My fish had a bubble on it's eye, then died!!???

[Fishman07]

I had a fish for three days, then this morning, it was swimming on its side, and it had a bubble on it's eye. That was this morning, then I had to go to school. I was worried about leaving it because I was afraid that it would die. Then I got home and he was dead!!!! It was a tiger barb, but it is wierd because I have two more and a Blue Gourami, she is two years old. Please, can anybody tell me what happened, and what I could have done to prevent it!!?? Thanks guys, Tyler:help:

[Coler]

Sorry for your fish :(

pics of the bubble would help. Did it look like a tumour ? Like an injury Like the eye was popping out ?

If the last one pop eye can be a sign of poor water conditions...can you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates ?

How big is the tank - is it just the two barbs and the gourami left in there ?

[Fishman07]

I don't have any pics of it. Sorry. It looked like a foogy, mucasy like membrane. It is 10 gallons. I have had the tank for like 2 and a half years. the gourami was in it from the very start. One of the barbs has been in there for a few months and has gotten to be at least an inch long. The other one is very small, smaller than the one that died. He was purchased with the barb that died. when I had found him, he was missing his eyes and was stuck to the screen of my filters intake tube. I was very sad, my mom freaked when I showed her that the eyes were missing

[Coler]

did it look like these ? this website says bacterial infection if so http://www.jbl.de/factmanager/index.php?lang=en

his eyes were missing when you found him ? perhaps picked out by the others after he died.

what's your maintenance routine like ?

[Fishman07]

I do a 25% water change every week and I add a little extra de-chlorinater, this stuff called stress coat, it works really well. I change the filter cartridge every 6 wks too. It looked like the first except it didn't have the white cups, it was just bone looking sort of.

[WinnipegDragon]

Does your filter have any other media besides the cartridge, or is it just a one piece thing you are removing?

[enrique4jc]

If you are removing the entire filter cartridge every 6 weeks, you are losing essentialy all of your biofiltration leaving your tank in a constant state of cycling.

Specs of the tank and readings would help a lot.

[Coler]

I change the filter cartridge every 6 wks too. It looked like the first except it didn't have the white cups, it was just bone looking sort of.

Don't do this - clean it by swishing it around in a bucket of old tank water, not tap water (chlorine will kill your biological filter). Although you still have the bacteria which reside on other surfaces in the tank you're significantly reducing the amount available to process waste by changing cartridges every six weeks

[ct-death]

I do a 25% water change every week and I add a little extra de-chlorinater, this stuff called stress coat, it works really well. I change the filter cartridge every 6 wks too. It looked like the first except it didn't have the white cups, it was just bone looking sort of.

The pictures were of cloudy eye, but regardless it sounded like a bacterial issue (same treatment: clean water and a bacterial med if necessary).

The other posters are right, swish the filter in old tank water every month and it should last 1/2 a year or more.

Also, if a new tank, the filter will have the vast majority of bacteria, but in an aged tank 8-12+ months, the gravel substrate should handle a filter swap without any issues at all.

Lastly, can I assume that you are doing a thorough gravel vac each water change (WC)? 25% weekly and doing vac's, you would have to be very efficient, but just checking ;)

How are the other fish?

[jbg]

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I just had a tiger barb die yesterday. His eyes were bulging for about a week before his death. I see a 2nd tiger barb starting to look the same.

As far as maintenance, I gravel vac and do a 30-40% water change every 2 weeks. It is a 55-gal tank that is heavily populated (please don't reprimand me, I know). I have an Eheim canister and bio-wheel filters.

Any guidance in addition to what has been said would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jack

[ct-death]

Sounds like Pop-eye atm http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#Popeye

It is generally associate w/ poor water quality and is really an infection of the eyes. Good quality clean water is your best defense and rememdy. If in an advanced stage, ani-bacterial meds are somewhat effective.

What are you water readings?

[Aislinn]

Do you have a quarantine tank? Quarantine them, and keep them quarantined until they've been completely free of symptoms for at least a week. Keep the water in the Q tank absolutely pristine (DAILY water changes), add about 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon of water (will help drain the fluid buildup behind the eye), increase the temp to about 84F, and don't feed them for at least 3 days. Then feed them nothing but blanched, peeled peas for at least 2 days. This is the best you can do for them if you're not absolutely positive what infection they have. Medicating without being certain what they've got will likely do more harm than good.

You should also do daily water changes on your main tank for about a week or so and monitor everyone VERY closely for any symptoms. Get the temp in the main tank up to about 82F, and if you don't have real plants or scaleless fish, add about 2 teaspoons of salt for every 5 gallons of water. Stop the heat/salt in the main tank after a week if no other fish display symptoms.

After everything's cleared up and everybody's healthy, you should increase your water changes to once or twice a week since the tank is heavily stocked.

[Fishman07]

No man, your fine(jbg), I understand what you mean. I tested the ph, it was a 6, i don't have any other testing material though. the only place I have really to go to for fish supplies is Wal Mart. My other fish are fine. My tank is about two years old, and my filter is one of those newer aqua-tech fiters that have a biofilter and a cartridge. they are seperate so I figured it wouldn't hurt the biofiltration of my tank. Yes I do my water changes using my gravel vac to remove the water and when I replace it, I add a generous amount of dechlorinator.

[Fishman07]

18116 It looked sort of like that, but more than any other pic on there.:(

[jbg]

I will follow the advice of increased water changes, adding salt and increasing the temp. I thank you and my fish thank you.
Jack