Goldflake Angelfish Eye Disease Treatment??

R

ReefDiver

New member
Hi All: I have this Goldflake Angel that has been in my tank for about 4 weeks now & has been doing fine eating & all. However, I just noticed that it has developed this left eye problem. I tried takin some pictures which I have attached here. Does any know what this disease is & if so how to treat it?? I really like this fish & would hate to see this eye problem progress any further. BTW, there is some elevation to the eye & the fish has been "shaking" his head every few minutes? Otherwise, he is still eating fine & behaving relatively normally. Thanks for any responses & help with this situation.

Steve

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=164510&papass=&sort=1&thecat=524

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=164509&papass=&sort=1&size=medium&thecat=524

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=164508&papass=&sort=1&size=medium&thecat=524
 
Thank you kindly.

Where can I purchase Maracyn2?

I also assume that I would have to get the fish out of my main tank & place it in a QT tank? However, I only have a 10 gal as a QT & am not sure that this will be a large enough tank? Also, how long do I have to treat the fish prior to placing it back in the main tank?

Steve
 
Unilateral popeye is usually caused by physical trauma, but can be due to a bacterial infection. The eye is raised to fluid build up behind it. You could try Maracyn II, but IMO, antibiotics are poorly efficacious when added directly to the water. I would try administering an antibiotic via the feed, which is a more efficacious route of delivery. Any of the Seachem (Focus + any of Sulfathiazole/Kanaplex/Neoplex) or Aquarium Products (Gel-Tek Ulta Cure BX) would be a good choices to consider. It's not a advisable to ad Maracyn II to your main display as this will effectively wipe out your biological filter (as I'm sure your aware). However, setting up and managing water quality in a 10 gal on short notice will be very problematic. If you can get the fish to eat the medicated feed, it will solve some of these issues for you. Note, all these medicinal products are available at most LFSs.
 
reef diver do your self a favor do a freshwater dip, and see if the fish has flukes , my angels look excatly the same after 3 weeks in my tank ,i bet you have flukes attacking his eyes you will see them come right off in a dip,then you have to treat the tank ,i saved my bluering and blueface ,like this
 
Thanks for all of the replies!

I have ordered some Maracyn-Two and am keeping a watchful eye on this fish. The condition has not gotten any worse to date & may even look somewhat better today. I am not sure if I will do any freshwater dips as I really think that this would stress the fish too much, plus the fact that I probably could not catch it in my 155 gal tank. I do like the suggestion about the food soaked antibiotics & may try that if the condition does not clear up. BTW, can you use Maracyn-Two to soak the food with & then feed it to the fish? Just curious. Thanks again,

Steve
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7147899#post7147899 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefDiver
BTW, can you use Maracyn-Two to soak the food with & then feed it to the fish? Just curious. Thanks again, Steve
Click to expand...

Steve,

This is a very good idea, but can be difficult to implement. The trick is getting the dose rate correct, which is a function of the incorporation rate onto the feed, knowing your fish weight (approx) and knowing how much your fish eats. The second problem is getting the drug to stick to the food.

Top dressing feed with antibiotics is an old trick that has been used by fish culturists for years. This of course depends on why type of feed you're using. If dry food, you can mix the antibiotic into an oil-type liquid, coat the pellets and then cover the pellets in fine crumbs (made from the pellets). If commerically manufactured frozen - it's more difficult. If it was me, I would make my own feed from blended fresh/frozen ingredients adding the minocycline with some gelatin and freezing it.

Target oral dose rate would be 0.5 mg/Kg daily for about five days. Given that each tablet of Maracyn II contains 10 mg, and your fish probably weighs (big guess here) around 100 g, you need to do some algebraic gymnastics to add the correct amount (diluting or cutting down as necessary) to a portion of feed that the fish would eat in a day. Not hard, but you need to be keen!

Also, I think dominic has a very good suggestion with respect to a possible alternate cause. Something to look out for.

Hope this helps.
 
it will get worse if it is flukes trust me, and i caught mine in a 400 gal because they were almost blind from the flukes
 
I agree with dominic. It is flukes and if you don't do a freshwater dip the eye will get infected to the point of not return. Head and body shaking is a sure sign of flukes. He's trying to shake them off. Flukes are all over the place this year and copper does not kill these guys.

In almost all cases you can't see the flukes until they cover they eyes, then it looks like an infected eye.

Do a FW dip ASAP and then Treat (in a quarentine tank) with Fluke tabs or Prazi-pro. I've had success with Fluke tabs and after Dominic had success with Prazi pro I tried that too and it works.
 
Last edited:
Question regarding this topic.. I also have a Bluface with an eye that is getting cloudy also a Harlequin tusk with the same conditions. I was thinking that it was ich until thier eyes started getting cloudy. Do flukes look like ich? I dont know what to treat these guys with cause i cant tell if it is ich or flukes.
Thanks and sorry for stealing the thread.
 
Flyingace,

Ich looks like little grains of salt and doesn't restrict infection to just the eyes. If you have ich, you will see the characteristic small white spots distributed randomly over the fish. As for 'cloudy eyes', these can be caused by things other than flukes (including, but not limited to: bumps, bacterial infections, catateracts caused by nutritional deficiencies). However, in your case if it appears to be consistent and spreading from fish to fish, could very well be flukes. In this case, FW dips would probably be the best way to go.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7167419#post7167419 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flyingace2005
Question regarding this topic.. I also have a Bluface with an eye that is getting cloudy also a Harlequin tusk with the same conditions. I was thinking that it was ich until thier eyes started getting cloudy. Do flukes look like ich? I dont know what to treat these guys with cause i cant tell if it is ich or flukes.
Thanks and sorry for stealing the thread.
Click to expand...





My Tangs had some kind of Fluke or other worm. They appeared as bumps on the skin, only looking closer you could see some of them move back and forth.Instead of cycling off the fish, this parasite just got more numerous..I have dealt with ich, so I knew it wasn't that. My new Blueface [in another qt] also developed tiny white dots I believe were flukes also.
They are all 3 due for thier 3rd Formalin dips tonight...nothing else has worked in my case..

So yes, to someone who is not experienced with ich, it is possible to get the two confused
 
Thanks to all of the replies indeed, you guys are great!!!!

UPDATE: Well, I played the waiting game & amazingly the eye has cleared up on it's own. I am now thinking that it was perhaps more of a bruise/contusion type of injury rather than infection/fluke infestation. The only thing that I did was a good water change & more feedings than usual. Fortunately, the fish never stopped eating for me.

Anyway, thanks again for this interesting thread, I learned a lot!!

Steve
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7222660#post7222660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by baobao
Kim, Is formalin effective to treat flukes?
Click to expand...




Yes..but there are several different types of flukes with different ways of reproduction..Some reproduce on the fish, others drop off and reproduce on the bottom. The eggs are usually unaffected by treatment, so the fish may need to be treated again .Praziquantel also works for some, unfortunately it didn't work for my fish
 
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