Miniatus Grouper With "Pop-Eye" Since we bought it!!!

alec106

alec106

New Member
Hi, I bought a baby Miniatus Grouper from a saltwater fish store called "Paradise Reef" and when I bought him he was very very healthy, hardy, and active. Then after about 2 days I noticed his eye was NOT looking good. I looked it up and it was called Pop-Eye. I have exhausted every last effort. I have done no medicinal tactics, Then I added "Melafix Marine" for an entire week daily for 7 days and it has done nothing. I have owned him for almost 2 months now and last week it started to heal an look promising. Then 2 days later it gets WORSE than ever. The pH is usually at 8.2-8.4, the ammonia is always at 0-0.10ppm, the nitrite is always 0ppm, as well as the nitrate is. His tankmates are a snowflake eel, a branch coral and a long tentacle anemone. The pop eye is NOT infectious because the Snowflake Eel has very healthy yellow eyes. They all live in a 35 gallon tank. Here are some pictures of his eye. Any help would be appreciated.! :)
The Grouper/Snowflake Eel's diet consists of:
- Chopped up silversides
- Freeze dried krill
- Frozen krill
- Live shrimp
(Feed them 1 type of each, with 4 pieces for each.)
The Long Tentacle Anemone's diet consists of:
- Frozen silversides
- Live shrimp
(Eats once every 2 weeks)
P.S. I also heard about the "Needle Prick" for pop eye but I don't want to put my grouper through that much stress for risk of death.
PICTURES:
http://i53.tinypic.com/2ywe1zc.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/2rnc7yt.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/2s9vl0n.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/6r4wlk.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/2hrldp5.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/24euiza.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/28ulmv5.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/2a9ebzk.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/2z3tjpe.jpg
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Firstly, I have to ask, do you live on Long Island?
The ammonia having any reading but zero is a little disconcerning. I should always read 0.
Do you have a quarantine tank?
it's hard to say what is the best treatment option since you purchased the fish this way and don't know how the pop-eye was caused. Since the other fish don't have it, I'm going to say that it was probably caused from trauma or bacteria of some sort. If you can QT him, I'd start him on an antibiotic (tetrcycline).
What are you feeding him and are you adding vitamins to the food?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Popeye is a common problem following capture with nets when you first acquire fish. It is due to dirty nets compounded by the net irritating the fish's eye. It is always best to use a net by corralling a fish into a zip-lock or container while the fish is still in the tank.
Why are you experiencing the ammonia? This tells me that there are problems with your tank.
Pricking the eye is absolutely out of the question. This is not a blister on your fish, but a bacterial infection. Stop using the melifix and start doing small daily water changes for the next week with salt water that has been aged for at least 2 days using s pump for circulation.
How is the circulation in your tank? Do you have a quarantine?
 
alec106

alec106

New Member
Well what I did to acclimate him was I got a bag and dipped it in the water after an hour I went to the back yard, drained all the water out of the bag, and ran back to my tank with the grouper in the bag with no water and gently shook the bag and he swam out. I have a hunch this is it. I'm setting up my quarantine tank tomorrow but its going to be used for a baby panther grouper I am purchasing. The Panther Grouper is the size of my thumb and the eel and miniatus grouper will eat him in a heart beat, so I am keeping him in a 10 gal. QT tank until he gets big enough to fend for himself.
 
alec106

alec106

New Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/383557/miniatus-grouper-with-pop-eye-since-we-bought-it#post_3355609
Firstly, I have to ask, do you live on Long Island?
The ammonia having any reading but zero is a little disconcerning. I should always read 0.
Do you have a quarantine tank?
it's hard to say what is the best treatment option since you purchased the fish this way and don't know how the pop-eye was caused. Since the other fish don't have it, I'm going to say that it was probably caused from trauma or bacteria of some sort. If you can QT him, I'd start him on an antibiotic (tetrcycline).
What are you feeding him and are you adding vitamins to the food?
I do not live on Long Island. I am checking my tank now. Hang on....
10 minutes later.....
pH = 8.2
Ammonia = 0.10
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0
Same as before, but the pH dropped .1
What I feed him is in the post above, and I have no vitamins, can I just get them at any LFS?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I would highly suggest stop purchasing new fish while you are experience water quality issues. Also, that bag situation you describe for acclimation was highly inappropriate. Take a look at this acclimation process:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/Acclimation_ep_48-1.html
You have a 35 gal tank and you are trying to put fish that require rather large tanks (150+) in to a tiny environment. This is a recipe for disaster.
Is this your first try at keeping a salt tank?
 
