# Popeye



## 01722 (Mar 25, 2018)

The last few days one of my peacocks has developed Popeye on one eye. There have been recent changes to their environment lately so I'm not sure what's contributing to or causing this. Here are some facts to go on.
- All fish were rehoused to a bigger tank 3 weeks ago.
- water specs have been consistently good
-no other fish have Popeye
-I notice a couple fish rubbing on rocks since they were rehoused. This wasn't a constant thing. No other signs of parasites or disease, but to be safe I treated the tank with aquarium salt (1 TBS per 5gal) a few days ago around the time the Popeye probably started.
- The affected fish looks and behaves normal other than the Popeye.

I looked up Popeye and it sounds like an injury might have occurred by I don't see anything other than the swelling of the eye. It says in that case to treat with salt as long as it doesn't start spreading to other fish. Anyone have thoughts as to what caused this and how else I should be treating it? Should I increase the temperature in the tank for a bit with the salt? Should I put in more salt? Any experienced advice is appreciated.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

Any chance you have a quarantine tank or can set one up? When its in one eye and not both it is most likely from an injury but that isn't 100% definite either. From what I have read about treating it, is that if it is in fact from an injury the chances of improvement are significantly higher if water conditions are pristine. Antibiotics may or may not help. Either way you would be better off isolating the fish and keeping an eye on the others. If other fish start to get it, it could very well be an environmental factor. What temperature is the tank? Better off keeping it lower, no higher than 78 as bacteria thrive in warmer water. If you can't isolate it, I would step up water changes on your tank to make sure its in the best quality water possible. I don't think regular salt will help but possibly Epsom salts can help reduce the swelling. I'm sure others with more experience will weigh in at some point but the main point is to test your water and if its not as good as you think it is, do some water changes to get it right. That might take care of the problem all by itself. And isolate and treat the fish separately if you can. Good luck.


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## 01722 (Mar 25, 2018)

Hmmm... I've read the opposite about the temperature with bacterial illnesses. The tank is at 80 right now. I've heard of going up to 86 with salted tanks for things like Ick... Either way, I think it is likely an injury too but with the tank change I'm concerned it could be an illness caused from stress.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

No, raising temps increase bacterial activity. You can raise it to quicken the lifespan of parasites but sometimes that does more harm because you reduce the oxygen content in the water and can stress the fish further. I get a lot of my information from a veterinarian who also specializes in Koi and pond fish but alot of the same things pertain to aquarium fish as well. Check out his site www.drjohnson.com and look for his videos on YouTube. Extremely helpful.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Injuries get better right away with no treatment...improvement visible every day.

Other causes of pop eye could be water quality and/or stress illness caused by decreased immune system.

I would not increase temp for anything but ich so 78 is good.

What are your actual test results for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Is the fish eating? What do the feces look like?


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## 01722 (Mar 25, 2018)

I don't have the results in front of me but when I tested it earlier everything was good on the chart for the test strip. I do 30-40% water change every 7-10 days. My levels haven't ever been a problem as far as I know... I think illness from stress with the new tank is my biggest concern.... Fish is eating fine. Same with feces begin normal


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Then it is not bloat.

You might want to test with reagents and test tubes and post the actual results when you can. A starting place is 50% water change weekly and then if nitrates climb to 20ppm or higher you could consider an even larger weekly water change.


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## 01722 (Mar 25, 2018)

So would you worry about keeping salt in the tank for general healing purposes?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If you are talking about NaCl I am not sure what you are treating. General healing of what? Epsom salt maybe for a gentle laxative.


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## 01722 (Mar 25, 2018)

This stuff for possible disease, infection, etc in general. Is this a waste?


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

Yes, it is. Can be used to treat ich and some other external parasites but no reason to keep it in the tank regularly.


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## 01722 (Mar 25, 2018)

Ok. I don't normally have it in. Just recently because of the fish that started rubbing on the rocks a bit.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

Do you see white spots on your fish? Are they all flashing against the rocks and how often? Could be an external parasite then. Could also be how your fish injured its eye. Can you post some more info about your tank? Size, quantity of fish, filtration, pH, KH, GH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. The more info the better so we can help you.


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## 01722 (Mar 25, 2018)

Standard 125G about 10 full grown African cichlids, a Parrot, a Red Tail Shark and an Asian Algae Eater. With the move to the 125 I introduced 3 smaller ACs and a Feather Fin Cat.. The new fish were quarantined for 3 weeks and showed no signs of illness. None of the new fish and only a couple older ones are flashing on the rocks. Those that are, aren't doing it much but I notice so I took note of it. My tank is in the living room so I'm watching it pretty regularly. 
No white spots on any fish. A couple have lost some color since their move but they aren't there ones flashing. Other than that no physical differences.

GH 30 ppm
KH 200 ppm
pH 8-8.5
Nitrite less than .5ppm
Nitrate less than 20ppm

This has been pretty much levels that it's always at.

Filtration is two SunSun 525gph canister filters. Most of the trays are filled with bio balls and ceramic rings.


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## fishboy75 (Jan 16, 2020)

OK, I would just keep an eye on the flashing. When you say Nitrites less than.5 ppm is that the lowest reading on the test strip? Because nitrites shouldn't be more than zero in a fully cycled tank. If there are nitrites in the water I would do daily water changes to lower it and could also use a water conditioner like Prime to detoxify it.


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## 01722 (Mar 25, 2018)

Ya it's much closer to zero than .5. Those are the lowest readings possible on the strip. I use prime with all my water changes - about half a cap per 5gal. I'll keep monitoring it. If the Popeye gets worse I'll isolate him. Thanks for the advice.


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## shiftyfox (Aug 2, 2019)

Get yourself an API master test kit, I've never found them strips to be accurate enough for me.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My fish start gasping at the surface when nitrite is 0.5 ppm. Agree with the recommendation on a test kit with test tubes and reagents.


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