gramma has swollen eye
 

As I mentioned in my 'find a nano fish' thread my gramme has been hiding since he was added. few moments ago was the first i've seen of him since adding him. he looks perfect as far as color and body goes except one eye is quite swollen. like a balloon.

what is this and can it correct itself? can it possibly affect my other fish? everyone else looks great. would be hard to get him where he is holed up. i also don't have another tank to perform treatments in.

thanks.

Brett, Grammas hang out in the rockwork a lot. It may have scratched the eyeball a little. You can add a little Epsom salt to the tank or better yet QT the fish and give it a good epsom salt bath. Google epsom salts for fish maladies.

I think Wet Web Media has some good information on using epsom salts in the DT if you can't catch the fish.

The exact same thing happened to my midas blenny last week. The swelling went away after a couple of days.

I had an anthias that had popeye. It progressively got worse over the course of a week or two. I was unable to catch it and treat it so I just hoped for the best and it did end up going away on its own. It might help to bump up your Mg a bit, as lance mentioned epsom salts is one form of treatment.

I know walmart has the epsom salts for cheap I'll poke around WWM and see what that's about. I'm hesitant to change the water chemistry at all even if it's safe. Mag's at 1400...bumping it may help?

Thanks guys.

My Bannerfish had pop eye a while back and I treated the display with epsom salts according to the dosage recommended on Wet Web Media. The salts had no effect on the tank and cleared up the pop eye in a few days. If I remember correctly I under-dosed a little though to be on the safe side.

If you go to the WWM website, look at the bottom left of the home page. You'll see a Google box. Click on www.WetWebMedia.com and type in epsom salts in the search box.

Thanks Lance. Going to give it a shot tomorrow.

They seem to recommend different doses but I think I'll do a one-time dose of 1 tsp per 10 gallons.

I personally would let it run its course. I've had a couple of different fish that have had it and it went away by itself in a week. Just keep doing your regular water changes and feeding. Just my opinion. :)

I do weekly changes and haven't missed a single one since startup. Perhaps I will watch this development the next few days before doing anything. I really don't want to mess with my water things are going well.

Yeah I'm like a see-saw. I'll keep everyone posted.

do NOT! use epsom salts from Walmart! That is for feet therapy and is with additives! Instead, use the one from a health store that is used for human consumption. For $5 you'll got more than you've ever wanted!

I agree with Dez. My squarespot anthias had his eye all swollen about a month and a half ago and everything I looked up said to just leave it, keep the water quality good and it will go away. Took maybe a week or so and it was back to normal. I think as long as it's clear, it's probably from them scratching or hitting it on something. If it's all cloudy, you might have to treat it with something.

Ok......lets be clear about something here......popeye and a swollen eye are two different things.......if a fish has popeye it will usually show up in both eyes.....in which case good water quality and sometimes medication is nessesary to fix the problem......if its just a swollen eye, I would just leave him be and keep a non-swollen eye on him:wink:

He's def showing much more promise today. He's moving from hiding spot to hiding spot and def wanted food when it was added. Until now I haven't been able to even see the other eye but it is perfectly fine.