Preferred treatment for Popeye?

dbmtrman

Member
I recently got an Ebibli Angel fish and have noticed that one of his eyes is protruding out slightly more then the other, and that there is a cloudy haze over it. He seems to be eating well. It is hard to get a good look at him, though. He is very shy. Spends most of the time cruising back and forth along the back of the tank behind the live rock in my 180.

Will diet supplemented with fresh garlic, Vitachem and Selcon clear it up, or should I place him in QT and treat with antibiotics?

I just noticed it last night, and wasn't sure how long I should leave him in the DT, before catching and putitng in QT.

Water perameters are: Ammonia- 0, Nitrites- 0, Nitrates- 10-15, SG- 1.026, PH- 8.0
 
If you catch him and put him in QT that will probably make his eye worse because you will be stressing him. Popeye is not contagious so I would just leave him be. Keep your water pristine, feed enriched foods and make sure he is not harrassed by tank mates and you will up his chances of recovery. Popeye is usually caused by poor tank conditions.
 
Since you recently got it, it's most likely the eye was abraded by a net and is infected. It might clear up on it's on, but it might not. Watch closely for a couple of days, if it starts clearing up, great. However, if it stays the same or gets any worse, you will need to remove the fish to a QT and treat with a good antibiotic such as Nitrofuran or SW Maracyn II.
 
Bill is right that the eye could have resulted from an injury although I still think it's an infection since both eyes are affected. If injury, usually it's on one side of the fish. this just from my experience. I also have had good results with Saltwater Maracyn. One LFS owner told me that a 10 second dip in one gallon of fresh water and a couple teaspoons of Formalin will work, too, but I have not tried it.
 
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