My Oscar has Popeye

jshep105

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 5, 2011
281
1
0
Massachusetts, USA
Hi. I would like to start off with that I do 50% water changes while vacuuming the gravel once a week. I also use Seachem Prime for to dechlorinate the tap water. I have two small oscars living in my 55 gallon grow out tank. So Thursday night I fed my two Oscar fish and checked them out and they were happily eating and very active. They looked great. Then Friday morning when I fed them, I noticed one of them had one bulging eye. Here is a picture of his eye:
ImageUploadedByMonsterAquariaNetwork1330822665.281109.jpg
Then I went to work and did some research on how to treat this. On my way home I decided to pick up some T.C. Tetracycline for a hefty price. When I got home 12 hours later, I was in for a huge surprise. His eye looked 3 times worse and he was very stressed (his color was gray and not the normal orange/red and black like he usually is..). Here is another picture:
View attachment 754293
I could not believe how much worse it got in just 12 hours. I quickly started treatment with the medication. I also put in a tank divider to separate the two oscars because people told me it could be due to the two fish fighting. I raised the temperature to 83 becauss I read that it helps kill the bacteria causing popeye. It is now Saturday and he is swimming slowly but he does have his normal color back. He still is eating which is good i guess. His eye is pretty much the same as Friday night (the second picture). I am hoping for the best. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated and if you had any similar experiences I would love to hear them.



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jshep105

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 5, 2011
281
1
0
Massachusetts, USA
I left out a few details that may be helpful for you guys to help me. The tank is freshwater and the two oscars were added at the same size on the same day 5 months ago. They are both about 4 1/2 to 5 inches each. There are two fake plants, a hideout decoration, and gravel in the tank. I use a AquaClear 110 and a AquaClear 70 for filtration. For heating I use a Aqueon Pro 200 Watt heater. I use just the standard lighting you buy for a 55 gallon tank from petsmart/Petco and the lights are on about 8 hours a day. I use the Omega One brand for food. Unfortunately my test kit ran out of testing chemicals and my new one won't be here until Monday or Tuesday so I cannot give you the water parameters. That's all I can think of adding at this time so if you need to know anything else just ask. Any feedback/suggestions/experiences are greatly appreciated thanks in advance.


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Freshwaterpredator22

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 8, 2011
206
0
0
Backwoods
Separate him into another small tank then add melafex salt and increase your heat up to 86 remove the carbon put a air stone do a 25% water change every 3 days
 

jshep105

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 5, 2011
281
1
0
Massachusetts, USA
Separate him into another small tank then add melafex salt and increase your heat up to 86 remove the carbon put a air stone do a 25% water change every 3 days
I wish I had a smaller tank to put him in but I don't. And I already started treatment with tetracycline so I am going to see how that does. I removed the carbon as described in the directions and I have a few air stones. And should I still raise the temp to 86? I don't want it to stress/harm the other Oscar that is fine. The temperature is at 83 now. If the tetracycline does not work I will try the melafex salt. Is that like Epson salt? Thanks for your help I look forward to hearing from other people as well


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jshep105

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 5, 2011
281
1
0
Massachusetts, USA
I just finished a water change. Today the oscar's eye is noticeably better but still, for lack of a better word, swollen. He is swimming around a little more and is still eating. The other Oscar is still colorful, healthy, active and eating.


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