# Cory Cat with pop-eye?!



## KellyL

Hi all,

One of my cory catfish has popeye. I moved him to a spare tank and am treating him with Melafix at the moment. He doesn't seem to be doing to well . . . . He was upside-down earlier - he moved when I nudged him with the net. Then he was on his side, he isnt swimming around or looking for food at all.
The pebbles in the bottom are not really bottom-feeder friendly, they are quite big and uneven so I dont know if that is causing the problems.

Does anyone know what I can do to help him?

Thanks all!
Kellt


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## MoneyMitch

pop eye can be hard to treat as its causes are many, everything from poor water quality to nitrogen supersaturation (what divers get when they come up to the surface too quickly). you are doing the best thing i can think of with the melafix though it may not be strong enough. if it doesnt seem to get any better after a few days you can upgrade to tetracyline but ive never had to use it. i reccomend NO salt since i belive corys are sensitive to it, moving him to a seperate tank where he wont be botherd by other fish and to do a w/c in the main. if you see it on any of your otherfish its a water quality problem, you likely wont. but keep a eye out (no pun intended) as this infection is fast and in some cases even viral (liek i said the causes of poipeye are many) goodluck with the treatment hope it works for you!


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## Olympia

Agree with the above.. Another cause of popeye I read is that if the fish pokes it's eye on something sharp it will swell up. Usually the case if water quality is good, fish are healthy, and only one eye has the problem. If that were to be the case I don't know how much you can do about it.


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## KellyL

Thanks for your answers both. The water is fine and I done have any other fish with symptoms. He has had a mark/bruise/possible growth on his head for a few weeks now. It seemed to be healing and now this . .. . . I dont know if it let some sort of infection in. I lost another cory with a terrible case of finrot brought on by a nipped fin a few weeks ago.

As for this current cory . . . he's doing ok and his eyes have shrunk a little bit but I'm afraid he wont hast much longer if he continues not to eat.
I just put him in a flat-bottomed container to see if it was the pebbles giving him problems and he is still lying on his side and not even attempting to eat (or move for that matter)
has anyone ever experienced this? is it a stress related thing??

Thanks!


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## MoneyMitch

you said you had a fish die from fin rot brought on by nipped fins, you are partly right there but this gives a clue. fin rot will not set in with nipped fins unless the water quality is sub par. the water issue even if your paramiters are ok is your problem and could be what caused the pop eye also. i would start with a 50% w/c when you read this and continue weekly 50% w/c untill symptoms stop poping up and the pop eye (may) fix itself. fish seldomly come back from pop eye unfortunately as it is super hard to treat since so many things can cause it.


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## KellyL

I do 50% water changes every week anyway. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the water. Both these cases have been with fish who are already injured, giving the bacteria in the tank a way into the body and a head start. None of my other fish are sick or showing any signs of becoming sick.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MoneyMitch

with the clean water and a strong immune system (from proper diet and clean water) the fish can fight off infections like fin rot and are less likely to catch anything. for a fish to develop fin rot in ur tank there is something off clearly, but what is the question. fin rot and pop eye in the same tank would have me worried. maybe a treatment of melafix jsut to be safe might be a good route to take since pop eye can sometimes be caused by bactieria too, which is the same case with fin rot.


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## VerdantGrotto

I've had a Cory cat in the past that literally had it's eyes bulging out. I just thought this was a side effect of ammonia poisoning and/or other parameters out of whack. None of the others contracted it but unfortunately the Cory didn't make it. It was a pepper cory, which makes me wonder if different species of Cory cats resist diseases and medications differently. Seeing the fish like that prompted me to do a 50 - 75% water change. However I didn't scrub anything , added NO SALT, dosed with stress Zyme & Water conditioner (or equivalent) to the amount needed for the entire volume of water in the tank and added _Microbe-lift Nite-Out II_ as well. This quickly brought the Bad water condition back into check and possibly removed the bacterial or viral (Not sure) culture in the water. I assume this effort is what brought the other Ill looking fish back to full health. IMHO, medicating has only caused me problems and disrupted the system so much that I would now only use it if absolutely necessary (As in the entire tank is about to crash). Otherwise a decent 50 - 75 % wc should do the trick. Just make sure your temp is nice and regulated during the transition... Sick fish are even more susceptible to abrupt changes

As far as the gravel goes... Pea gravel is OK for Cory's but it's not Ideal. As long as there aren't any sharp edges on the gravel it should be OK. I personally asked the same question and ultimately decided to switch to sand and love it. It's easy to plant in, safe for the Cory's and my Bolivian Ram and looks great with the theme my tank is centered around. Play Sand is very cheap and readily available...


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## Dankakes

KellyL said:


> Hi all,
> 
> One of my cory catfish has popeye. I moved him to a spare tank and am treating him with Melafix at the moment. He doesn't seem to be doing to well . . . . He was upside-down earlier - he moved when I nudged him with the net. Then he was on his side, he isnt swimming around or looking for food at all.
> The pebbles in the bottom are not really bottom-feeder friendly, they are quite big and uneven so I dont know if that is causing the problems.
> 
> Does anyone know what I can do to help him?
> 
> Thanks all!
> Kellt



Mine has the same, however he's had it for a couple days and showing no sign of inactivity


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