I am hoping someone out there can help me. I can try and post a picture online if that would help. I have a seven year old goldfish (the kind without the bulging eyes, etc. normal appearance I suppose). I discovered a few days ago that her left eye's membrane is significantly enlarged from her eye (it almost seems like it's filled with fluid and might burst at any time if she hits it on something)..it was like this awhile ago, but went unnoticed as a major problem by me until just recently. Her right eye is starting to do the same thing. She was in a very small tank for her size (she's old and has gotten must bigger over the years). She was in a 6 gallon tank with normal levels of ammonia, etc (I checked those). The water was changed a month and a half ago..but her eye may have been like that then, I'm not sure. Now when she sits on the bottom of the tank at night she lifts her head up a little (swim bladder problem?). I went to the pet store and bought an antibiotic to treat a possible eye/swim bladder infection. I also decided that she needed a new tank and bought a nice 27 gallon tank that she is enjoying very much. She swims, eats (she spits out the antibiotic food, hopefully she will eventually eat it) but still seems to have that slanting problems sometimes when she sits on the bottom. I don't know if she's male or female, by the way. She does seem to yawn a lot and was swimming eradictly at times in her old tank. I am just worried about that eye and if the antibiotics will clear up the edema that she seems to be having. If it's not an infection what else could it be? Her scales all appear normal, but she does have a lot of white areas on her right side (I thought that might be due to missing scales because of her age?).

Can anyone out there help me? I really don't want to loose my fish. I can e-mail anyone pictures if they send me their address....marti145@purdue.edu.

I had the excat same problem w/ my goldfish...and from what they told me, it was due to bad water conditions...unfortunately i couldnt save my goldfish. And if it is due to bad water conditions, you should start doing partial water changes as often as you can. 20% is a good start. Hopefully someone else can give you better advice...becase im no expert. Good luck.

Gosh, I don't know, but it does sound as if she might have popeye, and that can be bacterial. I'd say go ahead and treat her for it, if she hasn't been overmedicated in the past. Some people have had good luck with maracyn or maracyn 2, which are relatively gentle. I've also read that people actually use epsom salts for this - there were earlier posts, so you might be able to search and they'd tell you how to do it?

Good luck! And congratulations on the new tank; I bet she's liking it a lot!

I would imagine that the popeye was caused by bad water quality, as you said the water was changed a month and a half ago. You need to do a 30% water change once a week to keep a healthy tank.
Did you test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?
Now that your fish is in a new tank, the cycling process will start soon. During this time there willl be a spike in ammonia, and nitrite which will become extremely toxic to your fish. These levels will decline on their own given time but until then 30% water changes are needed daily to dilute the toxicity. The tank is ony cycled when ammonia and nitrite are 0, and nitrate is over 0 but preferably under 20. The whole cycling process can take a couple of months. Once the tank is cycled weekly water changes of 30% can be resumed.
Carry on treating with the medication, but remember that when you perform a water change you will be effectively diluting it so you will need to add a bit more to compensate for the water you are removing. The meds should help, but good water quality will be the key to your fishes recovery.
By the way. medication to treat swimbladder will not help popeye. You need a good anti internal bacteria med to do this.

PopEye is another version of Dropsy, The kidneys arent getting rid of the Water in the fish and its coming out of the fish in other ways.

Water quality and things in your tank can cause this. Look in your tank and make sure there isnt any HOLLOW Ornaments in there. This is bad cause of the stagnit water they hold.

For the Popeye.
1. Raise the temp to 78F
2 See if you can get Medigold from http://www.goldfishconnection.com (the only place you can get it)
3 Use Maracyn 2
4 Also use 1/8 of a Teaspoon per 5 gals of EPSOM salt Just once.

Make sure you feed the Medigold for 21 days.

