My Platy has a Bubble around his eye.

Tank size: 5 Gallons
Tank age: 2 weeks
Temperature: 72°

I have a spotted with a black tail and a solid red with black tail platy. Speedo (the red one) isn't being as active lately and he has a bubble around his eye. He can't see out of it and I'm not sure what to do. I got my two platys almost a week ago. I've never kept fish before, however my parents have and they're helping me. I also had an otocinclus when I first got them, but it died so my dad went back and got two more. Now they are all dead and I feel so bad and I don't understand what I did wrong so I don't know how to fix it. My tank sits at about 72°, and I have a heater to heat it back up. My filter is the one that came with the tank from PetSmart. I feed them a pinch each morning of the tropical fish flakes they told me to buy from the store. I'm really worried for lil' Speedo, and I feel really bad because I felt ready coming into this, but now I'm not so sure. I also don't know any of the nitrite nitrate levels or anything like that, so that could be the problem.

I attached pictures of my tank setup, the flakes, and two of Speedo's eye. My mom said tomorrow she would call the store and ask if they can help at all, but I'm not hopeful. If you have any advice it would be much appreciated.

-Katie

Looks like popeye (swelling and protrusion of the eyeball due to trauma or infection). Treatment will depend on the underlying cause; right now you should make sure that the water is clean (regular water changes + vaccuming the gravel), and get some liquid tests - especially for ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. Poor water quality can make the condition worse so it's vital that you keep the tank clean and stable. Did you cycle the tank before adding fish? If not (I'm guessing not, since the tank is only 2 weeks old - that's not enough time to complete the cycle), read up on the nitrogen cycle (fish-in vs fishless), get an ammonia detoxifier like Seachem Prime and use it daily until the ammonia/nitrites go down to 0. Until that happens, don't add any more fish. An uncycled tank could be the reason why the other fish died. For the time being you can try Epsom salt to reduce the swelling (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water for minimum 3 days). If that doesn't help you can try a broad-spectrum medication like eSHa2000 or an antibiotic like Maracyn, since popeye is often caused by bacterial infections. And make sure to feed the fish a high-quality varied diet, it will help build up his immune system.

Hi and welcome to the forum

The fish has excess mucous over its eye, and it has clamped fins. The combination of this, plus the catfish dying, and the tank being newly set up (2 weeks ago), would suggest there is a water quality issue, probably ammonia.

Ammonia is produced by fish food, fish waste and uneaten food. It occurs in every aquarium and is normally broken down by good bacteria that live in the filter. However, it takes a few weeks for the good bacteria to develop and during this time the ammonia levels can rise and kill the fish.

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Your best bet is to reduce feeding to a couple of times a week. Don't worry, the fish won't starve. Unlike people that use most of the food we eat to keep warm, fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water and any food they eat goes into making them grow and for swimming.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for the next 2-3 weeks. This will dilute any ammonia in the water and hopefully help keep the fish alive.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the tank.

Do not clean the filter for the next 2 months. When you do start to clean it, just squeeze the filter media/ materials out in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn.

Add some salt, (see directions below).

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Don't add any new fish, snails or shrimp until the tank has cycled in about 2 months time. You can add some live plants if you like. Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) is a good plant that can float on the surface or grow in the gravel. It grows rapidly and will help keep the water cleaner.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

When you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

Thank you so much. We purchased ammonia test strips and Seachem Prime. I haven't bought any salt yet, I'm not sure what type to get. I actually just changed the water and I had a question, how long do I wait before putting my fish back into the tank? Also, my other fish with the spots looks like his spots are fading a bit. Is that to do with the ammonia levels?

birdie.katie said:

We purchased ammonia test strips

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Test strips are notoriously inaccurate, not really good for measuring anything The results can be completely out of whack, not reliable at all. Liquid tests are much better, or those ammonia alerts that Seachem produces (although you have to get new ones every few months). If you can get your hands on liquid tests then by all means do, they are much more trustworthy.

birdie.katie said:

I haven't bought any salt yet, I'm not sure what type to get.

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In your case, Epsom salt - it draws out fluids and reduces swelling so it might help your little guy. But regular aquarium salt is always good to have on hand, too. Never use regular table salt - it may contain harmful chemical additives.

birdie.katie said:

how long do I wait before putting my fish back into the tank?

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I'm not sure why you took them out in the first place...? Normally when you do a water change you don't remove the fish. You just add a conditioner (like Prime) to the new water, make sure it's the same temperature as the water inside the tank, and then you pour the conditioned water into the aquarium and that's it. No need to stress the fish by catching and relocating them every time you do a water change.

birdie.katie said:

my other fish with the spots

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Wait, which white spots? I can't see anything in the original photos... Are the spots a part of his natural colour? There are certain diseases which can cause white spots to appear on fish, most commonly a parasite known as ich. A close-up picture would help determine what's going on with him.