Popeye?

I just added 3 new Rummy Nose Tetras to my tank last week - trying to fill out a school. (I had 2 before, now I have 5)

One of the new Tetras has what looks like "pop-eye" in one of his eyes. (a white ring around the eye, and a bulging bubble looking protrusion.) It looks like the other eye is starting to show the same symptoms. I've never encountered this an any of my fish before so I was wondering/hoping there might be something I could do about it. I'm a little worried about one of the other new tetras as well as the other fish in the tank.

I got them from a place I had never been too, but recommended by my regular store because they have not had any new shipments of Rummy Nose Tetras in a few months. The new store had three left, 2 large, 1 small. So I got 'em. They looked fine in the store tank, but I should have studied them more closely before I took them home.

Tank size: 30 gal.
pH: 7.4
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0
tank temp: 80 degrees F, 26 degrees C.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: Enough to fill a 30 gal tank, with about 2 inches of substrate, rocks and plants. I do a 10 gal water change once a week.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: Water Conditioner when I do the water change, Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium. (half a capful, twice a week)

Tank inhabitants:
5 Rummy Nose Tetras (this includes the three new tetras- the other two have been in the tank for several months)
5 Harlequin Rasboras
1 Miniature Gourami
1 Bristle Nose Pleco

Several Live plants, One Amazon Sword, and I'm not sure about of the species of the other two plants. All are thriving.

Recent additions to your tank: One new Water Lettuce, I added with the new Tetras.

Exposure to chemicals: None.

One note about the new Tetras. The last three in the store, and the only ones I've found available in my area a while. 2 are large - larger than the two I already had in the tank by about 1/4 of an inch. They were also darker than the silver color I'm used to in Rummy Nose Tetras. The third is much smaller and skinnier. The color seems correct. At first I figured the two larger ones were older, and the small was young. Just thought I'd throw that out there in case it makes a difference. I understand that there are three varieties of Rummy Nose Tetras, so maybe that explains the difference in appearance and size?

They have joined the other two tetras quite well and all 5 are usually grouped together in the tank. They are eating and they haven't shown any odd behavior. Although the one with the pop-eye, doesn't seem as energetic as the other 4.

Is there anything I can do to help this guy? Are my other fish in danger of catching an infection? I don't have a quarantine tank, so anything I do will happen to all the fish. I'd rather lose one than all, so if the best thing to do is separate him permanently... I'll do what I have to do.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I personally would give it time, at least a couple weeks. My understanding is that Popeye is usually an injury but it can also indicate an infection. Others will have a better idea about treating an infection but injuries will usually heal themselves in a healthy fish housed in a healthy tank.

A couple things I want to mention. First, you want to consider doing 50% water changes to keep your nitrates low, especially with a sick fish. How long has the tank been set up and what are you using for testing?

Another thing is the flourish supplement. Is that a standard half cup or half the bottle’s cap? If it’s a standard cup that seems excessive though I’m not sure that could cause harm to the fish. I used to use this and it’s dose is one capful for every 20 gl so you would need 2 caps after every water change, but that can vary depending on your particular tank.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean sponge to remove the biofilm.

Do a big water change (75%) and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
Don't bother adding any plant fertiliser during this time.
Make sure the bucket you use for water changing is a fish only bucket and has not been used for anything else.

Clean your filter, wash the filter materials in a couple of buckets of tank water.

The above steps should be done whenever you see a sick fish and should help by diluting any harmful pathogens in the water and removing the gunk from the gravel and filter, leaving a cleaner environment for the fish, and for treating if necessary. Then monitor the fish for a few days to see if there is any improvement. If there is no improvement after a couple of days then get a broad spectrum medication from the petshop and treat the fish.

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If you can post a picture of the fish and plants we should be able to id the plants and see if there are any other issues with the fish

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When you water change the tank, do you normally use a gravel cleaner to remove the gunk from the substrate?
If no then get a basic gravel cleaner like the one in the following link, and use that every time you do a water change. You start siphoning water out of the tank into a bucket. While that is happening you push the gravel cleaner tube into the substrate and lift it up. The gravel circulates in the tube before dropping down and the gunk gets removed with some of the water. Gravel clean all the substrate except where live plants are. Just leave the plants where they are and go around them.
http://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

Thank you both for the quick responses.

Alas, the sick Tetra did not survive the night and the question of how to deal with him was solved for me.

