# First Case of Pop Eye



## lewmel (Dec 25, 2008)

Hey everyone,
I just noticed that one of my Cichlids has pop eye. My nitrates were a little bit high. around 40. So I did a 70% water change and cleaned my filters. The research that I did online is telling me different things. Some are telling me to treat the whole tank with epson salt. some are saying to isolate the fish in a hospital tank. I had some aquirium salt, so I did one treatment of that tonight. But what should I do?
Should I keep doing salt treatments, and if so how often?
Should I try to catch him (which I am very bad at) and put him in a hospital tank?
If i keep him in the main tank, how often should I change the water?
Any help would be appreciated.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

The best thing to do is put it in a hospital tank. You may have to treat the fish with more than salt (antibiotics) and this is best done in a separate aquarium where you can also do large WCs more easily.


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## lewmel (Dec 25, 2008)

It just seems so confussing. There are so many different opinions on what to do. I did the salt treatment. Becuase it was late at night and I know that it helps with stress.


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## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Keep up with the salt treatment, but you may have to remove the fish. Popeye is caused by something (bacteria) growing in the eye socket and distending it. Is it possible to take pictures?


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## lewmel (Dec 25, 2008)

I can try to snap a picture during the next feeding. He is acting normal. Swimming around all day, and always hungry. I have been doing the salt treatment once a day. How many days should I do it for?


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## lewmel (Dec 25, 2008)

I was not able to get a good pic of his eye. But over the last few days the swelling has gone down a little bit. I have been doing an aquirum salt treatment every other day, along with a slight increase in water temp (up to 82).
Thanks for the help! Hopefully he will continue to get better!


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Pop eye is usually caused by poor water conditions and unless it has gone too far it will usually improve with improved water conditions.

Salt, (sodium chloride-aquarium salt) may help prevent bacteria from adhering to the skin. The usual dosage for this is 1 tablespoon per five gallons. But don't just do the salt: make sure you improve water conditions, too.

Espom salt is used for three reasons in the aquarium. 1--it raises the GH, 2--it works as a mild analgesic, (pain killer) and 3--it works as a laxative. 
The usual dosage is 1 tablespoon per five gallons
Epsom salt really doesn't have any impact on pop eye.

Occasionally if pop eye has been allowed to go too far then you'll need to use an antibiotic.

Robin


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