My Texas Cichlid eyes are bugging out.

Question
Hi Karen, I just noticed that my Texas Cichlid's eyes are bulging out very strangely. I've had her for over 7 years and she has never had any problems. The only thing that I can think of that is different is that it has been extremely hot out and all of our animals are suffering too. Do you know if the Texas Cichlid's eyes bugging out is normal?

Answer
Hi Brad,
Unfortunately it is not normal.
I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Bulging eyes is usually called "Pop-eye" and its not an actual disease in itself but rather a symptom of something wrong either internally with the fish or the environment. Its best to take as many precautions as possible cause we wouldn't want to loose your Texas Cichlid.

The thing I'd do is change at least 50% of the water every day and make sure to do gravel vacuuming too. Poor water quality can be a trigger to popeye. Water changes not only remove excess pollutants but they also lessen the amount of bad bacteria in the water and helps boost your fishes immune system.

Some fish recover on their own but if he is acting sick or has other symptoms I'd probably treat him with a good reliable antibiotic coupled with massive water changes.

This is a very helpful article about Popeye that might be useful-
http://flippersandfins.net/pop-eye.htm

Best of luck!! Stay cool in this insanely hot summer.
Karen~