This is how my Dede made it

Popped eyes can be a symptom of dropsy, but if only one eye is problematic, this is probably not the case with your fish. It sounds like the eye condition as well as the white patches (could you describe them better?) may be due to poor water conditions. You say your ammonia, etc. levels were "normal" - what exactly were they at? Have you been testing the water since you moved the fish to the larger tank, and did you move the filter or any of the decorations over as well?

I moved 2 plants and a seashell over (plus I bought one new ). The aplant ammonia level was .5 (useful test tube tester). I then used a strip and got the following: Old Tank: nitrate 200 mg/L (it says that is safe, but no where on the strip is a value for unsafe), Nitrite 0, Total Hardness very hard---300, total alk. 80 ppm (moderate), ph 6.8

New tank: before 30% water change: Nitrate 0, Nitrite, Total hardness very hard 300, total alk high 300+, ph high 8.4.

Since then have put in a pH adjuster tablet, taken all the plants etc out from the old tank to bleach and clean really well.

I moved from Michigan where we had very soft water in August to Indiana for vet school where we have very hard water. I cannot afford to put 27 gallons through my water filter on the faucet or to buy bottled water for him. Do you think this may be affecting her eye as well? I can send you pictures of her "white spots" but I need your e-mail address (as well as her eye picture). Her left eye is four times the size of her right eye, but both are a little full of fluid. Active fish, still eating, but has long, tubular stool lately. I have had her on a medicate antibiotic stick (floating fish food with Antibiotics) since Monday and have noticed no change yet. In her water I added some chlorine remover and aquarium salt. She's 7 years old and I would just hate to loose her. One of the prettiest goldfish I've every owned. The longest fins at least (they get bigger every year!). If anyone needs pictures to help me find out what I can do, please e-mail me at marti145@purdue.edu. I ordered medigold (heard that works well), but through the mail and it won't be here for a few days. Not sure if I can switch meds like that either.

The nitrates in your old tank were extremely high. It is generally best to keep them below 20 if at all possible as long term exposure to high levels can cause health problems. These very high nitrates were probably the cause of your fishes problem so make sure you keep them low in the new tank. Lots of gravel vacuuming, no overfeeding, and regular water changes will do this for you.
Your Ph is high but as long as it doesn't fluctuate then your fish will adapt to it. Adding chemicals to lower or higher it cause more problems than they solve and if you don't keep a very careful eye on the PH once you've added them then it's easy for it to fluctuate which will severely effect your fish. Perosnally, I'd leave well alone.
The medigold is great stuff so should help. Are you treating with any other medications? I'd get a good anti internal bacteria med which claims to treat popeye. I'm in the Uk so can't recommend one.
remember too that your tnak will begin to cycle anytime now so you will need to keep a very careful eye on ammoia an dnitrites and do 30% water changes daily once they start to rise.

Koko, I just wanted to ask something about the epsom salts. I did put Gilbert back on the bacti-bath and medigold for just this type of problem - his poor right eye is very puffy and wobbly. But this antibiotic demands a lot of water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrites down. Do you have to add in more epsom salts after a change? Or do you really only leave it in there a day or two?

Ouccmich, I hope your fish will be okay. I'm a bit curious about the white patches, too, since Gilbert has them as well. His look like liquid paper smeared or dotted on his dorsal, back, and tail. Are your fish's white patches like that? Do they look fungusy at all? If not, it could be a simple color change - I think goldies can get paler as they get older.

Yea, her spots do look like that. Maybe it's just color changes due to her age (it's only on one side though, the opposite side of her eye. I e-mailed Koko to see if she could post some pics. Her eye is not getting any better and it's been a week. I'm very worried, but waiting on the Medigold to come in the mail. I'm hoping that will help.

I picked up some Maracyn 2 today to see if that might help. Her pics are on the board with the member's picture's under ouccmich's pics. Please check out the pictures and give me some of you expert advice on what you guys think she might have. I think it may be dropsy and popeye, but am not sure. I will wait it out this week with the maracyn 2, but if that doesn't work I'm not sure what I should do!

