Guppies with cloudy looking eye/eyes that pop out slightly? Please help, thank you

[Progo]

I have discovered that some of my guppies have cloudy looking eyes that pop out slightly, some of them only have one eye that looks cloudy and popping out and some have both. I think it could be popeye or cloudy eye but I don’t know which.

Is API melafix a good medication to use for popeye or cloudy eye? I researched a bit and melafix is available in one of the local pet stores in my area. I’ve heard that myxazin is better but they only ship to UK. Is there any other medications for popeye? would epsom salt help?

also I have another guppy with a red spot on back/tail area. Is it just colouring? or something more serious, picture attached bellow

 

[Essjay]

Melafix is just tea tree oil, I doubt it would help. Epsom salt used in a bath separate from the tank is used for drawing fluid from the body of the fish. I'm not sure it would work here.

Can you get eSHa products where you live?



How do you maintain your tank - how often do you do water changes; how much do you change each time; do you clean the substrate during a water change?

 

[Colin_T]

The red spot could be a parasitic worm that got lost or a tumour. There's no cure for either but the guppy looks skinny so it might be dead in a month anyway.

How long have you had the fish for?
How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have their eyes been cloudy and swollen?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

-------------------

Check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Post the results in numbers here.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water change and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt.

-------------------

SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) 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.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for 2 weeks. If there's no improvement after a week with salt, post more pictures.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect 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.

If 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.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

 

[Progo]

Melafix is just tea tree oil, I doubt it would help. Epsom salt used in a bath separate from the tank is used for drawing fluid from the body of the fish. I'm not sure it would work here.

Can you get eSHa products where you live?



How do you maintain your tank - how often do you do water changes; how much do you change each time; do you clean the substrate during a water change?

No unfortunately, I could get some from eBay but shipping takes a while and I’m afraid it might be too late by the time it arrives.

I do water changes and change about 1/3 of the tank. I don’t clean the substrate (taking out and cleaning), but I routinely move it around when using a siphon to remove the poop.

 

[Progo]

The red spot could be a parasitic worm that got lost or a tumour. There's no cure for either but the guppy looks skinny so it might be dead in a month anyway.

How long have you had the fish for?
How long has the tank been set up for?
How long have their eyes been cloudy and swollen?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

What sort of filter is on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?

-------------------

Check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Post the results in numbers here.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water change and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration to maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Add some salt.

-------------------

SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), swimming pool salt, or any non iodised salt (sodium chloride) to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres (5 gallons) 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.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for 2 weeks. If there's no improvement after a week with salt, post more pictures.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect 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.

If 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.

When you first add salt, add the salt to a small bucket of tank water and dissolve the salt. Then slowly pour the salt water into the tank near the filter outlet. Add the salt over a couple of minutes.

Should I remove the guppy with the red spot out of the tank? and should I euthanise it?

I‘ve had these guppies for about about 2 or so years, the tank the same time. They have been swollen for about 3 days, I do water changes once every 2 weeks and change about 1/3 of the tank.

I don’t clean the substrate (taking out and cleaning), but I routinely move it around when using a siphon to remove the poop. I don't know if I dechlorinate the water but I let the water sit for a few days/week before adding into the tank.

The filter I use is attached bellow, it sits outside the tank. I usually clean it once? a month since it’s on the outside

 

[Colin_T]

Contact your water company by website or phone and find out if they add chlorine or chloramine to the water supply. If they add chlorine then it will come out by itself over a few days so having a bucket of water sitting out for a few days will dechlorinate it. However, if you have chloramine in the water, that will not come out by itself and you need to add a dechlorinater to neutralise it.

You can get a gravel cleaner like the one in the following link. It will let you clean the gunk out of the gravel while the gravel is in the tank. If you can't get a basic model gravel cleaner (available from pet shops of online) you can make one out of a plastic drink bottle and a length of garden hose.

Get a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle.
Cut the bottom off the bottle and throw the bottom bit in the recycling.
Remove the cap and plastic ring from the top and put them in the recycling.
Stick a length (1.5-2 meters) of garden hose or any plastic hose in the top of the bottle. It should be a snug fit. And you have a home made gravel cleaner.
Check YouTube for how to use a gravel cleaner or ask the local pet shop to demonstrate it for you.

Aquarium Cleaning Made Easy

Aquarium cleaning should take 30 minutes every two weeks. Learn how the professionals do it in 18 easy steps.

www.about-goldfish.com

Once you have a gravel cleaner and know if you have chlorine or chloramine in the water supply, do a 75% water change and gravel clean every day for 1-2 weeks. See if it helps. Then do it once a week after that.

 

[Progo]

Contact your water company by website or phone and find out if they add chlorine or chloramine to the water supply. If they add chlorine then it will come out by itself over a few days so having a bucket of water sitting out for a few days will dechlorinate it. However, if you have chloramine in the water, that will not come out by itself and you need to add a dechlorinater to neutralise it.

You can get a gravel cleaner like the one in the following link. It will let you clean the gunk out of the gravel while the gravel is in the tank. If you can't get a basic model gravel cleaner (available from pet shops of online) you can make one out of a plastic drink bottle and a length of garden hose.

Get a 1, 1.5 or 2 litre plastic drink bottle.
Cut the bottom off the bottle and throw the bottom bit in the recycling.
Remove the cap and plastic ring from the top and put them in the recycling.
Stick a length (1.5-2 meters) of garden hose or any plastic hose in the top of the bottle. It should be a snug fit. And you have a home made gravel cleaner.
Check YouTube for how to use a gravel cleaner or ask the local pet shop to demonstrate it for you.

Aquarium Cleaning Made Easy

Aquarium cleaning should take 30 minutes every two weeks. Learn how the professionals do it in 18 easy steps.

www.about-goldfish.com

Once you have a gravel cleaner and know if you have chlorine or chloramine in the water supply, do a 75% water change and gravel clean every day for 1-2 weeks. See if it helps. Then do it once a week after that.

Is this salt ok to put in my tank? the ingredients only say natural sea salt

 

[Ram419]

I believe rock salt or kosher salt both are good to use in aquariums becuase they have no extra additives. An example of a salt you don't want to use is idodized table salt. Idoine is not safe for all forms of life that live in water so shouldn't be used.

 

[Colin_T]

Is this salt ok to put in my tank? the ingredients only say natural sea salt

Yes it's fine to use and is just rock salt, which is sold as aquarium salt.