# Pop-eye?



## Rachelmelville (Jul 20, 2007)

How can I tell if my yellow Oranda has pop-eye or not? I've had three smallish fantails/Orandas in a 30-gallon tank for 8 months. I use a Bio-wheel & have a bit of bubbling from an air pump and no plants. I did try plants once and had to treat the tank for parasites. My parameters have been fine. I do a 10-15% water change weekly and use Cycle, a little Aquarium Salt, and StressCoat when I do. Two of the original fish died and I've replaced them -- one died after its second bout of swimbladder disease a few months back and an orange fantail died recently of Dropsy -- found him sick when I returned from vacation when a house-sitter was tending in an inexperienced manner (perhaps changed tank with water too cold). That fish always seemed to have slightly bulging eyes with a darkness on top of them. Over these months, I treated the tank with antibiotics a couple times, then once with Metafix, then fed him penicillin drops once, but no change, so I presumed I was wrong. Since he succumbed to Dropsy while I was away, I wondered if he had been sick all along, although he was energetic except for occasional resting on the bottom. Now, I may be imagining, but I think the new yellow Oranda's eyes are bulging out a little more than they did and have a slight darkness on top. Is there any way I can find out if there's something in my tank that might cause this -- or be comforted that his eyes are perhaps normally growing?


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## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

Rachelmelville, Let me try to help you........ stop medicating!!!! Since you have no clew what it is, you are doing more damage then good. Instead of 10-15%, do a 25% twice a week, or a 50% once a week, use nothing but declorinator. Never rinse out your filter media within 2 days of a WC (water change) and do not feed goldfish flake or floating foods, they gulp air when they eat it, and sometimes swollow it, making people think they have swim bladder. Next, pick one day a week that you "perge" them (no food what so ever) then the next day, feed them veggie foods, spirolia, green peas etc. This will keep their systems clean. Putting live Anachuris plant in the tank helps too, they will munch on it if they get hungry. 3 days a week in addition to the regular staple foods you give them, give them a treat of High protien... brine shrimp, earthworms etc. Getting your goldies digestive systems working good is the key to healthy fish. As far as the pop eye, there is no way to tell with a bubble eye, unless you know his looks very well. I would not medicate him unless you knew for sure. But here is a link that will help........ 
http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_diseases/eyes.html
But remember, diligant tank mantainence and good water goes a very long way to healthy fish.


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## Rachelmelville (Jul 20, 2007)

*Pop-eye cont.*

Thanks very much for your help, SueM, and good advice for digestive track maintenance. It's been very difficult when getting so much conflicting advice about medicating and diagnosing, so I take your point about overmedicating when in the dark about a diagnosis (the link you directed me to looks like a good one, but of course gives yet another medication for pop-eye caused by a kidney disease, so I'll ignore it at this point). The fish aren't bubble-eye, but I still would not know how to diagnose. Good to know I can change more water more regularly.


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