recurring popeye

[Tivaala]

well ive looked over other posts and searched the web, just wondering if anyone else has any input.

one of my mollies got popeye. so i QT'd it, treated it large water changes etc. it went away. all good i thought, gave it some time to be sure and then added the other 3 mollies to the tank (1 at a time just to be super sure i didnt overload even though its an established tank) as i want to seperate them from the guppies and platies to breed. and the popeye is back. same fish. tank is plenty large enough for 4 mollies, filter is super ok for them, they dont fight.... only thing i can think of is
a) this is just the latest problem with my problem mollies. (bought them in pairs one of each pair didnt survive trip home, ones that did had spasms/fits then swim bladder problem then died. 3 of 7 lived and seemed fine. til now. other 2 seem fine and dandy tho)
b) she dosnt like other fish.

 

[Crepe]

Maybe if you kept less spinach in the water...haha jk jk jk.

Okay, there are several causes to pop eye, parasitic; which is incurable unless you go to the vet for medicated food. Or it is environmental. Give us a read of your water parameters- Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, pH and Hardness. It could also be injury induced, in which case you should treat with Maracyn 1, 2 or +.

By the sound of it it's something wrong with your LFS, as in a parasite infection. I'm sorry but this is the best I can do without having an ichthyologist conduct an autopsy

Also, you mention this is recurring? Is this happening consistently after a period of time? How long did it take to go away and what did you do that made it go away. Does this happen with all fish from the LFS? It could even be that you aren't acclimating the fish well enough if the LFS is keeping them in different water parameters (i.e. brackish and then a sudden move to fresh could cause fluid build up behind the eye)

Most importantly don't panic and keep lighthearted, be rational in your actions. I know of some people that just went nuts and shotgun dosed anti-fungals, bacterials and parasitics and ended up killing all their livestock.

 

[Tivaala]

ok amm 0, nitrites 0 nitrates 10. water is quite hard here but same at the lfs and she was home with me for sometime before this happened and shes the only one.
your comment about the LFS is well taken Crepe, i no longer go there for fish and my male mollie came from elsewhere. (he's completely healthy although on an unrelated note he's is completely uninterested in females. le sigh)
this is the second time its happened. id had her for oh about a month before it first happened. QT and it cleared up in less than a week. added the other mollies and within a day it was bulgey again. moved them back out....gone again. within about a day. the LFS keeps them in fresh so i keep them in fresh although ive been wondering if they might do better if i gently change them to brackish.

i think it might be something in the strain from the breeders. although this one is a lot older than the other 2 females (shes about 2 1/2 inches to their 1) they are all from the same breeder originally. i checked with the lfs after the second one died in the bag on the way home. like i said my original male and 3 other females died, all the same way. this one seemed healthy but she does occasionally do the spasm/fitting thing. of course i could be paranoid but the other 3 dont do it. and some of the fry do.


every other fish that isnt a mollie is fine. the goldfish, the dannios, the cherry barbs, the minnows all came from the same LFS and no problem with any one of them. although i still wont go back there.

and thanks il try removing the spinach see if that helps

 

[ChileRelleno]

Hope this helps... I suggest treating medicinally for a chronic bacterial infection.
Apparently the fish's immune system was strong enough to fight it off the first time with just some solitary R&R.
But in the stresses of the community tank it has reoccurred.

Popeye is usually the result/symptom of a internal bacterial infection.
Fix any water quality issues and maintain water quality, sometimes this will solve the problem if it isn't chronic/severe.
Dose with any of a number of OTC wide spectrum anti-bacterials.
I'm partial to Mardel's products.
.................................

Popeye can also be caused by 'Eye Flukes/Worm Cataract, i.e. digenetic flukes/flatworms.
I've heard of Flukes first manifesting as multiple small white spots on the eye.
But both Eye Flukes/Worm Cataract, i.e. digenetic flukes/flatworms are very uncommon/rare in established aquaria/fish, due to their life cycles.
More common in newly acquired wild caught fish and pond fish, some fish are bred in outdoor ponds and thus exposed, may infested upon purchase.
Commonly these digenetic flukes/flatworms manifest as cloudiness/cataract, and usually accompanied with swelling (popeye) in the affected eye.

Treat with a good anti-parasitic.
I like 'General Cure', 'PraziPro' & 'Clout'.
I haven't used 'CopperSafe', but I've heard that it does the job well, my only concern is it's toxicity.

 

[Tivaala]

cheers for the advice guys.