popeye in one eye of clownfish

[cabin]

I tried to follow the link in the "look here first" section of this forum but the link for cloudy eye/popeye doesn't go anywhere.

Anyway, I have a clownfish with one popeye. My book speaks of this condition as affecting both eyes, so I don't know what to think of just one. Should I do anything for this fish or just wait and observe?

The affected fish is a female and she has driven her mate from the anemone. They have been in my tank almost two years.
Thank you for any help you can give.

 

[Psionicdragon]

The popeye can be caused by many factors. Sometimes, its just an infection that will go away. Other times, the most common, is an injury to the eye.

If you feed it well and keep the water quality up, it will recover.

Whats your water chemistry

 

[leebca]

Fish do and have died from Popeye. The eye keeps swelling until it literally bursts.

Popeye is more serious than a cloudy eye, which can go away with improved water quality, reduced bacteria in the water/tank, and improved nutrition.

The fish should be moved to a hospital tank and treated with an antibiotic that penetrates into the fish, like Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish.

 

[oama]

In most cases of pop-eye in only one eye, the cause is from mechanical damage. It would likely heal itself, but you should prevent secondary bacterial or fungal infections. Place the fish in a hospital tank and treat it with something like Furazone Green, that has anti-fungal as well as anti-bacterial properties. Keep light levels down and try not to spook the fish.

And try to figure out what caused the damage in the first place. Those "green" nets common at your LFS are notorious for scratching eyes. Or if the fish being chased by tank mates and jumped into the hood?

 

[cabin]

Picture of affected fish

Picture of affected fish

Thank you all for your replies. REading elsewhere in this forum, I began to wonder if this is popeye or swollen eye, and what is the difference. I got a picture of the fish tonight. Now that you can see it, does that affect the advice, which currently seems to be divided between remove and treat fish vs leave alone and it will heal. Bear in mind this fish has had an anemone virtually her whole life (was in another tank before mine and had anemone there also) so removing from anemone would be pretty stressful. As to what caused the problem, I'm totally guessing, but from the fact the male clownfish left the anemone and looked pretty battered, I assume they had a disagreement when I wasn't around.

 

[leebca]

Excellent photo. It's Popeye. Like I wrote before, Popeye is life threatening.

It is not caused by injury. What is happening is that gas or liquid is building up behind the eye. That gas can be air. Usually though the buildup is waste from an internal bacterial infection.

A swollen and cloudy eye can be from external damage. This is not the case from what I can see. Is the eye affected clear or cloudy so you can't see the black?

 

[cabin]

The affected eye is not cloudy, I can see the black.

 

[oama]

leebca
We seem to be splitting hairs...
I still say that it is likely mechanical in origin. Though secondary bacterial infection from the injury may be causing the pop-eye.

One must understand that "Pop-eye" is a symptom and not a specific problem/disease. Though it may be a build up of gasses or "air", often this is not the case. More likely a build up of fluids. I only know of specific super saturation of gasses causing a build up of gasses or "air" and some bactial infections. But these usually occur in both eyes at the same time.

Something like bringing a fish up from deep waters would cause double pop-eye w/out any "infection". It's just the "bends" or more likley the expansion of the water/fuilds too fast for the Rete mirabile to keep up with.

A build up of either fluid or "air" w/out the depth change is from a failure of the Rete mirabile. The same organelle that controls the gasses in a fish's swimbladder. But in the case of the eye, it controls the positive pressure of fluid in the eyeball. Else the eyeball would collapse.

In most cases of mechanical damage, w/out serious secondary infection of bacteria or fungus, given that the fish is healthy and good water quality/diet, it should recover nicely on it's own. But, it should be hospitalized until it recovers so that it can get TLC.

As a side note, fish can survive serious Pop-eye even with the lose of the eye. I once had the pleasure of hand feeding shrimp to a clown trigger that lost both of it's eyes to Pop-eye. It lived a long and "happy" existence.

 

[Rondelet]

I'm in agreement with Lee and Oama - but think it would be prudent to treat the fish. I don't think you can assume from the picture that it is due to mechanical damage. It might be, or it could be a mild infection in the eye (or caused by gas saturation - which is easy to rule out). I've seen many fish with bacterial septicaemia that have also had both unilateral and bilateral pop-eye. In either case of mechanical damage or an infection - an infection is usually the end result since blood vessels behind the eye that get damaged are likely to become infected (as noted by Oama). Where mechanical damage is the culprit, it's true that a small percentage do not become infected and resolve - but why take a chance? I would treat with an antibiotic; but would be inclined to treat with an oral antibiotic since I don't think those administered via the water would be nearly as effective for this type of infection. See if you can pick up a medicated feed preparation. Any of the Seachem (Focus + any of Sulfathiazole/Kanaplex/Neoplex) or Aquarium Products (Gel-Tek Ulta Cure BX) would be a good place to start. If you can get the fish to eat the medication (say, with a turkey baster = targeted feeding) you might be able to treat the fish (more effectively) without moving it which could result in more physical damage to the eye complicating things.

Just my 2 cents...

 

[leebca]

oama,

I'm not splitting hairs. Popeye is a symptom of bacterial or fungal infection. How it came to that is of no consequence. Generally, it is an infection behind the eye. It's an internal infection with the exception of it being caused by gas. You may wish to read other's opinion on this matter. They range from surgery to medication:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=572323
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=561991
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=5777657

The literature is also specific with regards to Popeye. The recommendation is treatment. There is no cloudy eye involved in this case, so I prefer an immediate treatment.

I just experienced my first Popeye in quarantine for a friend. I cured it through treatment in 5 days. I have recentely performed post mortems on two cases and cultured bacteria behind the eye. Both were systemic bacterial infections and an antibiotic that penetrates the fish's tissue would have addressed the matter, IMO. This supports the literature statements that Popeye is an infection behind the eye, hematogeneously translocated to the optic nerve

That infection should never be allowed to 'heal on its own.' I'll stick to the recommendation that IF the diagnosis is truly Popeye, then the fish must be hospitalized and treated with an antibiotic and/or antifungal medication, and not allowed to run its course.

 

[cabin]

Just wanted to let everyone know who helped me that the fish has recovered. I ended up not treating it. The Maracyn 2 was delayed in shipping and by the time it arrived, the fish was starting to improve, so I waited to see what would happen. At least I'll have the medicine in stock for next time. I keep my medicine in the freezer in the hope of prolonging shelf life....Thank you all for your excellent advice and willingness to share your expertise!
Wynne

 

[oama]

Wynne
Glad to know your friend recovered.