how to treat popeye??

[azza]

hi guys how do u treat a discus for popeye???

water conditions are all perfect
temp at 28 deg
ph at 7
no amonia, nitrate or nitrite and my kh is at 13

[the german]

perfect water???????????????
temp 30!!!!!!
ph 5.5-6.5
that sounds perfect to me.
i don't know what popeye is but i think you mean
the eye is kind of swollen
thats most time a ph shock.
i dont know anything against that,sorry.

[samir]

is it both eyes ?

[fishgeek]

if it is unilateral i have had good succes using topically applied antiinflammatory steroid and antibiotic ointments or drops

most eye problems have a high inflammatory component that perpetuates the problem and damage's stretches the local tissue adding to pain
if using ointment the opily base can be harder to spread and will make the medication stay longer
if using soluble drops then repeated applications are more neccesary

because of repeat treatment i tend to isolate to a small easily nettted tank/jug something and treat 2-3 times daily

andrew

[azza]

thanks guys for ur help except for that german guy... my water has been like that for months and there has been no other problems with my tank.

[azza]

I forgot to add that my other discus has no problems with it or the conditions in my tank and yep it is in both eyes of this particular fish. Where would I be able to get the medication from - would I need to go to an aquarium or from a chemist shop???

[scott bowler]

azza i think what german was trying to say was that pop eye is commanly related to bad water condisions , i dont think he ment bad

[samir]

do you mean the bulging goldfish eyes ? from what I know its caused by an internal bacterial infection. i have read that it is not reversible,from my personal experience it is.
is the fish very thin when looked at head on or wasting. sometimes that makes the eyes appear to bulge.
show us a head on pic ? does it eat well ?

[azza]

yeh he eats well i have noticed today though that he has a buldge in his/her stomach as well. i have treated the tank for worms.

Could you also tell me what sex and strain if possible plus what u think of the fish???

[azza]

and another one

[Pauluk]

If you are in Europe, I would suggest a large water change and then keep the water quality good by regular water changes and treat it with Interpet Number 9, I had an otto with really bad pop eye and that recovered quickly.

[azza]

thanks everyone for your quick replies, do you think it has popeye?
I know that he didn't mean it (I hope), but I'm pretty upset by this happening, i do small water changes every week, and I have done large water changes when needed. guess I will have to ask my local aquarist about it.

[Pauluk]

Looks like it might be popeye to me.
How much water do you change every week? personally I think 50% once a week is the minimum you should be doing

[fishgeek]

bilateral exopthalmus is harder to treat
can more commonly than unilateral be associated with systemic problems that are underlying

i still feel that topical corticosteroids are very beneficial

i dont think that topical corticosteroid preparations are available without prescription, maybe ask your local vet if they are willing to help on that side
anything that increase's pressure in the retrobulbar space can cause exopthalmus
from infection, gas bubble disease, inflammation, growth etc
the difficultly is in knowing which of these and then succesfully treating it
irrespective of the base cause stretch on the ocular tissue will worsen the situation and the steroids can alleviate this to some extent

as others have suggested antibiotics are generally advised for bilateral conditions

no offence(i have never kept discus so know nothing there) does the fish just look a little stunted and hence eye's larger?

andrew

[samir]

its just borderline stunted. Andrew the only antibiotic we get over the counter is tetracycline hydrochloride. a vet trip would probably end up costing more than the fish. I have managed to treat similar cases (though not as severe) with a 10 day treatment.

[azza]

thanks guys for all your help but he/she has passed away when i woke up...

[fishgeek]

samir i was more interested in getting the topical corticosteroid eye drops/ointment
i think that in my hands it has greatly benefitted some fish

this one resolved over five days of twice daily medication, just topically nothing else

this was unilateral

[samir]

that looks pretty severe, never thought about using something topical. will definitely try it in future for a unilateral problem,

azza any of your other fish showing similar symptoms ??

[Merrilyn]

Azza I'm so sorry to hear about your little fish.

As Andrew (fishgeek) suggested, I wonder if the swelling in the belly and the eye swelling were somehow related. Maybe a tumour or something, that caused a blockage in the intestine, preventing the fish from passing any waste. That could explain why the fish passed away so quickly.

It was a very pretty little pigeon blood, with excellent shape, and I can understand you would be quite upset at the loss.

I would suggest you do a large water change now, and keep an eye on the rest of the fish. I don't think it's anything contageous, but it's worth keep a close eye on the others.

Increase your water changes to around 50% once a week. Not sure why you don't have a nitrate reading. A cycled tank should have at lease some nitrate reading, around 5 to 10 ppm.

[crock]

One of my discus got these extremely bulged eyes overnight. All other 7 Discus look fine and healthy in the main tank. I am now quarantining him in a hospital tank and gave my a first dose of Maracyn two. Can you share your experience if you've ever treated/seen this? The main tank still seems very healthy as usual. The water quality is fine. Any Help/ tips to help me treat him? thanks!