Popeye. Best method and best med?

[micstarz]

Argg help! It is the first time I have been hit with popeye and I am at a loss to knowwhat to do.

Best method to get rid of it? Best medicine? My cories were all healthy a day ago but now all of them are gasping at the bottom, presumably sightless.

thx

[TheOldSalt]

WHAT???
How did that happen?

Well, if all your fish suddenly got popeye in one day, then this isn't a case of finding a good medicine anymore, but in not letting that pathogen escape into your local environment. What you'd need would be one of those expensive new antibiotics which can cross the blood-brain barrier, but frankly, if it's that bad you probably don't have enough time to get one.

Don't flush those fish or pour the water down the drain. Seal the fish into some small container and put them in the trash for the landfill. Pour bleach & alcohol into the tank to sterilize it for a few days, then pour it out, rinse & scrub everything, dose heavily with dechlorinator, rinse again & again, and finally set it all back up again from scratch.

Don't even bother trying to treat with some common, lesser drug just because it's something you have handy. Your fish are too far gone already, most likely, and all you'd do is greatly increase the risk of that bacteria becoming immune to your drug of choice.

It's not good news, no. Just consider what would happen if that pathogen got loose into your local water supply. Your first duty is to your environment & fellow humans. Not many pathogens can cause that much damage in that short a time, so you must respect the severe risk this one poses. The kind of medicine you'd need cannot be bought from a petshop; you'd have to go to a doctor for it so it wouldn't be cheap. You can safely assume that your corys' brains are infected at this point; popeye like that just isn't normal.

[Baby_Baby]

Here's some pix of popeye just so u can make sure. I'll try to find you some good stuff. you might try the sticky of disease sites at the top of this forum area

[micstarz]

thanks I'll do that TOS. Actually the fish were added a few days back so cant be sure, and I quarantined them so you are near definately right.

Yep baby_baby, thats what Im getting but really suddenly. I hope my (wild) gambusia and endlers at least will pull through, they sould have better antibodies.

Thank you again!

[Baby_Baby]

Description: Popeye is some type of infection or fluid buildup that causes the eyes of a fish to bulge out of their sockets. It can be caused by bacteria and infections may range from minor to fatal. Popeye is often an early warning of dropsy and it is often recommended that you treat it as such just in case.
Symptoms: Eyes of the fish will bulge as if they are going to pop out of the sockets.

Treatment: General antibiotics such as Melafix can be effective, but since it has a wide range of causes, it is hard to treat.

Not sure this really helps but just in case

[Baby_Baby]

Popeye, also known as exophthalmos or exophthalmia, is more a condition than it is a disease. In saltwater fish it may affect one or both eyes, appearing as if the eye has air or fluid trapped inside, around or behind it, causing the eye to enlarge and bulge out of its socket, as if under pressure. Duration of this condition can be anywhere from several days to several weeks.
A variety of physical injuries or non-infectious and infectious diseases can lead to this clinical condition. Typically, popeye in itself is not contagious to other fishes in the community.

Probable Causes
Eye Trauma - Trauma to the eye is usually the reason a fish has this condition when only one eye is affected. Eye trauma can be attributed to a scratch, scrape of bruise to the eye from encounters such as fighting with other fish, net abrasion, or coming into contact with a stationary object or organism in the aquarium, and may be bacterial or fungal in nature as well. In most cases where popeye occurs from eye trauma, the unsightly looking eye does not seem to affect the fish's overall good health.



The fish appears to be healthy, its appetite has not diminished, and more than likely all tank readings will be normal.
Treatment - In cases where eye trauma is involved it is suggested to not remove the fish from the aquarium, unless harassment from other fishes is becoming a threat. Handling of the fish can cause further irritation to the eye, as well as additional trauma. In most minor cases the injury will heal in time as the condition is allowed to run its course. To help aid in the continued health and healing of the fish during the course of this condition, oral feedings of foods soaked in selcon or another type of liquid vitamin, along with foods mixed with a broad spectrum antibiotic such as tetracycline, chloramphenicol or kanamycin are suggested. Eventually the eye will deflate, but may result in various conclusions.

In minor eye trauma situations, the eye will usually return to its normal appearance without blindness.
In more serious cases where treatment is not provided or proves to be ineffective, the eye may appear colorless and gray, resulting in blindness to the eye, but is not necessarily fatal.
In cases where one or both eyes have sustained severe trauma and treatment is not provided or proves to be ineffective, the eye(s) may burst or disappear altogether. This can be such a traumatic event that the fish may not recover and death will occur.
Keep in mind that if both eyes are traumatized, the fish may not be able to see at all. The attempt to orally feed a fish with this type of severe condition is most likely impossible. Therefore, the fish should be carefully moved to a QT (quarantine tank) and treated with a broad spectrum topical antibiotic, such as skin absorbed kanamycin sulfate based antibiotics like Aquatronics' Kanacyn or Spectrogram, CPH's K-Mycin, as well as Neomycin, and Mardel Labs Maracyn or Maracyn-Two. Consult with your local fish store for more medication recommendations, as these are just a few on the market. We suggest that you do not treat the main aquarium, as many antibiotics can weaken or kill the biological filter.
Non-Infectious and Infectious Diseases - Trauma to both eyes can occur, but usually when both eyes are affected or more than one fish is showing signs of this condition, suspicion of a non-infectious or infectious disease should be considered. Popeye can be an outward sign that another disease is present which may be of bacterial, fungal or other origin. As examples, bilateral exophthalmia combined with ascites (a swollen abdomen from accumulation of body fluids in the abdominal cavity) is often seen in kidney disease. Popeye is sometimes considered to be manifested by an internal infection called Ichthyophonus hoferi (fungal disease), and is also a possible sign of Vibrio (bacterial disease). If the condition is resultant from a disease, the fish may succumb to complications of the disease rather than the popeye, if the actual disease is not properly diagnosed and treated.

Treatment - In cases where the condition is stemming from a non-infectious disease , follow the same treatment suggestions as with eye trauma outlined above.

Treatment - If the condition is stemming from an infectious disease , carefully remove the fish from the main aquarium, to prevent spread of the infectious disease to other tank inhabitants, and place the fish in a QT for proper treatment of the underlying disease, as well as the popeye.

[Baby_Baby]

OS can verify if that is good info