Old tang with eye trouble

[ReefAnon]

I have had my purple tang for about 11 years. In the last few years he has had white marks round the edges of his eyes but these seem to be getting worse the last few months. I'm not sure if it's bacterial, fungal or even whitespot although none of the other fish have these marks and I can't see any obvious trace of whitespot on other fish or elsewhere on this tang.

Could anyone help with what is causing this and what treatments might be?

Thanks

 

[b0bab0ey]

Fish cataracts?

I would start by treating him with Epsom salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gallons). Make sure it's food grade. A lot of people use it to reduce swelling caused by popeye/eye trauma. May not work for you but it's the least invasive treatment I can think of, so might be worth a shot. Btw, check out this link:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/epsomfaqs.htm

 

[aleonn]

Could be flukes, since the eye lesions are bilateral. Fresh water dip to confirm if you can catch him, or an in-tank treatment with Prazi-Pro is pretty safe.

 

[ReefAnon]

Thanks,

@ b0bab0ey
Interesting - I hadn't come across epsom salt use before. Although the pics don't show it very well the eyes do have tiny white raised marks on the effected area almost as if some parasite is travelling round the outer edge of the eye. If it is a parasite I'd guess epsom salts wouldn't kill it.

@ aleonn
Could you explain what you mean by 'bilateral lesions'?
How would a freshwater dip confirm it is flukes?
Also would such a dip not leave any parasite still inside the eye of the fish?

I intend to remove the fish and treat in a quarantine tank but he is quite old and this will obviously be stressful so I'm trying to plan out what to treat him with before moving him.

I have some Aquazole (contains metronidazole) and a flubendazole wormer. Here in the uk tremazol (contains Praziquantel) is available although I don't have any to hand.

I also wondered about hyposalinity down to 1009 as many years ago I had success against whitespot using that method. No idea if it would help with this though.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Thanks,

@ b0bab0ey
Interesting - I hadn't come across epsom salt use before. Although the pics don't show it very well the eyes do have tiny white raised marks on the effected area almost as if some parasite is travelling round the outer edge of the eye. If it is a parasite I'd guess epsom salts wouldn't kill it.

Epsom salt only helps reduce swelling from an eye injury. It won't help at all if this is a parasite.

@ aleonn
Could you explain what you mean by 'bilateral lesions'?
How would a freshwater dip confirm it is flukes?
Also would such a dip not leave any parasite still inside the eye of the fish?

Flukes are internal worms. Eventually they make their way to the eyes. When you do a freshwater dip the Flukes fall off the fish and settle at the bottom. You can see them with the naked eye, so make sure you use clear glass if you do a f/w dip as this will confirm whether or not your Tang has Flukes. Of course, once you put the Tang back in the tank the Flukes are still there and will attack again. That's where the Prazi comes in.

You know, the more I look at those pics, the more I think Flukes is a possibility. Have you added anything new lately? Doesn't necessarily have to be a fish. The only way you can have Flukes is if something new (even a coral/invert) introduced it recently.

Btw, here's a great thread all about Flukes:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1260067

 

[aleonn]

When you do a freshwater dip, the flukes that fall out look like small, white, flat sesame seeds. The thread that b0bab0ey linked is the definitive flukes thread with photos, symptoms, and treatment. The photo in Post #6 actually looks like your tang's eyes.

I had a butterfly that suddenly lost his appetite and developed cloudy eyes in both eyes. The freshwater dip (you'll need to temperature and pH match the water) confirmed the flukes diagnosis, allowed the fish to be more comfortable, and quickly allowed him to regain his appetite. I treated with Prazi-Pro in QT for five days, performed a 30% water change, then did another 5-day Prazi-Pro treatment. Some people in the thread did four 5-day treatments to play it safe.

 

[ReefAnon]

Many thanks both of you for that. Very helpful and reading that thread I think it is flukes so I will treat with prazi. I noticed on that thread that some people were treating their displays with it but as I have lots of corals, snails, shrimp and a clam I doubt that everything would come through unscathed. Perhaps what I'll do is treat this tang in QT to confirm it does clear it up and then work out how to treat the other fish.

 

[aleonn]

Good luck and let us know how it goes!