It happened suddenly: your fighting fish, apparently in perfect health until last week, now has swollen, cloudy and far too prominent eyes. Unfortunately, he appears to be suffering from a symptom known as popeye (exophthalmia), a disease in which fluid builds up behind the fish's eye. While not exactly pleasant, you can get your fish back to normal and avoid further problems with a few tricks and care: a clean environment, isolation, and medical care.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Prevention
Step 1. Change the water regularly
Dirty water is the most common cause of exophthalmia; the best way to prevent it is to change the dirty tub water to clean water. Make sure the water in the container the fish is in is always clean to prevent them from getting sick.
- If you keep fish in a tank that contains no more than 9 liters of water, change half every week.
- If you keep it in a larger aquarium, change 10-25% of the water every 2-4 weeks.
Step 2. Clean your fish tank every 1-2 weeks
Clean it every week if you don't have a filter and every two if you do.
- Gently remove the fish with a net and place it in a separate container;
- Remove all the water from the tub, remove all the stones and decorations and rinse everything with clean water;
- Scrub the inside of the tub with a paper towel.
- Put stones and decorations back into the tank and, before putting the fish back, fill it almost completely with bottled drinking water or pretreated tap water.
Step 3. Keep the tub water warm
The natural habitat for fighting fish is warm, stagnant water. Make sure the water temperature stays between 24.4 - 27.7 ° C to provide your fish with a healthy environment.
Step 4. Keep the tub water slightly acidic
Use pH test strips to check how basic or acidic your fish's water is. The pH should be kept at 6, 5 or 7.
- If the pH is too high, filter the water through the peat moss before pouring it into the tank.
- If the pH is too low, add shells or baking soda to the tub.
Step 5. Purchase a dH test kit to determine water hardness
Fighting fish prefer fresh water, so keep the dH below 25. Go to a pet store to get specialized products that can extract magnesium and calcium from the water if it's too hard.
Step 6. Carefully introduce new fish to the aquarium
Different fish require different environments, so make sure you don't add fish that have conflicting environmental needs. Popeye often appears when the tub water is not kept at adequate levels; adding a new fish that thrives in a different kind of ecosystem could throw those levels off balance.
Part 2 of 2: Treatment
Step 1. Isolate the fighting fish
Remove any dangerous decorations or aggressive fish. Your fish's vision is most likely impaired, so the likelihood that it will run into sharp objects in the aquarium or that other fish will harm it is higher. You can easily avoid all of these problems by temporarily moving the diseased fish to a separate tank.
Step 2. Put some Epsom salt in the fish tank
Epsom salt, or magnesium sulfate, is great for removing fluid that has accumulated behind your fighting fish's eye. Add a tablespoon of salt for every 19 liters of water your fish lives in.
Step 3. Add an antibiotic to the fish water
There are various antibiotics which, when added to the water, will gradually make the popeye pass. You can buy these antibiotics at pet stores.
- Put some ampicillin in the aquarium and change the water every three days. Continue giving the drug for up to a week after the popeye goes away.
- If you notice popeye early on, you can use erythromycin, minocycline, trimethoprim, or sulfadimidine, antibiotics typically used to treat fin rot.
Step 4. Return the fighting fish to its original tank once the swelling has subsided
It can take anywhere from two weeks to two months for the swelling to go away; even more to repair corneal damage. Return the fish to its natural environment a couple of weeks after its eyes have returned to normal size.
In severe cases, one of the eyes may fall out during the healing process. Should this happen, you will need to keep your fish isolated permanently
Warnings
- If the cause of the popeye isn't dirty water, the problem could stem from a serious illness, such as tuberculosis.
- Chlorine is deadly to fighting fish, so use a filter to remove any trace of it from the tap water you put in the fish tank.
