pop eye

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just got back from Hawaii what a blast. although come home to a sick fish. i have a heniochus black and white butterfly. one of its eyes are popped out. any idea what it could be? any cure? and will it spread to my other fish? the fish has been in my tank for about a year.

[Pandora]

Sorry to hear about your butterfly

First thing I would do is check your water ASAP. During vacations, things are left on automatic or to petsitters, and this can often be ok, but won't be as good as your own TLC and constant monitoring, parameters can slide.

Popeye, exopthalmos, is a sign, not one distinct disease caused by one distinct pathogen; much like dropsy. Risk factors that can start it can include anything from stress caused by water quality, to direct injury to eye flukes, but it is basically fluid that accumulates in the orbit behind the eyeball, and usually is secondarily infected. There are times it will go down with good water quality, but I would definitely prepare your QT tank in case (antibiotics often help if it is not getting better). You've obviously been doing pretty well for your fish if you have been keeping your tanks 20 years and not ever seen a case.

Some other photos from my archive:
http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#Popeye

[blusporttrac]

just had pop eye in my yellow tang my fault got lazy so i did lots of water changes. and it went away 2-4 weeks

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thanks for the input i will get on this asap

[rizkeeper]

POP can be caused from an abrasion as well. If you just noticed it, I would keep up on water quality and monitor the fish. I wouldn't rush to QT it, it could make the condition worse.

I don;t believe it will spread from one fish to another

[Amphiprion]

Serious swelling and redness are usually a sign that the eye has been infected and requires immediate treatment. Usually, if it is just one eye (no cloudiness, etc.), the fluid can be osmotically drawn out by adding MgSO4--or epsom salt. This works well and usually solves the problem assuming secondary infections do not set in. There is more about this on WetWebMedia, as I do not recall the dosage.

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thanks for the other inputs i did check my water and other then phos being a little high every thing else looks good
sg 1.026
phos 1.5
cal 500
nitrate 0
nitrite .1 test did not go any lower
ph 8.3
ammona 0
it is only in one eye and it does not look red or cloudy and none of my other fish seem to have this. this fish also seems to be eating fine and is active