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How to Treat Popeye in Fish
A fish suffering a popeye disease can be dangerous because it can lead to the fish losing their eyesight or even losing the eye itself. But how to treat popeye in fish? Please check different tips and tricks to treat it and prevent the disease from infecting the aquarium.
What to Prepare: Melafix (anti-bacterial medicine), Epsom Salt
Treating a Popeye Disease Cause By an Injury
Treating a popeye disease in a fish will depend on what is the cause of the disease. If an injury causes it, the best treatment you can provide is to let it heal on its own. This treatment is effective as long as the eye will not develop any secondary infection.
You can also provide additional care, such as using an aquarium salt to help in relieving the swelling. This care will enhance the chances of the eye being treated quickly as the absence of the swelling can help make the eye recover fast.
Removal of Dangerous Tank Decorations
One way for the fish to have an injured eye that can cause popeye is those sharp and pointed decorations. To prevent further injury, you can remove all those rough and pointed rocks, pointed and shard plants, and other aquarium decoratives with sharp and pointed edges.
Regular Water Changes and Monitoring of its Chemistry
During the recovery time of the fish, you will need to do water changes regularly while also constantly monitoring the water chemistry. It should be noted that the common cause of popeye is the poor water condition.
Hence, consistently doing water testing is needed to check if there is any problem with the water chemistry. Among those that need to be tested are the pH level and ammonia or nitrite concentration.
Removing the Fish From Aquarium
If you think that the fish already suffers from bacterial infection, you will need to separate the infected fish into a separate tank. You can call this fish tank a quarantine tank which will help to prevent the fish from infecting the other.
Then, you can use an antibiotic recommended by your veterinarian or pet supplier to address the bacteria in your fish. If multiple fish are infected with bacteria, you can consider treating the whole main aquarium to kill all the bacteria.
How to Treat Popeye in Cichlids
If your cichlid fish is having a popeye disease, there is one treatment that you can do to treat it. But you need to separate the fish in a quarantine tank for it to be effective. Please check the step-by-step guide below:
Step 1: Separate the Infected Cichlids in a Quarantine Fish Tank
To prevent the cichlids from infecting other fish, you must separate them in another fish tank. You can call it a quarantine fish tank or a hospital fish tank, but the most important thing is the separation from the other fish so that you can proceed with the treatment immediately.
Step 2: Give the Fish with Melafix and Epsom Salt
Once the infected cichlid is isolated, you can start giving the fish the treatment it needs. You can provide the fish Melafix, which is a very effective all-natural anti-bacterial treatment. This medicine is the perfect treatment for common fish wounds and abrasions.
Then, you can add an Epsom salt to the treatment. The salt is actually good as it helps equalize the water’s pressure. You can also constantly do water changes during the healing process.
Step 3: Wait Until the Eye is Healed
The key to treating popeye in cichlids is to wait. There are aquarium owners who want to have the results immediately. But the best thing to do is continue the course of the treatment, which will take a few days. So, the best thing to do is just wait for the eye to be treated.
How to Treat Popeye in Betta Fish
When it comes to treating a betta fish with a popeye, check our step-by-step guide on how to cure them below:
Step1: Removing and Transferring an Amount of Water in the Aquarium
Start by removing 10% percent of water in your aquarium and place it in a container. This container will be the place where the betta fish will be treated. Once the transfer is finished, get the infected betta fish and add it into the container.
Step 2: Epsom Salt Application
Dose your container have the right amount of Epsom salt. The right amount of salt will be determined as per the instruction given in the manual guide. The recommended amount will be in the instruction as well as the way how it will be used. But make sure to dissolve the Epson salt before putting it into the container.
Step 3: The Treatment Process
To maximize the treatment process, you can now leave the betta fish for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you can not put the fish back in the main tank but make sure that the fish can acclimatize for a few minutes.
How to Treat Popeye in Goldfish
If you feel that your goldfish is infected with bacterial or parasitic infections which caused the popeye disease, you will need to do the step-by-step guide below for the treatment:
Step 1: Separate the Infected Fish
The best thing to do is separate the infected fish from the others. This step prevents the infected fish from infecting the other healthy fish. You can use a smaller fish tank which will serve as a quarantine tank or hospital tank during this treatment.
Step 2: Give Antibiotic Food
Bacterial infection is always difficult to treat but giving the goldfish with antibiotic food can help. You can give the fish flakes with antibiotics to treat the infection. This antibiotic food can be ordered at your nearest vet or pet supplier.
Step 3: Treat the Main Tank with Antibiotics
If more fish are showing symptoms of infection, it will be better for you to treat the main tank with antibiotics too. Again, these antibiotics can be purchased at the nearest pet store or vet near your home.
Conclusion
Learning how to treat popeye in fish is very important since this disease can be lethal to the fish. There are many ways to properly resolve this issue and treat the infected fish. But the most important thing to do is to know what is the cause of the disease for you to apply the right method of treatment available.