Reunited

This past weekend, Popeye the Sailor Man, the blue angelfish so named because he'd developed popeye, was returned to the community tank.

He had been in the infirmary tank for about a month, and his eye had healed nicely, thanks to Binox and Maracyn Plus, two antibiotics that worked together to prevent secondary infections and helped to reduce the swelling in the eye. He remained isolated for another week, just to make certain that he was back to normal, before I moved him back to the home he'd lived in since he was about 8 weeks old.

He joined his mate, as shown below.



Angelfish can live to be ten years old. They mate for life.

There is another pair in the same community tank, that I called the Bickerstaffs because, though they are mates, they seem to constantly bicker!

Appearance of Antibiotic in the Water

I mentioned in yesterday's post that adding Binox to the aquarium water can turn it a yellowish-green. I actually like this because it tells me which tank still has the antibiotic present, and whether it is diminishing.

In the picture at right, you'll see two 20-gallon tanks. The one on the bottom is the honeymoon suite for Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick. Their water is perfectly clear.

The tank on the top is where the sick blue angelfish, whom I've named Popeye the Sailor Man, is recuperating. You can see the significant change in the water color.

Now that Popeye the Sailor Man is so much better, I will continue replacing about 1/3 of the water each week, but I won't be adding any more antibiotic unless his eye begins to protrude again. When the water is perfectly clear - which should happen within 2-3 weeks - he will most definitely be ready to join the other fish in his old community tank, shown at right. This picture was taken before he became ill, and he is swimming with his mate.

It will be interesting to see the two reunite. Angelfish mate for life. I believe these are two brothers and they were from the same clutch, so they're not technically a "couple" but they have hung out together, side by side, since they were the size of a dime.

Recovering from Popeye

I haven't posted here in a couple of weeks. I've had a sinus infection that has laid me low and I've also had my hands full caring for the blue angelfish that has popeye.

Around the middle of November, I placed this blue angelfish in a 20 gallon tank by himself. It's easier and less costly to treat a small tank than a larger one, and I don't run the risk of healthy fish building up an immunity to antibiotics by focusing only on treatment of the ill fish.

In the photograph on the right, you can clearly see how much larger one eye is than the other. Popeye can occur due to an injury or to bad water conditions. Since I change 25%-33% of the water each week and monitor the quality, I deduced that this fish most likely injured himself in the community tank.

I am happy to report, however, that he is doing much better now. Within the week, he will be ready to return to the community tank.

Here he is below in a recent video. You can see the swelling in his eye has been reduced significantly and he acts like he's feeling much better - especially evidenced by his increasing appetite.

Find out tomorrow what I did to bring him back to peak health.

Popeye

It happened.

Just when I think everything is perfect - the fish are all healthy, the water quality is perfect, and the tanks have become easily maintained, I spot a problem.

This is one of my largest blue marble angels. It is easy to see from this angle that one eye is enlarged and bulging. This is known as Popeye. There are a couple of things that can cause it: injury to the eye or unclean conditions. Since the conditions have been ideal, it's more likely that the eye was injured. It is a peaceful tank, so it might have occurred if the fish swam into one of the decorations. In a less peaceful tank, I might have considered that he injured it while fighting.

So... what to do?

Step 1: Assess Everyone Else

The first step is to determine whether this problem is with one fish or several. If it was occurring with several, I would perform a 50% water change and add medicines to the entire tank.

Step 2: Isolate the Ill Fish

I determined very quickly that the problem is occurring with just this one fish. Its mate, by the way, had not left his side. He was not eating and was hanging out in one corner of the tank, and there like a good friend was his mate, side-by-side with him.

Though I didn't want to stress him or his mate any further, I decided I had to isolate him in order to provide him with the best treatment. Fortunately, the baby angels left last Friday for the local pet shop. I had just moved Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick back to the infant tank, which they prefer because it is higher than the honeymoon suite. So I now had the honeymoon suite empty and available.

I performed a water change to make certain the conditions were ideal, and then I moved the ill angel into that 20-gallon tank.

By moving him into a smaller tank, I remove the possibility that he will infect others, and I also am able to administer smaller doses of medicine.

Step 3: Water Medicines

After I moved the angel,  I added medicine to the water.

The medicine I selected is Binox, shown here. Binox is great for any bacterial infection. Popeye will often lead to secondary infections, so this will reduce that possibility. The directions call for removing any charcoal filters and adding 1 teaspoon per 25 gallons. It turns the water somewhat yellow but that also tells me that the medicine is still circulating in the tank.

Step 4: Feed Medicine

Shown in the same photograph is an Anti-Bacterial medicine that is administered as food. This is another reason why isolating the fish is a good idea. Though healthy fish will not be harmed if they ate this food, it could cause any bacteria to be resistant to the medicine as they build up a tolerance to it. Therefore, it is best used only when necessary.

The angelfish is currently not eating. Fish can go for days without food so at this point, I am not concerned. I will continue to feed it small amounts at least twice a day. As he begins to eat again, I will feed it more until I know he is well on his way to getting back to normal.

Step 5: Patience

All I can do at this point is monitor the situation. If he shows no sign of improvement in four days, I can perform a 25% water change and add more Binox to the tank. Within four days, his eye should have become reduced in size.

How long he remains in the tank will depend entirely on his condition. As long as he shows symptoms, I will keep him isolated. When he is back to normal, eating again and his eye is back to its normal size, I prefer to move him back to the community tank where his mate is.

I had a situation a few years ago in which Mick Fleetfish's mate became ill, and I set up an aquarium right next to his. As I administered medicine to his mate (she had dropsy) I noticed Mick remained as close to the glass as possible, where he could keep an eye on her. Angels mate for life, often live to be ten years old, and will sometimes mourn themselves to death after the death of a mate. (The water in the isolation tank is a different color due to the medicine that was added.)

Stay tuned and let's all hope this beautiful ten-inch blue marble responds well to the medicine!