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I have a bay snook. His eyes always looked normal, flat to his head. I noticed over the weekend that one of his eyes looks like it's popping out. The whole socket looks like it's coming out. He is not eating the way he usually does. Could this be hole in the head? I have read where these fish are e to hole in the head.

Barb

That's definitely not HITH. When a fish gets HITH, it actually looks like there are holes in the head. This is popeye, a common symptom that occurs a lot due to stress. You should probably check your water parameters; popeye can even be caused just by bad water. Your fish may also be sick with something else, so watch it closely.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

What is your water change schedulle?, if you have one, if not it's very important that you research a little bit about the cycle and understan the water chemistry, a good start is in the Articles section of this site, firstable if you want some help let us know what the water parameters in your tak are, etc...

Hector

He is the newest guy in the tank. I have only had him about a month. Will this affect the others in the tank? Should I remove this fish ASAP?

Barb

At work right now. Will check water tonight. Have not had any problems in months, now this. Water is usually changed once a month with a gravel vacuuming (about 25%).

Barb

I'll recommend you a book, it's very concise, compact and explain about water, diseases & treatment. "The Manual of Fish Health" by Dr Chris Andrews, Adrian Exell and Dr Neville Carrington, by tetra Press, I bought it in amazon.

About the pop eye: Always try to Quarentine your new fish before introducing to your display tank, as it said "better safe than sorry". Symptoms: One of both eyes protude form the head in an unusual fashion. It occurs by bad water quality or perhaps the prescense of an infectious agent.
Treatment: Isolate the fish (in a hospital tank) and treat affected fish with a broad-spectrum antibiotic. although this will only be effective if the symptoms are related to a bacterial infection. As an alternative approach, and bearing in mind the usual low infectivity of pop-eye, it may be best to leave affected fish in the set-up aquarium and give them optimum consitions and a good varied diet.
TAKED FRoM THE BOOK i MENTIONED ABOVE.

Maybe you should ask at your LFS (hoping they have qualify staff) and see what they recommend you. Meanwhile you could do some water changes, and watch.

Regards
Hector

Last edited by hcelizondo at 25-Oct-2004 13:53