female bellus has cloudy/puffy eye

[losthere]

I have had a bellus for a week now and has developed cloudy/pop eye. Any advice on care, feeding, etc to help her along. I do weekly water changes and keep the tank very clean already. Any ideas would be very much appreciated.

 

[Gwynhidwy]

If the whole eye is cloudy and swollen/protruding from the socket then it is likely that the fish has a bacterial infection and needs to be treated with antibiotics in a hospital tank.

Sometimes flukes on the eye are raised and cloudy in appearance, so that is also a possibility if only part of the eye is affected.

 

[hottuna]

+1 on what gwynhidway suggested ..
marycyn2 or E.M. works for this , I believe...

 

[losthere]

i will try to catch her and start treating her. if i am not able to catch her in a reasonable time will she lose her eye soon, or is there a chance that with a good diet and very good water quality that she may be able to fight it off. Can she spread it to other fish? I have a small skimmer will get a qt going.

 

[Gwynhidwy]

In my experience prior injury is often the cause, ie running into a rock allowing the bacteria to set up shop, because of this often only one fish is affected. If poor water quality is what allowed the infection to take hold then you might see it in other fish as well. I don't know how likely the fish is to fight it off. I'm sure its possible, but it can also become a systemic infection and kill the fish.