My pacu is sick

[PunkRock050]

I just looked at him and he has a big bubble of skin on above one of his eyes. It almost looks like the ones that the bubble eye goldfish have. What could be wrong? Could it have been from when he freaked out the other day when I walked into the room? Hes so afraid of me that when he saw me, he freaked out and ran into the side of the tank several times. Maybe has has a "fishy black eye"?

Yeah its a crappy pic, but you can kind of see the bubble.

Also, why is he so afraid of me? Its been like a month now since I got him and he is still terrified when I come into the room. The ones at the LFS arent jumpy at all. Is mine just emotionally stricken or something?

 

[semper fi]

sounds like he scratched his eye and may possibly have popeye. this is curable with meds. it is an infection in the eye. he may possibly lose his eye from it.

pacu are skittish. especially when the only one in the tank. if they have hiding places they will go there til too large to get into. mine has a tendancy to "freak out" at times.

maggie

 

[PunkRock050]

Can I treat him in that tank or should I move him to my 5 gallon? Is Pop eye contagious?

 

[semper fi]

i don't think popeye is contagious. i would move him to another tank so as not to unnecessarily treat other fish. depending on how big the pacu is you might be able to use the 5. i have used maracyn II for popeye with good results. you will want to move him to a smaller tank if he is in a larger one to cut down on the amount of meds used. the treatment should last about 7-10 days. also salt is a good idea to use along with the meds. one tablespoon ful for every five gallons of water. also water changes of about 10% daily. you will only need to salt the replacement water. 3 teaspoons equal one tablespoon.

hth

maggie