Is this pop eye?

Question

I just got this fish on Thursday. It's an albino tiger barb. He seemed fine up until today. His left eye looks HUGE.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/s0fter_sin/DSCN0964.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/s0fter_sin/DSCN0967.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/s0fter_sin/DSCN0968.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/s0fter_sin/DSCN0969.jpg

Does this look like pop eye?
If so, is there anything I could do for it without going to get medicine? I read that epsom salt might work.
My water quality is good. Everything is where it should be., and I highly doubt that any of my other barbs hurt the fish. They aren't violent.
If it is pop eye, could it infect my other fish?

Advice?

Answer 1

Looks like it very well could be pop eye. You need to treat your tank with a good anti bacterial medication ASAP. I suggest using Maracyn-Two.

Answer 2

That looks like an edema under the eye. When my fish get pop-eye, its usually like the lens of the eye has swollen & turned white like the eyeball has become a giant acne zit. That looks like the junk under the eyeball is swelling. I'm not good at reading photos though.

Epson salt will not help. Its just magnesum. If your water is too soft for your fish, it may help by reducing stress. Tiger barbs don't really have a big hard water preference, so most people's tap water is fine for them in the hardness department.

Aquarium Salt / Pickling Salt / Kosher Salt, on the other hand will raise the salinity of the water, which can help a fish heal external wounds and infections. I have had fish heal from pop eye after administering salt. Corelation is not causation, but I think it helped. My fish was otherwise healthy, and he scraped his eye while I was redecorating.

Normal salt levels are 1 to 2 tablespoons per 10 gallons.

Theraputic doses of salt are about 3 tablespoons of salt per gallon. (Big handfuls of salt in a big tank). Dosing should not be all at once, but built up over a 24 hour period so not to shock the fish with a great salinity change.

I believe tea tree oil, sold as MelaFlix would be a commercial medicine that you can use for this sort of thing. Its like $3 for a decent size bottle, and its available at Wal Mart.

Pop eye is not contagious. Its like a non-contagious conjunctavitis in humans. Unless the fish's immune system is compromised & it spreads to a systemic infection, your other fish should be safe.

Answer 3

looks like pop-eye to me, epsom salt does help. try adding a handful every water change until it clears. Make sure you put the sick fish in a separate tank so the other fish dont get stressed from the salt.

Answer 4

I think it may be. Remove the fish into a hospital tank and watch it over the next week.

Answer 5

yes, i think it's most likely popeye if that is new to you, and the eye does seem really big
check out the following page, that should help you
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/disease.html


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB

Answer 6

yes