finding hope like popeye in a difficult situation

[urbancore]

My poor Noah came to me blind in the left eye - I'm pretty sure it's due to those scales growing over. I had him in less-than-ideal conditions for about a week. I took him to my parents' house and the used tank I bought from a kid my mom knows turned out to be filthy. It's way too small, but it's better than nothing for trips home longer than 2 days - at least it has a filter and heater. However, it's going to take a lot of time to make it safe, and I had one of my pain flares. I decided to do daily half water changes in a 4-cup container, but it was only for 4 days. The problem was, on our way back to my apartment, we got rear-ended, and he was in a cold car for too long - the water was gross when I got out of the ER. I slowly warmed him up with half tank water changes using barely warmer than lukewarm water. I couldn't see until I got him home today that I think he now has popeye. I'll send some pics of both eyes - I think he still has some vision in that right eye, but it's definitely not as good. I'll go to my neighbor in the morning and ask if she has Epsom salts - I'm unable to drive, and it's not easy on my mom since she was hit too. I go home Saturday, and I'll make sure I have them then. I miss my wheels! I don't want to buy the antibiotic if I don't have to - I'm on disability, and I had an unexpected expense this month, so I'm going to be struggling to make it through without a loan from the Bank of Parents.

[coltin]

Honestly, it's kinda tough to tell from the pics, but I'm pretty sure your fish has scales over his eye, which can cause permanent blindness, like I said with Noah. But I'm more worried about the white stuff on his mouth - how long has that been going on?

[urbancore]

White mouth since last night - we'd just moved him to the good tank after that 30-minute drive. I wish we could just leave him be and let him de-stress; my research says that's probably the culprit. But I've got a week at my parents' coming up - church, doctor's appointments, and a colonoscopy, so he's got to come with me. My concern is, with his limited vision, I don't trust those pyramid feeders, and I'm not convinced they're the best nutrition for him either. I've cleaned out a "hotel" tank for him to stay in while we're there, and I'll be using his own water, but I know it's just more stress for him with another move. I did try an Epsom salt bath, like someone suggested on Discord, hoping it might help with that bulging eye, but I know that's just more stress too.

[coltin]

I'm getting a bit worried about that white mouth, it could be the start of Columnaris and if we don't catch it, it's game over for Noah. On the other hand, it might just be physical damage from all the moving around he's been doing. I'd keep a close eye on it, if it starts spreading rapidly over his face and head, we're likely looking at Columnaris and it's not going to be good - he'll probably be gone in a few days.

The thing with Columnaris is, it spreads fast - within 24-48 hours it'll be all over his head and face if it's the real deal. So, if it doesn't change much in the next few days, we might be in the clear. But if it takes off, we'll need to break out the antibiotics or, worse case, consider putting him down.