But I'll post a picture of the other, large, new fish to compare him with two of the "older" inhabitants. In case anyone has an opinion on his state of health. He seems to be swimming and behaving just fine, but as you can see, he's slightly darker and yellower than the other two - this has improved over the past few days since I added him last week. However, you'll also notice that his eyes have more white around the edges than the others. (The small one did not want to cooperate and pose with his fellows, but he looks like the two "normal" looking Tetras.)

To answer and respond to your questions and suggestions.

stanleo said:

A couple things I want to mention. First, you want to consider doing 50% water changes to keep your nitrates low, especially with a sick fish. How long has the tank been set up and what are you using for testing?

Click to expand...

I'm doing about a 1/3 of the tank a week. I used to do 1/2 but after testing the water before and after, things looked okay, so I cut down and haven't had any problems since. But I'll increase the amount I change as recommended.

stanleo said:

Another thing is the flourish supplement. Is that a standard half cup or half the bottle’s cap? If it’s a standard cup that seems excessive though I’m not sure that could cause harm to the fish. I used to use this and it’s dose is one capful for every 20 gl so you would need 2 caps after every water change, but that can vary depending on your particular tank.

Click to expand...

I was doing 1/2 a CAP full (not cup) twice a week. That's probably a little less than a tea spoon. And as I said, the plants are doing great. I was nervous about adding plants because I've never had much luck as a horticulturalist, and the Amazon Sword was always kind of wimpy. But it was recommended that I add more, and some floating plants, so I did, and the Flourish supplement has done wonders.

Colin_T said:

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean sponge to remove the biofilm.

Click to expand...

I do that about once a month. The glass is pretty clean, and the Pleco likes to suck on it.

Colin_T said:

Do a big water change (75%) and gravel clean the substrate each day for a week.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
Don't bother adding any plant fertiliser during this time.
Make sure the bucket you use for water changing is a fish only bucket and has not been used for anything else.

Click to expand...

I assume changing this much water so ofter was to help with the sick fish. I've only done that kind of change when I detected too much Ammonia, and that hasn't happened in a while. I check the water for clorine/chloramine before adding it, and use a dedicated bucket only for the tank, so I should be okay there.

Colin_T said:

Clean your filter, wash the filter materials in a couple of buckets of tank water.

Click to expand...

I did that last week before adding the new fish.

Colin_T said:

The above steps should be done whenever you see a sick fish and should help by diluting any harmful pathogens in the water and removing the gunk from the gravel and filter, leaving a cleaner environment for the fish, and for treating if necessary. Then monitor the fish for a few days to see if there is any improvement. If there is no improvement after a couple of days then get a broad spectrum medication from the petshop and treat the fish.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips!

Colin_T said:

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If you can post a picture of the fish and plants we should be able to id the plants and see if there are any other issues with the fish

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Click to expand...

Done. Please see my notes above, for details. I'll add the plant pictures to a different group, because identifying them isn't an "emergency."

Colin_T said:

When you water change the tank, do you normally use a gravel cleaner to remove the gunk from the substrate?

Click to expand...

Yes, I do.

I've had a couple large fish deaths over the years, usually due to Ick, but a few from mysteries that I think was due to changes in my tap water, that I couldn't identify or control. I have a feeling this new guy was not doing well before I added him. Pop-eye was a new thing for me. I'll keep my eye on the other one to see if he displays any other problems.

Thanks again for the help.

the big rummynose in the picture has a cloudy swollen eye, possibly the same thing the other one had.

the small fish on the left of the picture looks a bit skinny. It could be lack of food at the shop or it might have gill flukes or intestinal worms. See how it goes over the next few weeks and if it doesn't fill out (get fatter) then look into deworming the tank, and treating it for gill flukes. But see how things go over the next few weeks.

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The big water changes and gravel cleans are recommended to dilute any harmful pathogens in the water.
Fish live in a soup of microscopic organisms and these can sometimes build up in numbers and affect the fish (they get sick). The big water changes dilute these harmful pathogens more effectively than smaller water changes.
You can actually change 90% of the tank water without any problems as long as the new water going into the tank has the same chemistry (pH, and hardness), and similar temperature to the tank water, and has no chlorine/ chloramine in.
Just make sure you turn your heater off before draining the tank.

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At this stage I would still recommend a big water change and gravel clean to see if it helps this rummynose with the white patch on the eye. If it doesn't help and the fish looks the same or worse after 24 hours, I would isolate the new fish and treat them with methylene blue (or any medication containing that).

If you get any new fish you should quarantine them for at least 2 weeks (preferably 4 weeks) before adding them to the main tank. It can reduce a lot of issues later on.