S

smartorl

Guest
Please don't purchase the panther. In addition to the advice being given, I want to stress that not a single inhabitant you have chosen is suitable for a tank that size and having them all in there is a recipe for disaster.
If anyone can help your fish, Beth and Cranberry would be the ones so heed their advice and do your best to answer their questions. Hopefully, they can help your fish pull through but in the meantime, please don't make any more additions.
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
He injured his eye in your new tank. Its not POPEYE. Popeye would affect both eyes. It will heal on its own. I know it looks nasty and milky and gross. It will heal, should take about 2 full weeks. You should see it start to subside in a week. But depending on how bad he injured it, you might not see his eye ball in that socket when it completely heals.
 
gemmy

gemmy

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaltFan http:///forum/thread/383557/miniatus-grouper-with-pop-eye-since-we-bought-it#post_3356137
He injured his eye in your new tank. Its not POPEYE. Popeye would affect both eyes. It will heal on its own. I know it looks nasty and milky and gross. It will heal, should take about 2 full weeks. You should see it start to subside in a week. But depending on how bad he injured it, you might not see his eye ball in that socket when it completely heals.
Actually popeye is a symptom, not a disease. Popeye due to trauma is likely to only affect one eye.Popeye that is caused by a bacterial infection or environmental issues typically will affect both eyes.
 
alec106

alec106

New Member
We bought the Panther Grouper today. He is currently in a 10 gallon quarantine tank to not stress out the grouper anymore or have him be eaten by the miniatus. We will be getting a 125 gallon this June
 
alec106

alec106

New Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///forum/thread/383557/miniatus-grouper-with-pop-eye-since-we-bought-it#post_3356213
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alec106 http:///forum/thread/383557/miniatus-grouper-with-pop-eye-since-we-bought-it#post_3356212
We bought the Panther Grouper today. He is currently in a 10 gallon quarantine tank to not stress out the grouper anymore or have him be eaten by the miniatus. We will be getting a 125 gallon this June
You should have waited till June then JMO
Thank you I appreciate it. At this point I am going to play it by year.
 
alec106

alec106

New Member
UPDATE: The miniatus is doing MUCH better. Him and the snowflake eel nearly died the other day, we had a bad algae bloom, and to add to that the LFS sold us a bad batch of saltwater. The Nitrate level was at 120 and everything was just bad, everything is better now, ph, ammonia, and nitrite, and nitrate is slowly decreasing back to 0. His popeye is much better, almost gone at this point, you can finally see his eye again.
 
B

brandonsivek

Guest
Please just do some research instead of rushing things.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Alec, I'm not sure why you are here? Its not to get help or advise, because you don't take any good advise. The set up you have is a recipe for disaster and getting angry at people here who are pointing that out for your sake, and the sake of the animals you have jailed, is not going to solve your many problems.
It is not our intention to criticize you. But, truly, we can not help you if you insist on being on a path to destruction. No one here can give you advise about caring for the animals you wish to keep, except to say that these animals will never make it in a 35 gal tank and encourage you time and again to rethink your choices and do some research before jumping into a hobby that involves the care and welfare of live animals.
All of us make major mistakes. When I first entered this hobby, I stupidly put a panthar in a 30 gal. along with many other horribly bad choices. I had all manner of fish in that tank which was overstocked, and with fish that had no business being crammed in like dead sardines in to a tiny system. All of them died. I didn't take up the hobby again until I had spend 6 months researching and reading, and taking advice from those who knew more than I. All of us make bad decisions, but unless you give up being hard-headed, you will never find joy in this hobby. We'd love the opportunity to help you out, but its up to you to let us.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alec106 http:///forum/thread/383557/miniatus-grouper-with-pop-eye-since-we-bought-it#post_3357096
UPDATE: The miniatus is doing MUCH better. Him and the snowflake eel nearly died the other day, we had a bad algae bloom, and to add to that the LFS sold us a bad batch of saltwater. The Nitrate level was at 120 and everything was just bad, everything is better now, ph, ammonia, and nitrite, and nitrate is slowly decreasing back to 0. His popeye is much better, almost gone at this point, you can finally see his eye again.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alec106 http:///forum/thread/383557/miniatus-grouper-with-pop-eye-since-we-bought-it#post_3357096
UPDATE: The miniatus is doing MUCH better. Him and the snowflake eel nearly died the other day, we had a bad algae bloom, and to add to that the LFS sold us a bad batch of saltwater. The Nitrate level was at 120 and everything was just bad, everything is better now, ph, ammonia, and nitrite, and nitrate is slowly decreasing back to 0. His popeye is much better, almost gone at this point, you can finally see his eye again.
Sounds like you've experienced some kind of miracle. All of this in 4 days? How did you do it?
 
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