Rainbow Fish with Popeye

[fishiness]

Hi all, I've had this issue for a long while, and I'm not sure what to do. Two of my rainbow fish have had popeye in both eyes on and off for a few weeks now. I've tried treating with Maracyn II and Melafix and neither helped. I've tested the aquarium water and the water from the tap - no ammonia or nitrites or nitrates. Water changes seem to make it worse, though. The only time it started to clear up completely was when I waited on the water change (I made sure the nitrates didn't get too high of course). I have no idea what could be causing this or how to fix it. They don't fight or act any differently than the others, and always eat just as much as they did. I would love to figure out what's going on so I could get them feeling better.

General stats:
55g, planted, 77F, 9 rainbows and 3 nerite snails
No new decor or plants
WC: ~30%
Filtration: 2 Eheim canisters, 2215 and 2217

 

[Delapool]

Hello, welcome to the forum

The no nitrates is a little odd. Do you do a lot of water changes or under stock?

 

[fishiness]

Hello, welcome to the forum

The no nitrates is a little odd. Do you do a lot of water changes or under stock?

Hi and thank you!

According to AqAdvisor I'm understocked by about 25% (I've heard the estimate it gives is conservative?). My tank is fairly heavily planted and I do weekly WC of about 30%-40%. I used the API Master Test Kit to do nitrates, etc, toward the end of the week and it was <5ppm, barely colored. So I suppose more accurately I had very low nitrates.

Happy to get a reply!

 

[Delapool]

Thanks for the info Couple of thoughts might be:

Does you water conditioner detoxify heavy metals eg something like prime? So is tap water good quality and also do you temp match roughly the change water to reduce stress?

 

[fishiness]

Thanks for the info Couple of thoughts might be:

Does you water conditioner detoxify heavy metals eg something like prime? So is tap water good quality and also do you temp match roughly the change water to reduce stress?

I've had the tank for nearly 2 years and I've never had this problem previously, so I'm not sure if it's the tap or not. I used to use Tetra Aquasafe, but I recently purchased Stress Coat+ which is supposed to detoxify heavy metals (I thought that might be the issue). I've only done one water change with SC+ so I think it might be too early to tell if it's helping. Also, I always try to get the temp of the new water the same as the old.

Is it possible that heavy metals wouldn't affect all the fish and just two?

 

[Delapool]

I've had the tank for nearly 2 years and I've never had this problem previously, so I'm not sure if it's the tap or not. I used to use Tetra Aquasafe, but I recently purchased Stress Coat+ which is supposed to detoxify heavy metals (I thought that might be the issue). I've only done one water change with SC+ so I think it might be too early to tell if it's helping. Also, I always try to get the temp of the new water the same as the old.

Is it possible that heavy metals wouldn't affect all the fish and just two?

From what I've seen it is possible for different fish to be more sensitive to something.

Looked up both these water conditioners and looks like they both detoxify heavy metals but no mention of detoxifying chloramines completely as prime does (for the ammonia byproduct). Depends what's in your tap water if an issue or not.

http://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?id=652#.Vt947UXCanM

http://www.tropicalfishsite.com/tetra-aqua-safe-water-conditioner-review/

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

Was the maracyn 2 as a medicated feed? It's not as effective in higher ph / gh tank waters as a dose into the tank. Say over 7.5 ph.

 

[fishiness]

From what I've seen it is possible for different fish to be more sensitive to something.

Looked up both these water conditioners and looks like they both detoxify heavy metals but no mention of detoxifying chloramines completely as prime does (for the ammonia byproduct). Depends what's in your tap water if an issue or not.

Welcome to API Fishcare: STRESS COAT®

Tetra Aqua Safe Water Conditioner Review | Tropical Fish Site

Seachem. Prime

Was the maracyn 2 as a medicated feed? It's not as effective in higher ph / gh tank waters as a dose into the tank. Say over 7.5 ph.

Alright, I'll stop off on my way home and purchase some Prime! I'm really hoping it helps. I dosed the tank with Maracyn. The pH is about 7.2 and soft-ish water.