# we need help.



## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

hey folks, im rick. i have a serious issue here and need your opinions.

i have a white convict ( i think it is ) and theres an emergency going on.
he came down with a case of popeye as i found out via the web. ok his eye got so bad and it was just about to fall out of his head. i mean it was waaay out there. has to be painful.
i took a needle and popped the sack behind the eye ball itself. oooze went everywhere. infection big time. after several days in a hospital tank (2.5 gal) being treated with maracyn two, his eye went down drasticly, but not all the way. its been 2 plus weeks at this point and hes not eating either. his eye is still puffed out pretty good but nothing like it was. 
im still treating him but its honestly doing no good at all, but not getting worse. funny thing is just over top of the eye theres a lil wort looking thing. doesnt stick out very far ok.
this was treated with a parasite med (paraguard) the whit thing seemed to go away and left a little hole. yet after the suggested treatment the little wart looking thing was back within a week.
hes all screwed up it sounds like. *** had this fish for 6 plus years. other than what *** spoken of he seems healthy and strong. little sucker has been through a lot. he 1/2 of a breeding pair and i want to get him back with his mate asap, but its not looking like that will happen any time soon. does anybody have a clue as to what might be wrong with my pal popeye?
is he doomed? please help.

rick


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

It sounds like he has a bacterial infection, which could be from the "procedure" you did on the eye.

What was the water quality like when he developed the pop eye? (Eye issues usually stem from poor water quality or injury.)

What was/is your usual tank maintenance routine?

How many fish were in the tank at the time?

I would instigate daily water changes and add Maracyn to the treatment, along with the Maracyn II. This combination should take care of both gram negative and gram positive bacteria.


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

is this situation restricted to one eye? or are both involved?
it sounds like you/your fish did well to lance the wound, so the assumption could be made, that you are dealing with an eye injury, as apposed to internal infection of organ tissue (causing water retention-both eyes pop). best suggestion then, is to continue monitoring the wound's progress. repeat lancing as wound requires (you may be required to remove the eye if repeated reinfections occur), and treat water with a 1/2 dose antibacterial/fungal med. all this should be done in Q.


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> It sounds like he has a bacterial infection, which could be from the "procedure" you did on the eye.
> 
> What was the water quality like when he developed the pop eye? (Eye issues usually stem from poor water quality or injury.)
> 
> ...


I would go with this program for the next week and see how it goes. Then you can use more "drastic" measures such as continued lancing. I also had a convict with this condition and simple water changes DAILY resolved the issue. He probably hit a rock or something.


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

thanks folks. lets see if i can answer the questions in order.

ok aholic suggested that this came about from the eye lancing. 
not at all. his eye was so bad that i had to do this with the needle. after a couple of days he was MUCH better. tons better actually.
water quality is not so hot. the tank got its regular water changes but honestly needs to be broken down and cleaned real good. havent been able to do this as babies have been present from one breeding pair or another. the tank is like a 39 gal or something.
the number of fish is 2 breeding pairs and 4 about to reach adult hood. the babies at this time were several days old. im at a stand still with this tank until i can reach a solution on ole popeye here.

lloyd
im not to sure if im the one to remove an eye. wow thats gotta be painful.
you mentioned that all this had to be done on Q. whats that mean?

sjlchgo
daily? like all the water?

im trying to get a few pics so you guys can see first hand.
please continue your thoughts and ideas as this is the only place i could find that even has a clue for me.


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

Do 30%-50% water changes daily, add some aquarium salt to the water as well. I would suspect you'll notice some good changes. If this doesn't solve the problem it won't hurt and it's the least invasive vs "surgery" or meds. Meds is always my last resort.


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

sjlchgo

just got some salt this evening. hospital tank 100% water change and salt added.


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

Not sure if this will help or give you any hope
http://www.mbunamadness.com/forum/viewt ... f=28&t=368
It was a P. stevini who had a serious eye wound, the eye didn't heal, I was considering removing it. But eventually it healed(sorta) it's useless but never fell out and it's moveable but he's blind in that eye and deformed but he is capable of spawning and defending himself and has been doing great. He acts as normal as the other fish now. i didn't lance anything, but he wasn't as bad as yours sounds like.


