Goldfish with popeye

[Aquarium Girl]

1~What type of fish is afflicted? Oranda goldfish. White growths over both eyes, now bloody. No streaks in fins, no stringy poop, eating and swimming well.


2~What are your tank parameters: ammo 0, nitrites 0, PH 7.8, nitrates 20, temp 27C


3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up? Have just moved to 65L (approx 17 gal) QT after acclimating for 45 mins. Was previously in 55 gal which has been set up for over a year.


4~What type of filtration are you using? QT tank - AquaOne50, display tank eheim classic 250 + Aquaone50 (now on QT)


5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes? 3 - all fancy goldfish that I have had for around 18 months. All around 2 inches. They haven't shown a great deal of growth although they are in a large tank (and have been for over a year) and I do weekly WC.


6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? One week ago - I do 50% PWC every week. Nitrates never over 20ppm.

Ok, so I noticed my goldfish's eye started to cloud over a couple of days ago. It has now progressed to being popped out with bloody streaks showing up tonight.

I have moved her into the QT with a filter from the established tank and added an air stone.

The air pump on the established tank is not working too well atm and I've read that this can be caused by lack of oxygen/gas exchange? Any thoughts on this?

I have decided to leave her and see how she responds to lots of clean water and more oxygen and see how she is in the morning. The only medication I have on hand is Wardleys Promethyasul which I believe is good for popeye amongst other things. I am in Aus so a lot of medications named on this site are not available to me. I can get Melafix if that would help?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Pics are of Sylvia before the affliction (best one I could find on my phone right now) and how she looks now.

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Well no improvement overnight so I'm about to head to my LFS for some advice (hmmmm not sure about that). Thinking about trying Epsom salts before medicating but her right eye looks pretty huge and I'm worried that it will pop if I don't do something soon.

I'll check params in the QT tank when I get back and post them here.

Any advice in the meantime would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Aquarium Girl]

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Back from the LFS who advised me to try salt and Pimafix. I bought it but still not sure how to proceed.

Params in QT tank are: ammo 0, PH 7.8, nitrites 0, nitrates 5.

I have just mixed up 3tbs of Epsom salts into some tank water and going to add it to the QT over the next 1/2 hour. Will post updates as I go.

 

[jlk]

Back from the LFS who advised me to try salt and Pimafix. I bought it but still not sure how to proceed.

Params in QT tank are: ammo 0, PH 7.8, nitrites 0, nitrates 5.

I have just mixed up 3tbs of Epsom salts into some tank water and going to add it to the QT over the next 1/2 hour. Will post updates as I go.

Did the lfs recommend 3tbsp of Epsom? That's excessive, even for a short term bath. For a bath, the max dose is 1tsp/g. I really would recommend antibiotics here but I am not sure if you have access to them. Both eyes appear affected- is this correct?

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Thanks for the reply JLK. I'm using metric measurements so works out to be 1tsp/2g. So far no adverse effects but after researching all night I haven't been sure what to do so I have gone ahead and added a dose of Pimafix as well. It (allegedly) helps with internal and external bacterial infections but does not effect the bacterial cycle (hmmmm - doesn't make sense!).

She is still very active and eating well. I don't have access to antibiotics here in Au without going to an aquatic vet and that's out of my reach at the moment.

So would you recommend that I do a PWC to reduce the epsom salt and if so, should I replace the lost Pimafix?

Any suggestions will be taken on board gratefully.

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Oh and yes, both eyes are affected. The other fish are healthy and well. Really not sure what has happened here

 

[jlk]

Let's give her 12-24hrs and let's see how she is doing! Hmm...I remember quite awhile ago helping someone from Au and she was able to procure antibiotics without a script. Have you checked EBay or farm suppliers or avian suppliers? Sometimes certain antibiotics are available for purchase for cows or birds but not fish. Worth checking anyway! Are Esha products available to you? Or another line of fish meds such as Waterlife?

Ok, we will see how she is doing and go from there!

 

[Aquarium Girl]

I'll start my research now on those products. Thanks for the help - these goldfish are my daughters and she was devastated when we lost one to dropsy six months ago so I want to do anything in my power to save this one!!!

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Am I just looking for broad spectrum antibiotics btw?

 

[jlk]

Something very basic and broad spectrum like tetracycline or doxycycline would probably be the easiest to find. Not the best stuff but we will work with whatever you can find. The Esha and Waterlife line of products are not true antibiotics but contain actual meds that may help. Let me know if you have any luck!

 

[Aquarium Girl]

I have found a local aquarium shop that sells Water Life Myxazin? Not having any luck finding tetracycline as yet.

 

[jlk]

The myaxin is worth a try! It's an antibacterial rather than antibiotic but it contains acriflavine which may help. Acriflavine was used to treat some infections before the discovery of antibiotics. It also contains malachite green and formaldehyde.

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Ok great - thanks! I'll see how she goes over the next 24 hours and if no improvement I'll try to get hold of the Myxazin ?.

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Things are looking up! Both eyes are still protruding but are slightly clearer and less blood. Sylvia is perky, eating and swimming well and overall appears to be more comfortable.

I gave the 2nd dose of Pimafix this morning and will continue to update on her progress.

 

[jlk]

I am very glad to hear this!! Keep us posted on her condition!

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Another 12 hours and she's continuing to improve although I'm not entirely confident that the Pimafix will cure her but rather is just alleviating the symptoms. Playing the waiting and watching game .....

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Ok so Day 4 of Pimafix and her eyes appeared to be clearing up but have come home today to find her left eye appears to have "popped" and there is bloody tissue hanging out ?
Not sure where to go from here. Big water changes??? Carbon to remove meds??? Or is this a part of the healing process? I'm really worried now and could really use some advice.
Right eye - looking much better but still like a big blister over the eye

Left eye - ewwwww

 

[Aquarium Girl]

Well I struck it out with Pimafix for the full 7 days and I think there's some improvement. The left eye still looks pretty bad and I'm wondering if she might be blind in that eye but the right eye is quite clear and the blister-like covering is starting to reduce.

Water params were good - ammo 0, PH 7.8, nitrites 0 and nitrates 5.

I have just done a 75% WC and added carbon to the filter so I'm now just going to do 25% PWC's every day or 2 and see how she progresses.

 

[Roz]

I'm keeping a watch on this thread to see how she goes. I would probably do 50% water changes, but I'm no expert and so best to wait for more authoritative advice.

Did you figure out what caused it?