The Puffer Forum

You can use your normal dose, just make sure you turn off your skimmer during treatment or you'll have an ugly mess...it foams up.

Dadof4 wrote:You can use your normal dose, just make sure you turn off your skimmer during treatment or you'll have an ugly mess...it foams up.

Thanks for the heads up...the skimmer should arrive Monday or Tuesday, I might hold off for a few days to install it and give the tank the full course of Melafix (7 days). Then do a 25% WC.

3 day update....not much of a change in the eye so far. Nitrates are down to between 10-15ppm. I have added Melafix everyday for 3 days now. There might be a reduction in the swelling, but the eye is still all white and I can't even see the pupil.

Poor thing! I hope he's better soon.

If it's possible w/o too much stress, you can drop Melafix directly to it's eye.

Pufferpunk wrote:If it's possible w/o too much stress, you can drop Melafix directly to it's eye.

REALLY? That sounds pretty intense. Unfortunately Zephyr is wound so tightly that he would never allow that. He gets spooked really easily. I honestly don't think I will ever be able to get him out of that tank without him getting majorly stressed out. I would have to sedate him first.

How long does it usually take for eye problems to get better? Should I be seeing some signs? Or is this a 2-3 week time frame?

It depends on the issues at hand. Trauma to the eye usually heals fast, 2-3 days. Can you post a current picture? I saw the ones you have already posted but I want to see what kind of difference there is.

Dadof4 wrote:It depends on the issues at hand. Trauma to the eye usually heals fast, 2-3 days. Can you post a current picture? I saw the ones you have already posted but I want to see what kind of difference there is.

Okay here's a couple I just snapped with my Rebel. The eye isn't as puffy as before, it looked like it had air in it before. Now it just looks like a white eye.
It's going to be hard to compare with the old ones though as they were from a bad camera.

http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... 62crop.jpg
http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... 6_crop.jpg

Awww... poor fella! I have seen these kind of eye problems clear up though. I know Bob Fenner mentiones a Hydrogen peroxide dip but I'm mot sure of the percentage. See if you can search for something at his Wet Web Media site. BTW, I used to drop Melafix directly on my frog's eyes when they had infections.

Pufferpunk wrote:Awww... poor fella! I have seen these kind of eye problems clear up though. I know Bob Fenner mentiones a Hydrogen peroxide dip but I'm mot sure of the percentage. See if you can search for something at his Wet Web Media site. BTW, I used to drop Melafix directly on my frog's eyes when they had infections.

Well they eye looks a bit better this afternoon, I hope it's a good sign. I've only got experience with frogs as a kid and they are easier to catch than fish. Zephyr is like a bull in a china shop when he gets scared. Actually I'd rather be in a china shop with a bull than in the tank with Zephyr when he's spooked.

Looks to be a fair amount of swelling around the eye. I'm glad its looking better, but you would have to wonder if there is something behind the eye itself to cause the area to swell like that - tumour/abscess. Both could affect the eye, by causing damage to the optic nerve. I don't think corneal damage would cause such changes to the surrounding tissue.

Popeye, an infection that creates a buildup of fluid behind the eye, causes it to swell and pop outwards. That's what's going on here. I doubt that there's a tumor or abcess.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:Popeye, an infection that creates a buildup of fluid behind the eye, causes it to swell and pop outwards. That's what's going on here. I doubt that there's a tumor or abcess.

Hopefully it was just popeye and Zephyr is on his way to recovery. The one thing I did notice before the eye turn all white, was what I thought was a little scuff mark around the centre....but wasn't sure. Then a day or so later it started getting pretty bad and swelling up. Now the swelling is all gone, just looks like dead skin (cornea cells) are on top hopefully waiting to be pushing off by new healthy cells. The eye still moves along with the other eye when he sees something, so the mechanics are still working. I was doing the pencil test with him a couple hours ago.

Yup, sounds like he got poked in the eye.

I agree with PP about the poke in the eye. The pictures you sent today look much better than the last set. The opacity of the corneal tissue looks better and not quite as bulged out. Corneal tissue is some of the more resilient tissue in the body and heals fairly quickly. Keep doing what your doing for treatment.