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

dogg

wow he must have hit a rock or something.
very different than my fishes eye problem though.

folks,
i kinda wonder if that little wart looking thing i mentioned in my opening post is some sort of parasite growing in his head pushing his eye outward??
thoughts anyone??


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

whats gives? in just a few short hours of the new 100% water change, popeye
has his other eye popped out. ( shame a fish gets named after his sickness in this house  )


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

What are the water parameters on the tank?

100% was a bit drastic, smaller partial water changes would have been better.

I think more antibiotics are in order for this guy. You're only treating gram negative bacteria with the Maracyn II, I would use the Maracyn, as well.

I'm not surprised that the eye improved visually to you after you lanced it. But, with admittedly poor water quality, that lancing may have allowed infection into the body of the fish.

Keep in mind that 6 years is pretty old for a fish. It's not going to be as easy to cure him as it would have been 3-4 years ago.

Anytime you have fry in a tank, you need to step up the tank maintenance, not avoid it. The more fish you have in the tank, the higher the waste load will be, and it's very easy for conditions to become toxic overnight.


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

ok now popeye is in a hospital tank thats 2.5 gal. he has been since this all started 3 weeks ago.
on the advice from this post *** started putting both in. about to give second treatment of both.
the water was looking very dark from all the meds and figured nice new water was in order.im working on pics to put with this post. which is pretty hard at the moment cause after the first flash hes hiding from me in the back corner, which lets me know/think he can still see at least.
is posting pics on here about the same as everyother forum?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Just upload them to a photo host and then copy and paste the img link below the pic into your thread on here!


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

over top view of popeye in his hospital tank moments ago.









this pic took forever to get but its as straight on as i could get.
the other eye just happened within hours of his "total water change.


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

just stopped by the store. the guy inside suggested i use a media free power filter and lose the bubbler. plus he suggested E.M. erythromycin.


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

anybody else with advice or opinions???


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Just thought I would point out that Maracyn *IS* erythromycin, which is what I suggested 3 days ago. :wink:


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

have been using maracyn tc. says on package that the active ingredient is tetracycline.
out of all the stores *** been to this and maracyn two are the only ones *** found. is there anouther maracyn i missed? so whats your take on the pics *** posted??


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Just plain old Maracyn is erthromycin, or at least it used to be. (Maracyn II is minocycline, which is very similar to tetracycline.) I sure hope they haven't changed it, since it's a good combo to use together for both gram positive and gram negative bacteria when in doubt.

This is the product I'm referring to - just plain old Maracyn:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... 2#prodTab1

I bet that isn't what you picked up!


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

i wonder if i should be mixing any two that i now have. 
im very greatful to everybodies help on this. i just hope nobody abandons me until we are through with this. lol
i have a feeling all this is gonna take a while.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

If you're referring to using the tetracycline with the Maracyn II, it's really not necessary...Minocycline and tetracycline are very similar drugs and treat the same type of infections. :thumb:


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

oh ok. looks like his eyes have went down a bit. 
hes very stong still. i just hope and pray i dont lose him.
hope it clears up soon, this cant feel to good to him ya know?


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

Keeping my fingers crossed for you and him!


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

thank you. popeye passed away a few hours ago.
sucks. over the last few years *** spent many hours watching popeye.
he was cool. fun to watch. can anybody tell me exactly what kind of cichlid he was? what part of the world he was from? i would like to get another one of his kind.


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

sorry to hear popeye didn't make it. RIP...(rest in planter)


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

lloyd

thank you. over the years i took a special interest in popeye. hes missed indeed.
i just need to know more about his "type" and where they are from.


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

Hard to tell from the pics...how big was he? By the pics I'd say Albino Oscar?


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

Sorry for your loss.


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

thanks sjlchgo

hes a white convict, but other than that i know nothing about them. every time i do a search i come up with prison convicts. lol


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

http://www.gcca.net/fom/Archocentrus_nigrofasciatus.htm
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/a ... ciatus.php
pink convict


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

bulldogg

thanks. finally something to read on these guys. :thumb:


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## sjlchgo (Mar 2, 2008)

I started to say Pink convict but he looked a bit large.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I can't really tell by the pics that you posted. Do you have a good profile shot of him?


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## ricksconnected (Oct 18, 2008)

all my "convict" type are huge. people say they are the largest they have seen. by far. 
my blk convicts are hand size too. i'll look for another pic of popeye.


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