Popeye

[Amicus]

Hi,
I think one of my fish has popeye. Can anyone recommend a treatment? Does the bacteria/virus show up in any other way?

 

[jlk]

Can you possibly provide some more information so we are better able to help you?
Tank size?
Water parameters?
Type of test being used?
Type of fish affected?
Exact/ any additional symptoms (appetite, color, poop, flashing, not swimming, unusual behavior, etc)?
One or both eyes affected?
Is he new or are there any other new fish in past mths?
If he or any fish are new, were they qt?

Some more info will help us to help you!

 

[Amicus]

The tank is 72g med to heavily planted. Water parameters are all good and nitrAtes are about 10. The fish is a harlequin rasp. and only one eye is infected. He seems to be eating and is swimming around with the rest. On one of my female dwarf rainbows there is a lighter patch on her back just behind her head. I was performing a water change and saw a decomposing fish float by. It is our but over the last few weeks I have lost three other fish. I do not see any other symptoms on any other fish. The infected fish is not new. Water temp is 80. I am hoping that there are no other casualties, they are hard to find due to the heavy vegetation.

 

[absolutangel04]

Since its just one eye, it is likely the result of an injury. Adding some salt will help equalize the pressure though.

 

[jlk]

Thank you so much for the information! Typically, if only one eye is affected, its most likely due to an injury that is healing. There is a possibility of an injured eye becoming infected if there has been a laceration to the eye. Popeye is usually distinguished by both eyes being affected as its due to an internal infection (bacterial, viral, or parasitic) and a fish will typically display other symptoms (legarthic, lack of appetitie, etc). I am not sure why you have had some fish deathes of over the past weeks. I would observe the fish in question & watch for any new symptoms. If he gets worse, I would qt him until we can figure out what you may be dealing with. Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[Amicus]

Thanks. I'll keep on eye on all of them. I appreciate the words.

 

[absolutangel04]

If you can, I definitely recommend the salt still though. Like I said, it helps out with the pressure in the eye and limits the complications that can happen because of the pressure.

 

[Amicus]

I am open to adding salt but I do have cories and zebra loaches. How much salt do I add and what type? Table or Sea? 72g aquarium.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

Do not use salt in the aquarium
It will damage plants with relatively low dosage
Also bad for the cory & loaches or any other scaleless fish
Better if you take the fish out into a qt & treat the fish there

 

[absolutangel04]

Actually the way I have done it before is with epsom salt. 1 tbsp per 5g is recommended, but I would do it half strength because of your cories. If the cories and loaches seem ok with the salt (they often are ok with it since its only for a short time), then you could increase it a little. If you have any sort of a tupperware container or something you could use it as a qt with a heater and an air stone (or even just a heater).
Dissolve the salt in water before adding the mix to the tank.

EDIT: small dosages of salt should be fine with the plants and the cories. I know lots of people who have treated the tank with salt who have both cories and plants. If you keep an eye on it and use a low dose, it should be fine. But yes, treating in a qt is preferred.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

What about the plants?
It's up to them
But with me I never want to risk it I'd rather take the fish out into the qt for treatment

 

[absolutangel04]

And I should add that if you see signs of your plants being affected, you may have to cut back the dosage even further. Thats why its easier to just use a bucket or something as a qt. If you room can be kept decently warm, then you can even get by without a heater.

 

[jlk]

I would not add salt in a heavily planted tank with loaches. I would still just observe the fish in question & see if he heals up on his own. If he does not improve or gets worse over the next couple of days, then I would remove him to qt & try treating with salt.

 

[absolutangel04]

To the OP, I suggest you google pop-eye and see what direction of treatment you are comfortable with. You can use the search function on this site too to see what other people have done to treat it.
Let us know if you have more questions. Remember that no matter what direction of treatment you choose to go with, having very clean water does a lot to help a fish heal.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

+1
Agreed, clean water always helps the fish heal up

 

[Amicus]

I'll keep any eye on him and if need be I will qt in a bucket, weather it's salt or antibiotics. It may be an injury as its only one eye but I'm worried about further infection.

 

[absolutangel04]

I would only give it a couple of days though before treating him. Since you are going that route, I suggest doing more frequent pwc's. Once I treated pop-eye by just having really clean water, but every other time it took intervention. The eye swelling is very uncomfortable for the fish and leaving it for too long can lead to the fish losing use of the eye forever.
Hopefully this is a mild case and he gets better. Keep us updated.