Pop-eye did fall out!!

Question
Well thank you very much for your help, but unfortunately I can not afford all the stuff he needs and it would put a LOT of stress on him if I transferred him from one tank to another right now. He seems to be doing okay although the eye fell out last night. His "pop-eye"  looks as if it were from an injury because his scales near his eye are damaged slightly. Anyway he is less active now, but his eye looks pretty good and it's healing pretty quick. I think he is just in severe pain. But will he live??????
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-----Question-----
Well yeah my guppy that I bought like 3 days ago has pop-eye. And I didn't realize it until on the way home with him in the little baggy. Out of like 20 fish in one tank I got the sick one. But he is our lucky star, And I am VERY WORRIED about him... He eats healthy, very active, and shows signs of healthiness. BUT his EYE!! When will it bust or fallout? Will it bleed?? Is it okay for him to be with my other fish in the same tank when it happens?? Please I am very disturbed to the fact...
-----Answer-----
Good evening, Amber! Thank you for your question.

I am sorry that you inadvertently received a sick guppy. I stopped buying livebearers for this very reason. Ever notice how crowded those tanks usually are? A crowded tank is more likely to have water quality that is less than desirable, making these fish more vulnerable to disease. Which is why a quarantine period might be especially important for these fish, not to mention any new livestock in general! Consider keeping an extra 10 gallon tank around for this purpose. It can also serve as your hospital tank in case your fish ever get sick. Here is a web page devoted to this topic:

http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/quarantine.html

Okay, now onto your dilemma. Exophthalmia, or popeye, is an environmental disease, usually caused by poor water quality. It is not usually contagious. Unfortunately, your guppy might have other maladies that *are* contagious, since popeye is often merely a symptom of another disease.

You certainly could start out by keeping the water extra clean (test your water to make sure that ammonia and nitrites are 0 ppm, nitrates under 20 ppm...bring nitrates down as low as possible, given the circumstances) and administering Epsom salt at 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons of water. You could also add aquarium salt (not table salt) at 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water. Try this before anything else, and do frequent small water changes daily.

If you don't see an improvement fairly soon afterwards, you may decide to medicate. Many medications will say "broad spectrum antibiotic" on the packaging somewhere. This is the kind of antibiotic you want to use. Some folks like Mardel's line - Maracyn I and II. I personally have heard better things from experienced aquarists about treating with meds that list Nitrofurazone as their active ingredient...

I shall take this opportunity to remind you that medicating in your display tank will harm your biological filter! In any case, consider medicating using half doses first.

Here's a page on popeye in freshwater fish:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwpopeyefaqs.htm
(The entire page is in Q&A format. See if you find any of the replies helpful, or pertinent to your situation...)

If your local fish store sells medicated food, I would recommend trying that before medicating the water. Adding some Melafix to the water would probably not hurt either. Try a half dose first...and *please* disregard the package's instructions about not changing the water until 7 days later! You will want to keep your water and gravel as clean as possible for your guppy at this time.

I hope this information helps! Feel free to write back.

Happy to help,
Nicole


Answer
Amber,

I am so sorry that things ended up the way they did. You certainly had the best of intentions. Keep reading and learning (and asking questions!) all the time and you will do well in all of your aquarium endeavors, it was certainly not your fault that you received compromised livestock.

I do urge you to explain the situation to your LFS and at least get some store credit towards food or some such.

Best wishes,
Nicole