Epsom salt should only be added once a week. Mary

Photos of the fish

http://kokosgoldfish.com/forum/index.php?s...?showtopic=2803

Personally I think your fish is just repairing the scales that it had lost from rubbing up against something. also look at the photos that I provied for you on Popeye. I really dont think you have it. It looks more likely like a normal eye to me

I wish I could get a picture to show both of her eyes They both have glasslike domes around them, but her left eye is four times the size of her right and the yellow around her eye (ring around the black) is turning silver. Her eye never used to be like that, it's quite strange. Also, if I look really close I can almost see right through the black part of her eye (there's an orange spot in the middle) into her inside. I cannot do that with her other eye. At first I thought it was normal, but her left eye has been getting bigger over time and I don't know what could have caused that to happen. I seems like there's a buildup of fluid in the dome around her eye. So, if it's not popeye, someone thought it might be her kidney not secreting enough water? I'm a vet student, but they sure don't teach us about fish!!! Thanks for all your advice so far!

I GOT A VERY GOOD PICTURE WITH BOTH EYES (SO YOU CAN COMPARE). PLEASE CHECK ON THE PICTURE PAGE (WHEN KOKO SUBMITS IT FOR ME). THANKS!!!!

It could be the start of it, not to sure but if you think it is you could always try this......When my Dede gets the first sign of this I use Medigold from http://www.goldfishconnection.com then I also raise the temp to about 78F for about a week for her. Making sure that all water quality is good at all times:)

Does it look like popeye to anyone else or am I just crazy?

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME. I REALLY REALLY NEED SOME ADVICE!

I got home today and my fish was almost on her head!!!! Swim bladder problem? I started her on Maracyn 2 yesterday for popeye/start of dropsy and thought maybe I shouldn't be doing a water change due to the maracyn 2 being in the water. Well, the pH was high also so I added some pH decreaser. I added it a couple times yesterday, because it was still high. Today I checked the stats of her water (she's almost on her head!):
nitrate/nitrite 0, my water is very hard, alkalinity and pH were off the chart!!! I went to the store and bought some water conditioner that removes chlorine and detoxifies hardful minerals/chemicals (maybe that will help with the water hardness??). It's a 27 gallon tank and she's the only fish (7 years old). I usually add aquarium salt but thought I would try the epsom salts. Medigold has been shipped, but I haven't yet received it. She's been on a med stick antibiotic for a week and a half with no change to her eye, so I thought I should switch her back to some food that she likes to eat. Also, do goldfish really like peas? I've never heard of that! Fresh peas or what? Aren't they a little big? Anyways, that's a side track. I'm really worried about her!!! Please, does anyone out there know what I should do???? Check out the pics of her....she's sitting on the bottom of the tank (usually quite active) with her huge left eye, and now seems to be having a swim bladder problem.

Oh, I did a huge water change because when I was changing the water today it was making this really soapy type foam at the top (that's never really happened!). Not sure if it's from the super high pH or what! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Gosh, I wish I could help more! I see what you mean about the eyes, and think Koko's right and it could be the start of it, but it's really not too advanced yet. The bottom sitting is a bigger problem, and yes, if it's constipation, peas can help a lot, and most goldies love them. Fresh or frozen is fine (canned are too soft and make a mess). Steam or nuke them briefly (some people just thaw a few frozen ones in warm water), pop them out of their skins, pull them in half and give her the halves. A fish the size and age of yours should probably get two peas at a time - I only give Gil one, but he's still only mid-sized. The peas - whether fresh or frozen - should be without salt. Koko says fast for a day or two and then feed nothing but peas for a couple of days, and this gets them regular again.

