# Something Weird on My Fishes Eye



## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Hey guys I posted this on my thread in the tank setups but haven't gotten an answer yet and thought I'd share with you all. One of my Salouis's has a weird white bubble or something covering his eye. He still acts and looks healthy besides the obvious. I believe his eye is still there and was wondering if anyone can ID what it is and what I can do to ensure his survival. Please see the pics and help if possible.


















Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

It is popeye

Just cooking dinner, will help in a little bit.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

Ok sorry.

1) Do you have a powerhead? is it airating the water either by chopping up the water or sucking air via an air tube?

2) if all filtration, is turned off do you have bubbles appearing on the surface of your tank?

3) this is a new tank by the looks yes ?

I know these are questions, not answers, but it will help narrow down what steps to take.


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Nodalizer said:


> Ok sorry.
> 
> 1) Do you have a powerhead? is it airating the water either by chopping up the water or sucking air via an air tube?
> 
> ...


No, I don't have a powerhead but I do have 1 canister filter and 1 HOB filter. The HOB is creating some bubbles.

No, I don't have any bubbles surfacing if I turn everything off.

I've had this tank running for about 2 years but recently coverted it to a Malawi tank. Still have the old filter on but did change to sand and all new rocks. Also added the new canister filter about 6 weeks ago or more. Was going to wait another few weeks till I took off the old HOB.

Do you think it was probably caused by an injury since its only 1 eye and not both?

Thanks for the help, I'm freaking out a bit.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

I would say it is an injury yes looking at your answers, i asume your levels are all good including nitrates.

One eye doesn't nessarily mean injury, but in your case it seems a best fit.

I would add one teaspoon of Epsom salts per 5 gallons (assuming you have not added salts already), as this can help the eye to go down. But if an injury it should get better on its own if you have good water conditions.

EDIT: oh, by (assuming you have not added salts already) I meant epson salts not normal salt, as they are different, if you have salt but not epson, your fine to add the epson as i said.


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Nodalizer said:


> I would say it is an injury yes looking at your answers, i asume your levels are all good including nitrates.
> 
> One eye doesn't nessarily mean injury, but in your case it seems a best fit.
> 
> I would add one teaspoon of Epsom salts per 5 gallons (assuming you have not added salts already), as this can help the eye to go down. But if an injury it should get better on its own if you have good water conditions.


Yeah, I checked all the levels and they are prefect. I also did a 10 galling water change (the tank is a 55gallon). No haven't added salt and don't have any on hand right now and since its 2 am ill have to wait till tomorrow to go to the LFS to get some. Never used salt before.

I'm glad to hear that you think its an injury since I hear fungus is much worse and could possibly spread. I'll keep an eye on him closely and try some salt to help him out.

I really appreciate you taking the time to help me with this! Just having this discussion has helped me calm down some lol. Hopefully he makes a full recovery.


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Nodalizer said:


> It is popeye
> 
> Just cooking dinner, will help in a little bit.


Also, when you said this I thought you were telling me that cooking him for dinner might help a bit lol. I was thinking....****, that sucks, he's a gonner! Lol


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

I would goto your local supermarket for some epson salts, not cichlid salts.

Its the ingredients in epson salts that really benifit the fluid reduction.

It still could be fungal, but this is a first quick test to see if this helps him.. should see lessening in size in next day ot two. Popeye rarely travels between fish if not caused by the enviroment. so if another fish gets this when i am not here, you need to add an airstone because it can be saturation thats the cause. And work out if there would be any other enviromental problems like leeching. While its one eye on one fish.. i would still assume injury and what i said should have it looking better in a day or two.


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Nodalizer said:


> Ok sorry.
> 
> 1) Do you have a powerhead? is it airating the water either by chopping up the water or sucking air via an air tube?
> 
> ...


Also one more question... What causes bubbles in a tank without any if the filters on? Is this something I should watch out for in the future and how would I prevent this? I'm guessing it has something to due with gasses in the sand, since this is my first tank with sand.

Thanks again! Your the man!


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Nodalizer said:


> I would goto your local supermarket for some epson salts, not cichlid salts.
> 
> Its the ingredients in epson salts that really benifit the fluid reduction.
> 
> It still could be fungal, but this is a first quick test to see if this helps him.. should see lessening in size in next day ot two. Popeye rarely travels between fish if not caused by the enviroment. so if another fish gets this when i am not here, you need to add an airstone because it can be saturation thats the cause. And work out if there would be any other enviromental problems like leeching. While its one eye on one fish.. i would still assume injury and what i said should have it looking better in a day or two.


I would do all the above with the epson salt plus water changes every couple days. You could also if possible.....completely black out the tank to help with stress. If the tank is in a room with no natural light then shut the door and turn off tank lights for a couple days. If not you could throw a sheet over the top. I find a fish heals best when stress is at a minimum with water changes keeping the water fresh. Helps with the immune system.

