This shubbie came up to feed in the pond a couple of days ago and her right eye looked funny. I finally got her netted today and got some pics. I'm used to pop eye in bettas where the eye is REALLY distended, but have NEVER had a goldfish with it. I suspect an injury of some sort, but don't know.

Pond perameters are all normal. pH is 7.8, ammonia 0, pond filter is still running but the weather is cooling, so we'll shut down within a month or so. Water on the pond is changed when it's it vacuumed, about once every two weeks. Usually I pull off about 600 to 1000 gallons out of 2000 gallons total. Fish are currently being fed wheat germ chow for the fall, with peas on the weekend. The fish was acting totally normal, feeding well and was a real pain to catch, LOL...... but that eye is distressing. Isolation tank temp is 78-80 degrees.
Here are the pics.

Top View. Bad eye is her right eye.




Her normal left eye:




Her right eye does not look right. This redness just showed up:




Another View:




Top view again. Is it me or does that right eye look like it's projecting out a little?




Another view. The eye is actually distended and appears to be looking downward. When slight pressure was applied to the eye, it went back into the head, but appeared to pop back out and down like before.




I have isolated the fish and have ampacillin, maracyn, and penecillin -- all say they treat pop eye.... I need guidance on this though as I've never had a goldfish with it..... Also, if it's just an injury would salting her tank to .3% be effective in helping her heal???

It looks like the beginnings of pop-eye to me, or it could be a minor injury, hard to tell. In Garion's opinion it is also pop-eye.

I can't be of much help as all your medications are unavailable in Australia and the only time I successfully treated popeye was with melafix, which is strange. I would start treating as if it was popeye in the same manner as you treated your bettas. Good luck.

Okay, the shubbie was doing alright this morning. I fed her peas early this morning then did a big water change on her tank, and then gave her medicated antibiotic fish food later in the day which she gobbled up..... From the research I've done, food with antibiotics in it is better than treating the water, and I have a big tub of Debride Rx on hand, thankfully, so we'll start with that. That stuff worked miracles on my fish with infection earlier in the season.

I DID put .1% salt in the tank today, and will up that to .3% within the next couple of days and see how it goes.... I'm hopeing it's just an injury of some sort and that the eye will either pop off or settle down in time. She would be fine with one eye, but if this swelling does not go down, that's a whole different story..... I've also upped the temp of her tank to 80 degrees (F).

The fish is in 15 gallons of water, so daily attention to water changes and water cleanliness will be a must. She's grown rather large this year in the pond and I wish I had something bigger for her, but I don't at the moment, so I will monitor water quality daily, or twice daily if needed. She seems content exploring and hanging out in the anacharis in the tank and has a healthy appetite.

This brings up another thing. I also dedicated a separate Python hose for her tank, and am keeping everything separate from the other fish in my fishroom. She has her own python and cup for frozen food and mixing salt, chopstick for mixing salt, and towel (for me). I also have anti-bacterial soap next to the sink to wash up after I've handled her. I don't want to take any chances that anything she has will be transmitted to my other fish! Nets and containers get washed in a pond-strength concentration of Melafix, which is a natural antibacterial and are soaked over night before rinsing.

Once she's done with her tank, I'll bleach everything (plastic tank, heater, filter boxes), toss her anacharis and filter media sponges, and start over with fresh airstones, plants and filter media....... Luckily there is no gravel in the hospital tank.

I hope this is just an injury and nothing more..... The research I've done says that this can be a symptom of fish TB, so I'm being very careful.

Gosh, I hope it's not TB!!! It sounds like your fish is in the best of hands and I'm confident it will get well soon.

Hey Sheri,
How is your fish's eye today? Any change?

Hi Nicki, Shubbie is hanging in there. I did another water change and upped the salt to .2% today. She's eating medicated fish food (Debride Rx) and knoshed on some bloodworms after I got home from work today too. The eye looks about the same, but it's only day two. A friend on another board suggested that I up the heater to 82 degrees, so I'll do that tonight.

The fish is fattened up for the winter, healthy looking with no visible deformities - no thinness along the spine or bent spine like you see in TB cases. My gut tells me it's some sort of injury, but I just want to wait and see for now. She'll be in isolation for at least ten days to two weeks.

Any news on your shuby, Gardengirl?