Persistant Popeye

D

Dragonmommy

AC Members
Oct 22, 2005
27
0
0
Lake Tahoe, California
OK, I need to make this kinda short and sweet, here goes. I have a 55 gallon long with 11 malawi's in it. 1fish got popeye a while back, I moved her to the hossy tanks and treated with first tetracycline, then maracyn two. After completed treatment I moved her back to the 55 gal and within 24 hours she was sick again, so she went back to the hospital tank. Again after treatment I moved her and she got sick, so I decided to keep her in the hospital tank till I could trade her in for a healthier fish. My tank FINALLY started to cycle (both of them) and next thing I know I had 2 more fish with popeye, so i put them in the hospital tank and treated, but they are still sick. Now the hospital tank has stringy/furry brown crud growing in it and ALL my fish are sick, even the main tank. So aside from the cycling the tank parameters are fine, I am doing another water change today but that wont cure popeye. I plan to just pt all the fish in the main tank and treat the entire main tank which will be expensive, but it must be done. Problem is that I dont think maracyn 2 is curing the popeye and underlying cause which I can't identify.
My questions are...
1. Do you think the cycling is making my fish sick?
2. When you have exhausted Maracyn 2 what else can you try?
3. What are steps I should take to make my guys healthy again?
4. What are steps I can take to KEEP them healthy?

I cant do this stuff till tomorrow because no one is open to buy medicine today :confused:
 
Well, popeye is generally caused by poor water quality issues...so I'd say it has to do with the cycling process.

I've also read, though I don't know how true it is, that popeye is very difficult to cure once a fish has it. But I don't know how true that is. The best thing would be to get that tank cycled and keep the water very clean with regular weekly water changes.

That doesn't exactly help you with the "now" issue of how to treat them and the tank. I'm sorry I don't have any info for you in that regard. I'm sure someone else will though.

All the best mom !
 
popeye.jpg


I only had one fish with popeye and I lost him. The worst part is that popeye is not a disease: it's a symptom of an bacterial/fungal/viral infection. So, unless you can identify the source of the problem, popeye can not be treated.

The best remedy is keepiong a top water quality and a good diet. If done so, the fish might be able to heal by himself. Throwing medications like a shotgun blast is not always effective.

My 2¢
 
You are attempting to cycle a tank with 11 FISH??? No wonder they are all sick...unless you are doing 90 percent water changes everyday, the tank is doomed...Sorry...Now that the fish are weak from the toxic ammonia they will most likely succumb to the popeye and other bacterial infections...Id return what isnt sick and put the rest out of their misery... A 55 is WAY too small for 11 malawis..
 
I am stocking 11 malawi's to keep agression down and no the original intent was not to cycle, but thats what happened. I have faithfully checked my water conditions daily EXCEPT for a 9 day period over the holidays when we lost all plumbing, I was unable to do anything. Thats when my fish go sick. I dont need rude comments like yours.
Thanks for your consideration that not everything is perfect for everyone all the time. Thanks so much.
 
I agree with Pixie. You should have never tried to cycle a tank with 11 malawi's. Expecially if you got the bigger chichlids. That is a big fish to help cycle a tank. You should have stuck with dano's they are a hardy fish and they are small enough to establish a bacterial colony. You are probably going to lose all those fish, so I would get rid of the fish you have and start over. If you need fish to cycle your tank then go with dano's they are much cheaper and they are much hardier than the Malawi's. I would suggest doing a fishless cycle. You are going to have a long time now until your tank is cycled and back to what it should be at for toxic levels. Good luck
 
Sorry I took your response so personally, had just finished fighting with my husband.
As for the cycle, well it was never intended, but I lost the other tank and had no choice. By the time that all happened it was too late to take the fish back (stupid new policy) and I tried over and over to seed the newer tank, but it failed.

I suppose if I loose them all it will be sad, but right now I have no choice. I know if we had not lost our plumbing for Christmas I would have been able to keep the tank clean, but I could not even get new water for it... unless I wanted to go out and melt 55 gallons of snow. It was a mess and getting a plumber was an even bigger mess. I did have Danios to cycle, 3 of them. But when tank 1 failed they all had to go in the same tank and the cichlids actually killed 2 danios :thud: didn't think they could/would do that.
Oh I didn't buy all 11 at once, I got one, then 2, then the rest but ONLY when it appeared my tank was cycled. See the tank WAS cycled, then some unknown force sent into reeling into a new cycle, I don't get it.
Its basically been just a messed up tank, I have no clue why. I have had malawi's before (before I know what they even were) and Oscars, convicts, loaches ect. I have NEVER lost anything to a cycle or gotten fish sick like this, this tank just got out of control on me I guess, its the first tank ever I have lost my handle on. :(
 
Basically what has happened is you have "jump started" the cycle all over again... lets say the tank was initially cycled with 3 fish living in it...0 Ammo, 0 Nitrites, less then 20ppm Nitrates...Your beneficial bacterial colony is only as large as the load it had to handle, thus adding the rest when it appeared to be cycled, has started the cycle again...Not totally mind you...If you had nitrates before it will just take some time for the nitrites to gobble up the excess ammonia...Basiacally you have a "mini" biological filter and a "maxi" load on your hands...To put it simply, you had an "ammo spike"...More ammonia in the water then your biofilter could handle...keep up the water changes (large volume evey day) until things start to come into check...I dont doubt that the plumbing situation was the clincher...That sucks...Good luck :)
 
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