swordtail bulging eye

Question
I just noticed one of my swordtails has a bulging eye that is full of blood.  It was in a 55 gal with 3 other swords, 2 pearl guoramis, 2 (territorial) angels, 3 emerald cats,  a 4 line cat, and 3 mystery snails.  None of the other fish are showing any signs of disease or stress, so I am assuming that it is the result of an injury.  I put her in a breeder trap in my 10 gal (it has a dozen or so babies), after a major water change and treated with maracyn 2.  She did eat, but she can't see out of the (injured) eye.  Do you have any other ideas about a possible cause or treatment for her?

Answer
Hi Christine;

It sounds like a rupture of blood vessels inside her eyeball after an episode of pop-eye. Just continue to keep the water very clean and keep using Maracyn Two. The damage is probably permanent but fish do just fine with the loss of vision in one eye. I've had many one-eyed fish and currently have a one-eyed Gold Barb in my 55 gallon that does great. She turns her body at weird angles sometimes to see things, mostly food, but she's quite a character. Your swordtail will adapt just fine too.

There are many possible causes for pop-eye. Infection, tumor, injury, blood clot, etc. There's no way to know really. The only treatable one of those problems is infection so we usually just give them antibiotics and hope for the best.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins