) on pimafix and melafix for my 150g when i was battling columnaris... i got a 6 pack of aquarium salt for $.63 at walmart (the guy at the register gave me 6 for the price of one since they were bundled together, i even told him they were separate) and used half a box (forgot the size, but it was enough to treat 107 gallons at the tablespoon to 5g dosage) on every water change. Not sure if that would help in this situation, but it would be worth a try

 

[hbeth82]

Confused - the directions on the melafix and pimafix say to use it for a week and not do any water changes during that time. Did you use higher dosages or dose after every water change? Also, what about salt with cory cats?
If something else would be better than what I'm doing now, please tell me.

 

[dkpate]

When I was using the meds with the bettas, I changed 50% of the water every day. When I used it in my comm. tank, I changed 50% after 3 days (I believe that's what the bottle says to do?). When I redosed, I used enough for the whole tank every time (when I did a pwc, I put the meds in after). Not sure about the salt with the cory cats, but I have seen on here, people who have used salt with them. I wouldn't, just because of the whole slug+salt=shriveled mess, if you know what I mean.

 

[hbeth82]

Both Melafix and Pimafix list the same recommended dosages per 10gals, recommend treating daily for 7 days, then doing a 25% water change, though my fish will get a change much greater than 25% come this weekend! Would you guys (mfdrookie516 & dkpate, or anyone else following along) recommend sticking with this dosage but still doing water changes? I would feel much better about keeping the nitrates down as much as possible but from reading posts elsewhere sounds like it's important to build up the concentration of the stuff, or is this just nuts?

As for the salt, may consider it but will be much less than the recommended dosage, about 1/4 or less of the normal suggested.

Where's that 'slamming head against brick wall' smilie when you need it?!?

 

[dkpate]

I would do what the bottle said. Are you having nitrate problems? Try rinsing the filter media in old tank water. And like I said before, I changed 50% of the water after 3 days.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i dosed what the bottle recommended, but i did daily water changes.. i would recommend doing the water changes just because the clean water will do more than the meds will imo, just having those meds will be a help

 

[hbeth82]

Thanks. Haven't checked the parameters since the last water change and starting the meds this past Sunday. Do agree on the water parameters being as important as meds, will probably try to change tomorrow and then again this weekend.

Wish there was some kind of magical scale to measure the actual health of the fish, can't tell if my little drunken-blimp fish is better or worse than I think he's doing.

 

[hbeth82]

Well, the popeye seems to have subsided, but the rest of Plinko isn't doing any better. Still gasping, sometimes sitting on the bottom but occasionally up at the surface, pretty unsteady, and not eating.

However, this evening I did notice healthy poo - not the thin white mucus stuff, more like that of a normal, healthy eating fish. Which to me meant that he must be eating something, otherwise no BM, right? Or do some fish excrete something (no clue as to what) even though they're not eating, in which case this isn't as good a thing as I hope it is? This probably sounds really dumb and like I'm grasping at straws but I think it seems like a good sign.

Thanks!

 

[dkpate]

I think it's a good sign too!!! Congrats, hope he keeps getting better!

 

[hbeth82]

Thanks, that's what I'm hoping for!!! Sometimes he's out moving around more, then other times he's impossible to find or dangling at the surface. As for the poo, couldn't see him very well as he was kinda hiding behind the chunk of driftwood, but a thick dark brown thread was hanging from the general area so I don't know what else it could be. Guess the only thing that stops me from celebrating is that it maybe something else related to him being sick or not eating.

 

[mfdrookie516]

just keep up what you're doing. fish generally start looking worse before they start looking better, just keep that in mind. When i was battling columnaris, i didnt think my fish were going to make it. I couldnt figure it out, i did everything exactly the way i was told to do it. After about 2-3 weeks, they all started looking better. It may be in your best interest to keep it up another week after the fish looks better just to make sure any disease is gone. Hope everything works out for ya