Pop eye in my growout tank.

[Tahoe Reefer]

Ive just noticed at least 2 fish with pop eye in my growout tank. How they got it is a mystery to me. Should I treat the tank with meds or just do large water changes. It wasnt there yesterday and at this time 2 are laying on thier sides gasping.

Thanks.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

It shouldn't hurt anything to do a water change. The gasping sounds like either low oxygen or maybe parasites in the gills. How old are these fish?

 

[Tahoe Reefer]

The fish are just over 2 months old.
I dont have much experience with sick fish and I was going into panic mode yesterday. First thing I did was a 90% WC including a break down and cleaning of all equipment. Then as I was giving the sponge filters a bath I found a possible cause. They were so dirty they turned the bucket water dark as coffee. My Ammonia tests show less than .25mg/L. I was cleaning less because I had added a skimmer 10 days ago and thought all was well. It had been 4 1/2 days since the sponges were cleaned.
Today they got another good cleaning and 70% WC. The popeye has receded almost completely and everyone is breathing normal.