Black Moor with popeye

[richardeblack]

Hello
I am new to this forum so pleas forgive me posting about something already discussed. Unfortunately none of the other posts I have found cover our situation exactly.
I have one Black Moor (called Mardi Fish) about 19cm long in a tank 60 X 30 X 35cm (63l) (on his own) with an Aqua Internal 200 filter unit. There are a few ornaments in the tank. We feed him a brand of food called Aquarian goldfish and coldwater flake food.
We clean the tank out when it starts to get a bit of algae on the glass, probably about every 3 to 4 weeks. I used to just do partial changes and vacuum the gravel but my wife insists on emptying the whole tank now and cleaning everything when we clean him. We make sure the water is the same temperature and treat it with tapwater conditioner before putting him back in. He always seems quite happy and lively as soon as we put him back in.
I am afraid I don't have a kit to test parameters but will get one but the temperature is about 18 degrees C.
He has quite bad popeye in one eye but is full of beans otherwise. He had it before and recovered and his eye looked ok for a while. He now has it again but it is quite bad this time and I am a bit worried. I have put some photographs on the thread. It doesn't seem to worry him and he is very lively (makes it difficult to get a good photo). No sign of it in the other eye.
Is it more likely to be damage, either from handling him or from the ornaments?
Can someone suggest the best way of dealing with it please? As I say, it got better last time but is worse this time. It is the same eye as last time.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Richard.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SzDAx447VUERdT9k7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XqEaqrz5gfEiETkr5

 

[richardeblack]

Unfortunately my photos wouldn't go on. I'll try again.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SzDAx447VUERdT9k7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XqEaqrz5gfEiETkr5

 

[Autumnsky]

Welcome.

The 63 liter tank is appx. 16.5G fish is appx 7 inches - Does this length include the tail?

There are quite a number of things to discuss.

The top issues are water changes and the size of the fish for the size of the tank.

So, right now, when was the last water change water in the tank?

Popeye is often caused by water quality issues.

I will add a bunch of links for articles to read through below. There will also be links for other articles as well similar topics in the articles themselves. The more information the better.

So if the water has been changed within the past week or 10 days, go ahead and take 50% water change of water only. And replace as you have before and always should with same tank water temp treated to dechlorinate.

Then do another 50% water change, water only, not the whole tank. The reason is that the difference in water in the tank and the new cleaner water from the tap is considerably different.

The double water change will make the change in the water more gradual.

If the last water change has been longer than about 10 days, do the double pwc but 25% then wait a few hours do another pwc, about 40%.

That will help reduce stress for the fish.

Goldfish are big waste producers and need a large tank, extra filtration and frequent water changes!!!

Realizing you already have a tank and fish, but this article has lots of important information, especially about the nitrification cycle. Which is about beneficial bacteria / BB, which builds a colony in the filter pad/ media making your tank able to process waste and excess foods and keep the tank more stable.

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium/

I will add more links for the articles in the next post.

 

[richardeblack]

Thank you very much.
I changed the water a couple of days ago. It had been about 3 weeks since the last change. The length I mentioned includes the tail. Do you think the tank is too small? I don't have room for a larger tank unfortunately. Would you normally expect him to be dull and listless if the water quality was poor.
I will have a go at changing the water again
Do you think it might be an injury?
Thank you very much.
Richard.

 

[Autumnsky]

Cycling a tank
https://www.aquariumadvice.com/i-just-learned-about-cycling-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now/

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/fishin-cycling-step-dark-side/

Goldfish needing large tanks!

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/foru...uire-big-tanks-visual-perspective-265871.html

 

[Autumnsky]

Sorry got sidetracked.

The tank would need to be upgraded in size to help these issues from recurring. As well as making sure the tank is cycled and stable.

You may be able to do 50% weekly or 2x weekly water changes, as you will know by doing water testing.

You may be able to get this guy healed up and get him to a new home with a very large tank.

The possibility it was an injury could be part of the equation. You can check all areas in the tank, for any pointy or hard or jagged things he could get jabbed on.

Always better to be safe.

The Popeye /cloudy eye is recurring and more likely with the size of the tank and the water change schedule caused by poor water quality.

This fish is causing ammonia from waste and if the filter isn't cycled properly, then the toxic byproducts of fish keeping fish poo and excess decaying food - ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte just keep building up until the next change.

The articles will explain the majority of the processes and ideas.

As for cleaning out the entire tank, it is stressful on the fish. Being in poor quality water before the pwc, then suddenly with 100% water tank clean, it's a bit of a shock and takes some time to get used to the new water. Although happy probably for the safe new water parameters.

The other thing about cleaning out the whole tank, is if you use tap water with chlorine
to rinse the rocks, again you kill all the BB which has been developing on them. You could consider using a tank only sieve and rinse with dechlorinated water if you ever needed to.

 

[Autumnsky]

Do you have other fish in the tank? Or would you want to have multiple Fancy Goldfish.

The basic which every one says, is starting at a minimum of 20G for the first fish and 10G there after but a 30G tank wouldn't really be a good fit for 2 GF which are the size of a base ball.

So maybe a 45-46G tank for 2

A 35 G would be okay for one if there was a really good filter turning over 10x the water size of the tank. 350 gallons per hour.

 

[Autumnsky]

How is your fish doing?

 

[richardeblack]

Do you have other fish in the tank? Or would you want to have multiple Fancy Goldfish.

The basic which every one says, is starting at a minimum of 20G for the first fish and 10G there after but a 30G tank wouldn't really be a good fit for 2 GF which are the size of a base ball.

So maybe a 45-46G tank for 2

A 35 G would be okay for one if there was a really good filter turning over 10x the water size of the tank. 350 gallons per hour.

Thank you for the information again.
We only have the one fish but he is 7 1/2" long and in a 13 gallon tank so we definitely have to think about what we do. My wife wants to send him to her brother who keeps fish in a pond but I'm not keen. Not sure that I will be able to persuade her that I can have a bigger tank. I will work on her.
He is still bad from his eye point of view but still very lively and no problem with his other eye.
I will do a partial water change tomorrow but the test kit still hasn't arrived.
Thank you very much.
Richard.