Fish eye bulging

[whitepines1]

I have a fish that I have had now for almost 2 years, and this morning when i looked at the tank, his left eye is bulging outward. There is no redness, or cloudiness, it is just sticking out from his head. any ideas on what happened, or what can be done?

 

[JHemdal]

What species of fish is it? Some types are very prone to developing mechanically induced popeye - from hitting a rock or something, often at night.

Jay

 

[Blownsvt]

i saw a fish in a tanks at the lfs that had the same condition. i was wondering what would cause that.

 

[whitepines1]

it is called a "stripey." it is a species of butterfly from what I have read.

 

[Gwynhidwy]

What species of fish is it? Some types are very prone to developing mechanically induced popeye - from hitting a rock or something, often at night.

Jay

+1

It could also be an internal bacterial infection, but usually there is some cloudiness involved when that is the cause.

 

[JHemdal]

Stripeys are one species known to develop mechanically caused popeye. What I use to diagnose this is if one eye is involved, and there is no sign of redness, it is almost always mechanical. If both eyes are involved, and there is no sign of redness, it can still be mechanical (like when you catch a fish in a net and it shakes it head violently). It can also be supersaturation, especially if you see air bubbles in the sclera. Bacterial infections almost always involve both eyes, usually there is cloudiness or redness, and the eyes may not protrude quite as far. Internal kidney disease can also cause edema that will cause both eyes to protrude slightly, without any redness or cloudiness.
Time is the only treatment for mechanical popeye, supersaturation is caused by improper equipment operation, and if it gets bad enough, it will kill the fish. Edema in fish is rarely treatable.

Jay