Popeye

[golcondorus]

A few days ago I bought a snakeskin gourami. She is in my 75 gallon planted aquarium. Yesterday evening I noticed swollen flesh on the edge/protruding from behind the eye. She looked fine this morning but now it is back, in both eyes. She acts fine, eating great. My water parameters are ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrates are less than 10 ppm. I have never dealt with popeye before. From what I read online it's thought to be water quality most of the time. So my question is this, since my water is good enough to drink and the fish is new, I am assuming it came from the pet store. Should I treat the gourami with maracyn or wait to see if it gets better????? When she swims fast you can kinda see white flesh kinda bulge back from the eye. Opinions??????????


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[Aquanero]

Pop-eye is usually a symptom of and underlying bacterial infection. Since your water seems good it most likly developed from somthing it was exposed to at the LFS. That's why it improtant to QT fish for a few weeks before releasing them into the main display tank.

It's best to treat in a hospital tank. Use epsom salt 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water and Maracyn 2. The epsom salt will draw the fliud from behind the eye and reduce swelling. Maracyn-2 is a good antibiotic to treat this with (follow the instructions on the package). Depending on the extent of damage the fish may loose vision in one or both eyes in extream cases even if the infection is cured but otherwise it will be fine. If you have to treat in the main tank do a large water change before starting treatment. Good luck, let us know how you make out.

 

[golcondorus]

Thanks for the advice, she is in a qt tank now with maracyn 2. I'm going to get Epsom salt right now. The popeye is in a VERY early stage so I think I can beat it without her losing any vision. I will update in a few days, thanks again


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