Should I be concerned about my cory?

[bettaman]

I was feeding my fish this morning and doing my regular observation for general health. Well, I noticed that one of my cories out of three seems to have protruding eyes. They look like they're ready to come out the sockets, almost like a black moore goldfish. Is this some kind of disease that I should be worried about or just a deformity? I'm concerned because I didn't notice it before. Any suggestions?

 

[yannfulliquet]

Hi!
Eyes coming out of its cavuty is not a good thing at all. Usually it is a sign of poor water quality. How big is your tank, how many and what kind of fish do you have in there. How many water change per month do you do...how much do you change each time... What are the water parameters???
Cheers
Yann

 

[bettaman]

Not too sure about the parameters, I might be a little overstocked though. I have 7 white clouds, 2 neon tetras and 3 panda cories in a 10 gallon. I feel they might be better off in a 20 gallon right? Each fish is about an inch so I figure I have about 2 inches more than I should. I change about 40% of the water once a week.

 

[wetmanNY]

If your biofilter is robust and you aren't overfeeding, you shouldn't be overstocked.

Pop-eye is officially " exophthalmus " which is Greek for um "pop-eye." These are the names to look for at the fish disease sites or if you do a www.google.com search.

It's caused by build-up of gas or fluid in the socket behind the eye and there are many causes, some of which are bacterial. The fish has to heal itself, basically. I'd step up your partial water changes, filter-media rinsing (in the siphoned-out tank water), and general housekeeping.

When a fish is about to die, it's always a cautious move to remove it before it actually dies. Keeps any parasite load and unnecessary bacteria from being passed around.

 

[Cichlid Woman]

Isn't there a medication for pop-eye?

-- Pat

 

[bettaman]

Hospital tank?

Should I isolate this fish? I'm checking up on him daily and the condition seems the same if not worse. I'm going to be moving all the fish into a 20 gallon today, should he be isolated or moved as well?

 

[Cichlid Woman]

Yes, I'd isolate it and treat it for popeye. I looked up popeye on the Tropical Fish Forum page, and this is what it said:

"SYMPTOMS: One or both eyes protrude from the socket. This may be caused from, fighting, bacteria, tumor or over-aerated water. If left untreated, the eye may bulge out so far that the eye can pop out of the socket, resulting in the loss of an eye.

"TREATMENT: If it was caused by over-aeration, turn the power head water stream adjustment to its lowest setting. Temporarily shut off the air to the power heads, and allow the air pump to be the only source of air. Observe the Popeye for a few days, if this was the problem, the eye should begin to recede. If no improvement is noticed, it may be because the problem is bacterial. Medications that may help are Furan, Kanamycin Sulfate, Tetracycline and Maracyn-Two. Treatment in a hospital tank is recommended. "

Just make sure that if you medicate, the treatment is safe for scaleless fish--cories can be touchy. And absolutely no salt!

Hope this helps.

-- Pat

 

[bettaman]

Why no salt? I've been using it sucessfully with my loaches, cories and other types of fish for some time now.

 

[Cichlid Woman]

Really?! You mean I've been avoiding salt all this time for nothing?! I didn't think cories could tolerate it. Hmmmm. You learn something new every day. Thanks.

-- Pat