Ps...make sure to add the predisolved salt back to the water you are replacing. If you don't start seeing improvements in a few days then you may have to use meds.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

I had to pick up the kids from daycare sorry, but i wanted to explain the reason for epson salt. Cichlid is a great salt to use for your tank on a normal basis if you don't mind the cost, but in this case the epson salt or (Magnesium Sulphate) has the ability to ease swelling and help popeye, its not a fast cure by no means, but a safe effective one. Thats why we give it two days to see an improvement. If you had salts in your system already (cichlid or epson ones) I would say its a bacteria or fungus as this injury popeye doesn't happen much with salts in the water. But since we know the water had no salts in it we can try this first.


> What causes bubbles in a tank without any if the filters on? Is this something I should watch out for in the future


I was just wondering if you had supersaturation of gases in the water, got nothing to do with the gases that they talk about in your sand. Its not very common cause of popeye, but i wanted to rule out the odd job causes first.


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Nodalizer said:


> I had to pick up the kids from daycare sorry, but i wanted to explain the reason for epson salt. Cichlid is a great salt to use for your tank on a normal basis if you don't mind the cost, but in this case the epson salt or (Magnesium Sulphate) has the ability to ease swelling and help popeye, its not a fast cure by no means, but a safe effective one. Thats why we give it two days to see an improvement. If you had salts in your system already (cichlid or epson ones) I would say its a bacteria or fungus as this injury popeye doesn't happen much with salts in the water. But since we know the water had no salts in it we can try this first.
> 
> 
> > What causes bubbles in a tank without any if the filters on? Is this something I should watch out for in the future
> ...


Hey, I really appreciate all the information you have provided me and all the help! As soon as I get out of work I'll pick up some epson salt and we will see what happens. Now, I don't have a spare tank to put him into so I will be putting the salt in the main tank with all the other fish. I'm pretty sure it will be OK, but correct me if I'm wrong.

I did pull the plug on the lights and will keep them off for the next two days to provide a stress free environment as possible. Do you think I should do minimal feedings while the lights are out or is normal feeding OK?

Well, back to work I go and I'll get back on as soon as I get the salt and add it to the tank. Thanks again and your the man!


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

jsttryn said:


> Nodalizer said:
> 
> 
> > I had to pick up the kids from daycare sorry, but i wanted to explain the reason for epson salt. Cichlid is a great salt to use for your tank on a normal basis if you don't mind the cost, but in this case the epson salt or (Magnesium Sulphate) has the ability to ease swelling and help popeye, its not a fast cure by no means, but a safe effective one. Thats why we give it two days to see an improvement. If you had salts in your system already (cichlid or epson ones) I would say its a bacteria or fungus as this injury popeye doesn't happen much with salts in the water. But since we know the water had no salts in it we can try this first.
> ...


I wouldn't worry about feeding especially if the tank is completely dark because they will be resting. Make sure when adding the salt not to add it all at once. Split it up. When I add salt I just take a large water pitcher.....fill it up with tank water and add the salt and stir it up. Then dump it into the tank. I would do this a few times over the course of a few hours until the desired amount of salt is reached. I hope this helps and let us know what happens.

PS....be sure to change some water every couple days and add some salt back to the replaced water. You should notice a change after a few days.


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

13razorbackfan said:


> jsttryn said:
> 
> 
> > Nodalizer said:
> ...


Makes sense...thanks! I'll keep ya'll posted.


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Well guys I did the epson salt as dicussed but unfortunalty I found him half eaten this morning. I'm guessing the Synocats and the loach got to him yesterday.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

He got worse or better before you found him like this ?

Seems like a quick death from a popeye type desease. Was he like this for long before you asked about it ?


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Nodalizer said:


> He got worse or better before you found him like this ?
> 
> Seems like a quick death from a popeye type desease. Was he like this for long before you asked about it ?


I don't think he was like this for more than 1 day before I found him. My kids told me he looked strange when I got home from work the night I started this thread. As for getting better or worse, I'm not to sure. I saw him one day and he looked like the picture the next he was half eaten in the back behind some rocks. The Synocats and loach hollowed him out pretty fast, he was only a piece of body left when I found him.

At least none of my other fish are showing any signs of stress or infections. I'm just hoping now that it stops with him.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

yes, heres hoping. I'd say just an injury. Prob just keep an eye on the loaches etc.


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## jsttryn (Oct 3, 2011)

Nodalizer said:


> yes, heres hoping. I'd say just an injury. Prob just keep an eye on the loaches etc.


Will do. The yoyo loach was pretty aggressive with all the little guys when I first introduced them into the tank. He was double their size. But he has calmed down quite a bit since then. If I see he is causing the trouble I'll haft to move him out which will break the kids hearts....he's their favorite.

Again, thanks for the help and education!


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