water in the eye?

[Edmonton newbie]

i noticed today that one of my damsels looks like he has water in the eye? clear and all swelled not sure what to think as he is still eating well?

[fishytime]

Could be a couple things....could be pop-eye....or he may have just bumped or scratched it. What are your parameters, and when was the last time you did a water change?

[mr.wilson]

As fishtime has stated, your fish has pop-eye (exophthalmus). This is a symptom of either physical damage and or a bacterial infection. If it is bacterial, kanamycin or chloramphenicol are the best treatments. Be very careful if catching the fish to assure it doesn't get further damage. Eye tissue grows back very well. In some cases, the eye develops gas bubbles in the eye. If this happens, you need to pop it with a sterile needle, then clean the wound with an oxidizing agent such as iodine, potassium permanganate, or peroxide.

If the fish has no other signs of bacterial infection, such as cloudy fins, red lesions, or torn fins, then it is probably just a war wound. If the fish shows any other symptoms isolate and treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic and isoniazid for tuberculosis (Mycobacteria marinum).

[JPotter]

For those who are kind enough to recommend treatments product formulation, dose and duration would be much appreciated.

[fishytime]

My regal had it.....I thought his eye was gonna pop out of his head, it was that swollen....I didnt do a thing, except for a couple water changes to help ensure "cleaner" water conditions....oh and fed heavily with selcon and garlic for a while to help "boost" his immune system. Im sure removing him and treating him would have worked to, but I am really against putting a net to a fish unless you absolutely have to (that and the thought of catching a Regal tang out of a 110g mixed reef, was not to fun sounding). He healed after a couple weeks.

[mr.wilson]

For those who are kind enough to recommend treatments product formulation, dose and duration would be much appreciated.

The dose and duration was left out due to the scope of the answer :) If you are treating a fish in a hospital tank most antibiotics are dosed at 250 MG capsules/powder/gelcaps per 10 gallons, added every second day fro a total of three treatments (one week treatment). If the fish has advanced symptoms then I would double the dose for the first day and use the recommended dose for subsequent days.

Some antibiotics and medications are photodegradable so you may have to keep the tank dimly lit during the treatment. Premium foods like live baby brine shrimp, mussels and scallops may get reluctant fish to eat.

Isoniazid is one of the exceptions to the rule. You should dose it at 40 mg/gallon. It is one of the medications that works best as a catalyst cure in combination with rifampin added to the food at a rate of 6 mg/100g. Sometimes you are better to just go ahead and start medicating the food with rifampin while you establish if it is a disease or injury. If both eyes pop out or if they are cloudy as well as popped, it is definitely bacterial (likely, but not limited to tuberculosis). The other passive cure for pop-eye is 1tsp per 10 gallons magnesium sulphate (epsom salts). Alternatively you could use a test kit and elevate the k (magnesium) level to 1500. This treatment will give you the added side effect of algae die-off.

I recommend doing 25-50% water changes daily in a hospital tank using display tank water. This way water quality can remain good as the sick fish recuperates and acclimation is easy as you return it to the display once it is healed. You can dilute the display water before adding it to the hospital tank, or add more salt if your treatment requires hypo (lowered) or hyper (increased) salinity. A hypo salinity treatment of 1.013 should not extend any longer than 10 days. Hyper salinity treatments should be limited to 1.028 maximum and carried out for the same duration (10 days).

If you are not using a hospital tank to treat the fish you can try medicating the food, but this should be limited to internal infections. One 250mg capsule of Neomycin (bacterial infections) per feeding should be adequate. Allow it to soak for at least 30 minutes. The same dose can be used for isoniazid (tuberculosis), praziquantel (parasitic worms), and metronidazole (protozoans).

Poor water quality and stress are the main causative agents for disease. For this reason, it is sometimes better to treat the fish with a dip (one minute) or bath (one hour) then return it directly to the display tank.

Freshwater dips should be geared to the size of the fish and tolerance to the process. Small or laterally compressed (flat) fish have a lower tolerance to freshwater dips and can go into osmotic shock if you leave them too long. Freshwater baths should not include any medications as they will not penetrate the fish properly. A rule of thumb is one to five minutes in an aerated bucket of freshwater with the same temperature PH, and approximate hardness of the display water. Never use RO/DI water as it is too soft and neutral. You can add baking soda or buffer to raise the PH a bit.

Medication baths are widely varied, and should always be done with water taken from the display tank. For most antibiotics you can dose 10-20 times the standard dose for a 20 minute to one hour bath. I like using a 10X dose (5 x 250 mg capsules per 5 gallon bucket) of nifurpironol (furanace) for 20 minutes with moderate aeration. Another effective bath is oxolinic acid at a 20X dose (10 250 mg tablets per 5 gallon bucket) for 20 minutes. For gill flukes and external parasites, you can use 6 drops per gallon formalin in a 5 gallon bucket, aerated for a few hours in advance to off-gas the methanol. Bath the fish in this mix for one hour, and follow with a freshwater dip (1-5 min).