I wish I knew what to do about your PH and the odd foam. How high is it, exactly? I know other owners on this board are as high as 8 (and on another board someone was as high as 8.6) without problems. But 8.6 is getting up there, and anything over could be stressful, I guess. Also, it's true that PH that high will cause even traces of ammonia to be very toxic. But, if it's no higher than 8.6, I think I would not use the PH down stuff. I hope someone else can help you here - but give the pease a try till the medigold arrives. Maybe it'll help her digestion, and that might be all she needs for the swim bladder.

Hi and welcome to the board. I really dont think this looks like popeye or dropsy, personally. I think its just something that has happened with aging. I about cried when I saw the pics of your fish because she is an orange version of my comet I lost a couple months ago. Mine too was raised in a small tank and was stunted. I moved her to a bigger tank where she was very happy but still always showed those signs of stunting. Her eyes were always a little lopsided and she looked like she had popeye at times, but lived for a very long time that way. Anyway Im almost positive that this isnt popeye. Its just a symptom from living in a small tank with less than perfect water quality. Not placing blame at all because Ive been exactly where you are. I personally woudl not medicate, as Ive had medications cause more problems in the end than the problem itself. You can feed the Medigold as a precaution if you want. But I would concentrate more on providing a very stable, very clean environment for her. As far as the off balance behavior that could be a reaction to the medication. Mine would react strongly sometimes and act as if she was about to die. I would do a small water change and that would perk her back up.

The white patches on her side are probably from missing scales. Bad water quality will cause her to lose them. The same thing happened to my comet. (BTW thats the kind of fish she is, a comet goldfish. Thats why she has those beautiful flowing fins). Having her in good water quality will help her regrow them. So dont worry about that.

Also shes just been moved to a new environment so Im sure shes getting used to that still. My fish freaked when I took her from her 10 gallon where she'd been for years and put her in a 30! I thought she would be happy! She eventually got used to it and was very happy.

You can use regular tap water as long as its dechlorinated. Let it sit out over night and the pH should rise a little, that way it wont be a shock. Never change more than about 30% a time, just so as not to change the pH that much. Also the seashells in your tank should act as a buffer.

Anyway i think your fish will be just fine. Monitor your water levels closely. I would recommend the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kits. Theyre very cheap, very easy to read. nnnnnn sells the ammonia and nitrite test kits for $5 each, Petsmart sells the nitrate test kit for $6. I completely understand being a poor college student. Ive been out of college for a year and a half and am still waiting to make money! LOL I also think thats great that youre a vet student–my sister is too, and lately Ive been thinking about that a lot. Anyway I really hope i could be of some help. Your story just sounded a little too familiar to me! Check out my lovely girl in the pic under my name. I really hope you can save yours.

Thanks for your advice (especially jsrtst!). I think that she might loose her eye, or at least can't see very well, if at all with it. She banged it on a rock and now it's very cloudy. Anyway to prevent loss or to fix that, or does nature just run it's corse with that?

Glad I could be of at least some help. My comet had the same thing happen; her eye looked a little cloudy. Someone suggested it could be cataracts. 7 isnt very old for a goldfish but if shes lived in a small tank with poor water for a long time that really ages them a lot more. But nothing you can do about that now except provide really good water quality. I dont know if she would lose the eye. Does it look like its loose, or coming out? Since she did bump it, its just a little swollen right now. Keep an eye on it for now and make sure its not getting any worse. If it does get worse then maybe we should medicate. I never like to jumping to a medication though. Just observe for now and if it does get worse then we'll worry. Good luck with her.

Everyone suggests feeding Medi-Gold to sick fish. If i feed this food to healthy fish in addition to my sick fish, could this be helpful? or harmful?

I wondered the same thing. What if my fish is just messed up and isn't sick, but I give her Medigold anyway? Will this make things worse?

Medi-gold will not do any harm to a well fish - it's a medicated food product, designed to treat quite a wide-range of illnesses. In some cases, it may even treat an illness you've not seen coming in your fish, or if not, it'll just be food for them. On the other hand, if your sick fish eats medi-gold, it can only do good.