Help! What to do about pop eye?

[missmonday]

Hello,

I can't seem to post any pictures from my phone, but when I woke up this morning I noticed my sunset gourami, Mr. Mango, had pop eue in one of his eyes! None of the other fish seem to have any eye bulges, so I think he's the only one.

I doubt my problem is water quality because I checked my water yesterday and it was ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0-5, ph 7.4 and temp 74/75.

I can't do anything right now because I have to go to work soon, but when I get home, I plan on putting him in my (sadly uncycled) quarantine tank treating with paraguard and Epsom salts.

Anyone else have any advice? Thanks!

 

[coralbandit]

The epsom salt is a choice IMO.
If water quality is good(your seems good) then popeye is an bacterial infection.
Antibiotics and epsom salt are best treatment.
Not sure the paraguard has anything to offer in this case.(save it for better use)

This should make good reading for before you get home.
Bacterial infections | The Skeptical Aquarist

Good luck!

 

[missmonday]

I did look at the label for paraguard and it says it helps treat external bacterial /fungal and viral lesions and specifies that it helps treat fin rot, so I kinda figured it might help kill some of the bacteria? I'd think that a bath would be better than dosing the 10 gallon quarantine tank.

I don't have any antibiotics on hand, but I can try to look for maracyn 2 maybe today or sometime when I have free time, thanks!

 

[Andy Sager]

I did look at the label for paraguard and it says it helps treat external bacterial /fungal and viral lesions and specifies that it helps treat fin rot, so I kinda figured it might help kill some of the bacteria? I'd think that a bath would be better than dosing the 10 gallon quarantine tank.

I don't have any antibiotics on hand, but I can try to look for maracyn 2 maybe today or sometime when I have free time, thanks!

The big issues are that those are external diseases but even tho Pop-Eye shows externally, it's basically an internal disease or condition. I've been reading up recently on Maracyn 2's ineffectiveness in hard water which you can read about here: Aquarium Medications Part 2 | Antibiotic & Antimicrobial Treatments
Scroll down to the Minocycline entry. So if you have this condition, Kanamycin ( Kanaplex) would be the better choice.

Hope this helps.

 

[coralbandit]

Andy nailed it as usual!
Kanaplex(seachem) has been one of the more effective antibiotics against some of the stronger bacterial issues lately.
The paraguard will not help you in this case.
Baths or dips of stronger epsom salt mix may be very helpful as an additional treatment but I would treat the tank myself.

 

[missmonday]

I have pretty soft water, so would maracyn 2 still be a good bet?

I planned on removing my sick gourami and putting him in the 10 gallon quarantine, should I treat the whole 29 gallon community tank, or just the sick gourami? No one else appears to be having any issues.

What's a good epsom salt mix? How many tsp/tbsp per gallon?

 

[Andy Sager]

I have pretty soft water, so would maracyn 2 still be a good bet?

I planned on removing my sick gourami and putting him in the 10 gallon quarantine, should I treat the whole 29 gallon community tank, or just the sick gourami? No one else appears to be having any issues.

What's a good epsom salt mix? How many tsp/tbsp per gallon?

There are some lines of thought that if only one eye is effected, the fish most likely suffered a injury to the eye and would be better treated in a separate tank while if both eyes are effected, it's more likely a bacterial infection caused by environmental issues within the tank. If you follow this line, the main tank should be treated for bacterial issues while if it's an injury, the fish would be better served in a hospital tank. So I would make sure you see nothing on any of the other fish before deciding where to medicate.
The big problem with treating the main tank with maracyn 2 is that the tank will more likely get cloudy making the tank unseemly to watch. In a hospital tank, this shouldn't matter. Kanamycin does not cloud the water. Neither med is supposed to effect biological filtration.

Epsom salt: For a dip, I use 1 tablespoon / gal. For whole tank prophylactic- 1 Tablespoon / 5 gal. Replace only percentage changed during routine water changes. No need to add continually without water changes.

Hope this helps

 

[missmonday]

Well, as soon as I could yesterday I added 2 tablespoons of epsom salt to 10 gallons of water and left the single gourami in the quarantine tank. It also seems as though he's got some light fungus on his eye, but seeing as I had a feeling he got injured aomehow (only one pop eye), I suppose that's not too surprising.

He keeps bumping in to absolutely everything, making me think he can only see out of the one eye. He also won't eat.

I'm going to try to get my hands on some maracyn 2 as soon as possible, but what to do about the fungus? I'm shocked at how fast things have been getting worse I hope the little guy pulls through.

 

[Andy Sager]

I wouldn't try feeding him for now. He's got enough trauma going on that food is far from his mind and all it's doing for now is polluting the tank. I would take any decor out of the hospital tank so he doesn't bump into more things and now consider using Furan-2( or nitrofurazone powder) and Kanamycin both. This should help remedy both situations. I don't believe the maracyn 2 will be strong enough anymore if the eye is fungusing already. Be aware that the fish may lose the eye if it gets bad enough but if you can cure the cause, the fish can still live with only the one eye. I have multiple Breeding Angelfish with only one eye so it does not stop them from having a quality time of life.
Hope this helps.

 

[missmonday]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, but sadly Mr. Mango had passed when I went to check on him after coming home from class.

Both eyes had fungused over. Would it be advisable to have furan-2, maracyn 2 and kanamycin on hand for next time?

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, but sadly Mr. Mango had passed when I went to check on him after coming home from class.

Both eyes had fungused over. Would it be advisable to have furan-2, maracyn 2 and kanamycin on hand for next time?

Sorry for your loss. Keep a close eye on your tank and the first signs of anything "funky"in the next week or so, I'd be looking at the tank as the cause and proceed accordingly.

Yes, those meds should be in your " just in case "med kit. I wouldn't necessarily keep both Maracyn-2 & kanamycin. One should do it and if I were choosing, I'd be choosing kanamycin. ( Less issues with it and it's more potent.)

Hope this helps

 

[brennae]

I'm so sorry to hear about Mr. Mango.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[missmonday]

Thanks for your concern guys, I just wish I was able to do more for him.

I've ordered some furan-2 and will get some kanamycin soon as well.