If the fish has a bacterial lesion or physical wound, you have the option of catching it carefully and painting a solution of potassium permanganate or other oxidizing agent. Follow manufacturers instructions as the stock solution can vary in strength. You don't have to be very scientific with most of these oxidizers. You can test some on your skin if you really love your fish :)

Copper medications deplete the fishes immune system, but nowhere near to the extent that the ich parasite infection itself will. Recovering fish are stressed from the trauma of treatment, catching & moving, and above all the restricted breathing of mucous laden gills and open sores. These open sores are easily infected by opportunistic, secondary bacterial infections. For this reason, you should treat "cured" fish with antibiotics such as nitrofurazone, nifurpirinol, chloramphenicol, or neomycin for a week at the end of the three week ich treatment (Copper Safe by Mardel according to directions with a light dose of malachite green to clear gills and aid breathing). Do large water changes to the hospital tank using display tank water so when the fish gets returned to his home, there is less stress and water quality is optimal. Top up medications according to the treatment regimen. Don't use a protein skimmer, UV sterilizer, ozone, carbon, or ion exchange resins while dosing medications.

Some manufacturers offer medication cocktails so read their instructions as they may vary from my advice. Certain medications don't mix, so always check with the manufacturer. They know what they are doing and give fast answers.

[mr.wilson]

Here's a checklist for a quarantine tank (QT) or hospital tank (HT). You don't have to follow all of my suggestions, just use it as a guideline.

1) A lid to keep in jumpers (glass or egg-crate). Wrasse and gobies are far more likely to jump in a small empty tank. PVC hiding places will also help.

2) A heater. much more important than in display tank. Unlike freshwater, marine ich is cued by temperature increases. A heater will make a consistent temp.

3) Indirect, diffused light. Try to keep a ten hour photo-period to reduce stress. Many antibiotics are photo-degradable, so direct light should be avoided. Sudden light flashes as experienced with fluorescents will cause fish to jump and go into shock.

4) An artificial bio-filter. This can be a bio-wheel or canister filter that is normally run on the display tank to keep it cycled. It is too small to adversely affect the display tank. Remember not to use carbon as it will remove medications. Alternatively, you could just store the filter media in the display tanks Sump to keep the bacteria viable.

5) Have plastic cups to catch and move fish. Unlike freshwater fish, marine fish haven't adapted to breathing atmospheric air even for a brief period of time. Most secondary bacterial infections are caused by fish net abrasions.

6) An ultraviolet (UV) sterilizer. They cost a couple hundred dollars but they will pay themselves off after they save a few fish. The bulb will last a long time as it will only be used while you have fish in the QT. You could borrow a UV sterilizer from the display tank without causing too much trouble. UV sterilization should be discontinued if you are using antibiotics. Copper, formalin, malachite green, and methylene blue are not effected by UV.

7) Have medications on hand so they are there when you need them. I use chloramphenical and neomycin together as prophylactic treatments (preventative) for bacterial infections. I use coppersafe or cupramine with quinacrine hydrochloride (quinine) for parasites (prophylactic). Malachite green, formalin, and nitrofurazone are also good to have around, but they affect water quality and should be used only when needed. Rifampin or isoniazid should also be used prophylactically to prevent marine tuberculosis which is very common. None of these preventative cures adversely affect water quality and will not cause significant mutation (resistant strains) of pathogens. Quarantine for 21 days minimum.

8) Keep a low salinity of 1.013 to 1.017. Stressed marine fish can dehydrate when placed in standard salinity water (1.023+). They don't have a healthy slime coat to regulate osmotic pressure and have to work a lot harder to pump salts out of their bodies. A lower salinity will also slow fish metabolism and kill parasites. Ammonia is also less toxic at a lower salinity as well. Fish adapt well to being moved to water with a lower salinity. They adapt poorly to moves to higher salinity.

9) Keep mixed saltwater on hand. Use display tank water for QT tank water changes. Add new saltwater to display. This will remove nitrogen compounds from QT and supply fresh pro-biotics (micro-organisms that will out-compete with pathogens). The quarantined fish will be acclimated to display tank water at all times. Remember to top-off meds and adjust salinity. One week before moving the QT fish to the display tank, you can start adding more display tank water to slowly raise the salinity to avoid osmotic shock.

10) Use large pvc pipe segments for hiding places. Paint back and side walls to provide additional shelter.

11) If a disease breaks out, sterilize the tank with bleach before re-use.

12) have a bucket of aerated freshwater of equal temperature handy for freshwater dips. Don't use RO water for freshwater dips. Tap-water has a closer pH and general hardness. The chlorine is also medicinal as an oxidant.

13) Make sure your medications are compatible. Formalin and nitrofurazone don't mix for example. EM (erythromycin) doesn't mix with calcium salts, and EM and nitrofurazone don't mix well either.

14) Medications have a treatment and prophylactic dose. For example, copper should be 15 ppm for QT and 30 ppm for HT (hospital tank).

15) Use a bare bottom, so you can wipe the inside surfaces daily (if HT). This will dislodge and kill parasites in the tomont, trophont, and dinospore stages of their life cycle . A diatom filter will remove these 25-50 micron parasites.

16) Medicating the food will help treat the fish for internal bacterial, parasite, and fungal infections without adversely affecting water quality. Short freshwater dips and medicated saltwater baths will also help.

17) A flashlight is a very effective tool while evaluating fish health. It casts a shadow if cysts are present.

18) A sharp, new, single edged razor blade can be used to trim away lymphocystis on the margins of fins.

19) Use a dedicated net for the QT and HT. You can use potassium permanganate or methylene blue as a net disinfectant. Segregate any thermometers, towels, feeding devices, and wash your hands to avoid spreading pathogens to the display tank.

20) A good camera will help you take pictures to submit for help in diagnosis and treatment.

[Edmonton newbie]

well i read all the posts and decided that i should use the wait and see for a day or two and the eye this morning looks like it has started to go down. I have been putting lots of garlic in with the feedings. water is as good as ever has been and i continue to do 20% weekly water changes.