French Angelfish Popeye? Please help!

[eric1115]

Hi
I have a french Angel in a 180 cycled tank. It went through initial QT and is eating well and no sign of fluke or icy. Until last week, he all of sudden developed what look like a popeye on it's right eye, it looks like getting worst.

It is still eating but not as much as of last few days and does not swim too much.

Can someone please tell me if it is popeye and what I should do?

Ammonia=0
Nitrite=0
Nitrate=10
Temp=80
Salinity=1.019

Thanks

 

[Mrscribbled]

Looks more like a bacterial infection. Can you get a side shot?

 

[eric1115]

French Angel Eye issue

French Angel Eye issue

Hi Thanks for the response. Here are two more pictures.

 

[eric1115]

French Angelfish Eye Issue

French Angelfish Eye Issue

Hi
Also it's left eye is perfectly fine. I read that bacterial infection usually affects both eyes.
Thanks

 

[Mrscribbled]

Usually, but this very well could have been trauma which caused the infection. Espom salt @ 1tsp per 5 gallons and Furan-2 would be a good treatment.

 

[sandwi54]

A couple of things.

1. drop the temperature to 75-76 degrees. bacteria activity is lower at lower temperature and honestly these fish don't need to be in 80-degree water. It's a waste of electricity bill.

2. with only one popeye, it's usually trauma related instead of systemic bacterial infections. However, the popeye looks pretty bad. If you can, get the French into a QT and dose Epsom salt or Furan-2 like Mrscribbled suggested.

3. 180g is really too small for a French angel long-term. this fish grows very large and I honestly wouldn't house a full-grown adult in anything smaller than a 96"x30"x30" tank. The tank height is just as important as the width since this fish is just as tall as it's long. I upgraded my 225g (72x30x24) to a 375g (96x30x30) for my 12" French angel, and the difference in its behavior was night and day. You may check the video in my 375" FOWLR thread to get a feeling of how my adult French angel looks in my 375g.

 

[eric1115]

French Angel eye issue

French Angel eye issue

Thanks
I will lower the temp. I don't want to stress it by catching it, can I add the salt directly to the DT? I have a Regal Angel and a Blonde Naso in the tank.

 

[eric1115]

I didn't realize how small 180 looks with this fish, I will definitely upgrade to something like 500 but not for 2 years since I just spend all these money. Do you think it will be ok in 180 for 2 years?
Thanks

 

[sandwi54]

I would add epsom salt directly to your DT as it will raise magnesium level quite high, which will require large water changes to lower. You definitely do not want to dose Furan-2 in the DT either as it will affect your biological filtration as well as being very expensive for a 180g.

How big is your angel right now? yours look like it already has full adult coloration so I would assume it's at least 7". Keep in mind that this fish grows VERY fast with proper diet and water quality. Mine grew from 4" to 10" in 2 years, and I upgraded my tank when it reached 9".

 

[eric1115]

It's about 7", so hopefully it does not grow above 10 inch in two years and I will then upgrade to larger tank. Do you think the eye will get better without epsom salt if I keep the water good? Because I already have a Majestic Angel and a Sailfin Tang in the QT, so I don't think I will be able to move it to QT.

Thanks

 

[sandwi54]

The pop eye does look pretty bad, and I am not sure if he will lose that eye or not. It's really your call at the end of the day, but I would probably feel safer putting it under antibiotics.

 

[Deinonych]

+1 on treating with antibiotics. I have a Royal Gramma that developed popeye when he was in QT. I dosed with Maracyn Plus and the eye slowly got better. He's now out of quarantine, and you would never know he had a problem.