"popeye"

[Crixus]

Need a little help guys. I recently purchased a baby goldflake Angel and put him in QT. He's been there for about a week now. No prior treatments from me, although the vendor I got him from said they did TTM and prazipro. I noticed just now that one of eyes is bulging and there appears to be a flatworm or fluke on his rear fin. I dosed prazipro as well. Is there anything I can do to.tresr the eye or do you think they are related?

 

[Humblefish]

One eye or both? Is the bulging eye clear or cloudy? You could try dosing Epsom salt to help relieve the swelling:

Epsom Salt: Treats eye and other injuries. Popeye in one eye usually means injury, but popeye in both eyes usually denotes a bacterial infection requiring antibiotic treatment. Cloudy eye can be a bacterial infection or flukes.

How To Treat - 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of aquarium water. Repeat only once, if necessary. Use only “USP” grade Epsom salt.

Pros - Reef safe, as Epsom salt is just magnesium sulfate.

Cons/Side Effects - The effects of excessive sulfate in a reef aquarium are not fully known.

 

[melypr1985]

Is there anything I can do

That depends on the answers to humbles questions really. Though aside from the epsom salt the other courses of action involve feeding vitamins in the food and seeing if the fish can resolve his on his own, or dosing antibiotics in the water to cure the eye of an infection. We'd like to confirm there is an infection and not just swelling before advising you do dose antibiotics though.

 

[4FordFamily]

Photos of the affected eye would also be helpful for us

 

[Crixus]

One eye or both? Is the bulging eye clear or cloudy? You could try dosing Epsom salt to help relieve the swelling:

Epsom Salt: Treats eye and other injuries. Popeye in one eye usually means injury, but popeye in both eyes usually denotes a bacterial infection requiring antibiotic treatment. Cloudy eye can be a bacterial infection or flukes.

How To Treat - 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of aquarium water. Repeat only once, if necessary. Use only “USP” grade Epsom salt.

Pros - Reef safe, as Epsom salt is just magnesium sulfate.

Cons/Side Effects - The effects of excessive sulfate in a reef aquarium are not fully known.

It's one eye and it is a little cloudy, yes.

 

[Crixus]

Photos of the affected eye would also be helpful for us

I did my best.

 

[melypr1985]

definitely start wtih the epsom salt. You should see results within a couple days, though sometimes it takes longer. If the eye gets worse then antibiotics will be needed. Erythromycin is a good choice for eye infections.

 

[Humblefish]

It's one eye and it is a little cloudy, yes.

The cloudiness usually means either an infection is setting in or it has flukes. Below are two photos of fish with eye flukes, for comparison purposes.

 

[Crixus]

Do the pictures help with a determination at all?

 

[ngoodermuth]

You can do a fw dip to confirm flukes, but since you've already dosed prazi I'd think it's more likely an infection. It does look pretty cloudy to me from your photos...

 

[4FordFamily]

You can do a fw dip to confirm flukes, but since you've already dosed prazi I'd think it's more likely an infection. It does look pretty cloudy to me from your photos...

X2. Epsom salt and antibiotics wound be my recommendation

 

[Crixus]

X2. Epsom salt and antibiotics wound be my recommendation

I might have missed it, what antibiotics?

 

[Humblefish]

I might have missed it, what antibiotics?

Erythromycin would be best for an eye infection. You can also add minocycline to widen the spectrum of treatment.

 

[Crixus]

Erythromycin would be best for an eye infection. You can also add minocycline to widen the spectrum of treatment.

Thank you.

 

[Crixus]

So today, the eye has a white film on it an looks like its peeling.

 

[Crixus]

Also, is there anything that contains Erythromycin that I can use or does it have to be pure? When I go to Amazon Furan 2 keeps coming up.

 

[melypr1985]

Also, is there anything that contains Erythromycin that I can use or does it have to be pure? When I go to Amazon Furan 2 keeps coming up.

API makes a product called Erythromycin. Search for API products.

 

[Humblefish]

API makes a product called Erythromycin. Search for API products.

+1 Petsmart even sells it: http://www.petsmart.com/api-e.m.-erythromycin-fish-bacterial-infection-treatment-5113625.html

 

[Crixus]

I dosed Epson salt on Thursday and the eye 10x better today. Thanks for the help. Do you think I should still treat with antibiotics?

 

[4FordFamily]

I dosed Epson salt on Thursday and the eye 10x better today. Thanks for the help. Do you think I should still treat with antibiotics?

Yes, I would. Once an eye infection starts it's often too late, as antibiotics can take awhile to kick in. I learned this lesson with my powder brown tang, Cyclops.