Cloudy Eye Or Pop Eye?

[ey2006]

Hi, while feeding the fish this morning, I noticed one of the platy's eye looked a bit funny compared to the other platys.

The eye was a bit red and looked a bit swollen and puffy. It is swimming and eating like normal. It doesn't look that bad, no where near as bad as the pics I saw on the net, but it does look different to the other platys.

Is this pop eye or cloudy eye? I have never had this happen before and am getting confused between the two.

Should I treat with Melafix ASAP?

My water stats are:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40
PH 6.8

 

[bluefire]

yeh it sounds like it could be popeye, just not an extremely bad case, but you should add melafix, because it won't hurt anything anyway.

 

[tttnjfttt]

The pictures that are on the internet usually show the extreme cases. There is a pretty significant difference between cloudy eye and pop-eye, mainly in possible causes. Pop eye is usually bacterial, and it looks like the eye is buldging out. Cloudy eye can be bacterial, parasitic, or a sign of bad water. This looks like there is a white film over the fish's eye.

Since you described it as "swollen" I would assume it is pop eye. I would treat with antibiotics if possible. Melafix is a topical antiseptic, and while it is good for after fish fights or torn fins, it is not the best antibitotic. If you are in the US, I would consider using tetracycline, kanamyacin, or Maracyn 1.