GBR with bulging eye. pop eye? help!

[siva]

My gorgeous GBR has one eye bulging. I've never seen anything like this with any of my fish. What should I do? Water parameters to follow.

 

[siva]

Ammo, nitrite, and nitrate are all at zero...or nitrate might be a 2 or something. pH is 7.8. None of my tanks have ever been that high. Last I tested pH was on 5/22 and it was 7.4. Could the pH increase have something to do with this? It is a 10 gal QT with only a young gold ram and GBR that I purchased 5/16.

 

[librarygirl]

Ammo, nitrite, and nitrate or all at zero...or nitrate might be a 2 or something. pH is 7.8. None of my tanks have ever been that high. Last I tested pH was on 5/22 and it was 7.4. Could the pH increase have something to do with this? It is a 10 gal QT with only a young gold ram and GBR that I purchased 5/16.

Hi! You said nitrAte was zero or close-to? Is the main tank cycled? You mention a QT tank - is that one cycled?

I'm sure someone more experienced will be around to help you more. Sorry about your fish, I hope s/he gets better soon. You might want to post this in the Unhealthy Fish section, it might get more attention there

 

[Homedog98]

Hello siva! Can you set up a QT for him? If so that'd be best. Other then that, you need Maracyn and aquarium salt to help him. Since it's only in one eye, it was most likely an injury, so while he's (hopefully) in a QT, it'll give you some time to look around for sharp objects that could have caused him to get poked.

 

[siva]

Hi! You said nitrAte was zero or close-to? Is the main tank cycled? You mention a QT tank - is that one cycled?

I'm sure someone more experienced will be around to help you more. Sorry about your fish, I hope s/he gets better soon. You might want to post this in the Unhealthy Fish section, it might get more attention there

Yes definitely cycled. It's lightly stocked and filtered well with lots of live plants. A small weekly water change has been keeping the nitrates to 5 or less.

 

[siva]

Hello siva! Can you set up a QT for him? If so that'd be best. Other then that, you need Maracyn and aquarium salt to help him. Since it's only in one eye, it was most likely an injury, so while he's (hopefully) in a QT, it'll give you some time to look around for sharp objects that could have caused him to get poked.

Thanks Lauren. I discovered this earlier just as I was about to walk out the door and haven't even had a chance to google it yet. He is in a QT now, so I'll just remove the gold ram so he I can treat just the blue. It really stinks that I was already at the lfs today and can't get back before they close. I do have some salt on hand though so I can start that tonight. I'll start researching, but do you happen to know the correct salt dosage? As for the sharp objects, there's only a few things in there so I will check them out right away and remove anything suspect.

 

[Homedog98]

Thanks Lauren. I discovered this earlier just as I was about to walk out the door and haven't even had a chance to google it yet. He is in a QT now, so I'll just remove the gold ram so he I can treat just the blue. It really stinks that I was already at the lfs today and can't get back before they close. I do have some salt on hand though so I can start that tonight. I'll start researching, but do you happen to know the correct salt dosage? As for the sharp objects, there's only a few things in there so I will check them out right away and remove anything suspect.

I usually just go with one tablespoon for every 5 gallons of water.

 

[eco23]

Hello siva! Can you set up a QT for him? If so that'd be best. Other then that, you need Maracyn and aquarium salt to help him. Since it's only in one eye, it was most likely an injury, so while he's (hopefully) in a QT, it'll give you some time to look around for sharp objects that could have caused him to get poked.

This is exactly what I used and how I treated my neon with a similar injury (it looked horrendous when it first happened). He was completely healed up within a week and I can't even tell which one it was that had pop-eye now. Homedog helped me out on that occasion too

 

[siva]

Uh oh it's not an injury. It's in big trouble. She's laying down in the java moss now with both her eyes bulging, with rapid gill movement. I've had this one in QT for almost a month and it's seemed so healthy and just got prettier and prettier. I've kept the water perfect. Could this pH spike have something do with this?

 

[eco23]

Uh oh it's not an injury. It's in big trouble. She's laying down in the java moss now with both her eyes bulging, with rapid gill movement. I've had this one in QT for almost a month and it's seemed so healthy and just got prettier and prettier. I've kept the water perfect. Could this pH spike have something do with this?

Sorry to hear that :-(. She's in QT now? If you've moved her into the DT, I'd suggest isolating her. I'd have to do some more research on pop-eye to really help out, but I know a bacterial infection can be a common cause if it's not from injury (which both eyes would seem unlikely as injury).

I wouldn't think a pH swing of .4 would be responsible. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility, but that seems unlikely to me.

*sorry, I just saw you already put her in QT

 

[siva]

Yeah, I've never actually taken the 2 rams out of QT. It's been almost a month since I got them. I wanted to give them some extra time in there to try and make sure they were stable before stressing them with moving them. I was paranoid since like my last GBR died after 6 days. Apparently I was paranoid with good reason. It's not looking like it's going to make it. It's up against the filter intake tube now. I've read Melafix is actually a good treatment for popeye, which I found surprising, so I guess I'll go ahead and add some of thats since I do have it on hand. But I'd say the outlook is grim Thanks for all your help though.

 

[Homedog98]

Try primafix as well... Since it's both eyes now, it's definitely a bacterial infection. Isolate the fish, and dose both melafix and primafix. It's all you can do right now

 

[George9]

If mela/primafix don't work, isolate the fish and treat with maracyn two. It cleared up my pop eye. Melafix or primafix didn't work for me, but it works for some people an not others.

 

[WendiDell]

One thing that will help your fish while the antibiotics do their job, is adding Epsom's salt to the tank. It's not sodium, it's magnesium it helps to relieve the pressure on the eyes. The less pressure the less permanent damage.
I've used it a few times and it reduced the swelling within the first 24 hours. The swelling can cause your fish to loose the affected eye .or eyes. So even if the survive the infection they won't last long as a blind fish.
Epsom's Salt is really cheap & you can get it at almost any store.
I used one and a half table spoons per five gallons of water. I did a PWC every day and replaced the Epsom's Salt. It took 3-4 days for their eyes to get back to normal. Making it easier for the antibiotics to do their job.