Anthias Popeye

[um_fan5]

I have 3 Anthias in the tank along with a coral beauty and 2 oculary clown fish.
All are fine and eating like pigs but about 2 days ago I woke up to find one of the female Anthias with a popeye and a little pale compared to the other 2.
So I feed them went to the office and jump on here! Read Epson salt was a recommend treatment or maracyn 2.
On my way home...stopped at Petco...grab a heater, air pump, airline and stone! Went to HomeDepot to grab a few PVC elbows to set up a HT!

Started to make fresh saltwater as I was going to drain a few gallons from the DT for the HT so I could replace the water in the DT.
Drain about 5 gallons then my mission to catch the fish....yeah right! Figured I was stressing all the fishes out so I stopped trying!
Dumped water back into the DT. Went to Target and got Epson Salt, dosed the 1tsp/5G 36 hours ago!

Other then being a little reclusive...she's eat fine!
Wife...wants me to pull the male out as it constantly harassing the 2 females!
Not sure if it because of under feeding the constant harassing or what!
I feed twice a day but I've heard these guys need a little more food!
Anything I need or should do?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Actually, Maracyn 1 is the better choice for possible eye infections. Epsom salts Are actually a freshwater fish remedy that gets misapplied to marine tanks - it won’t hurt your fish, but it won’t help much either. Magnesium sulfate is Epsom salts, and it is the fourth highest salt in your salt mix. Adding a little bit more to your tank isn’t going to help the fish’s eye.
It always helps to feed anthias more frequently. Your wife is correct, the male may be badgering this female. Popeye often results from an injury, like hitting a rock, or from being caught in a net. Sometimes, it will go away on its own.
Jay

 

[um_fan5]

Thank you @Jay Hemdal
Could I dose Maracyn 1 in the DT in lieu of trying to catch her?
I would literally have to tear down the landscape just to catch her!
Thinking of picking up one of those traps!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

A sick anthias is going to be difficult to catch in a trap. You can dose your DT with Maracyn 1, but monitor your ammonia daily if you do. The other option is to do nothing, eliminates the risk to your other animals....and sometimes, Popeye resolves on its own.

Jay

 

[um_fan5]

Thanks...I'm thinking if I could grab the male that way the female could get some R&R!

 

[um_fan5]

GM!

Follow up: The anthia still has the popeye but a lot less and is still pale compared to the others.
She's still eating but reclusive. I feed KanaPlex w/Focus
Now, I have the coral beauty that seems to be developing popeye and also has what I think is fin rot.
I'm starting to question myself! Am I doing something wrong??

They've been in the DT for over a month now and nothing has been added since then.

Anyone with ideas what I should do?

I have a 2 additional fishes in QT current that I was going to move over this sunday (32 days in QT)
My thoughts were to move the fishes in QT to the DT and move the CB and the anthia to the QT but if the now I'm not sure I should do that.
Could the bacteria be water column and maybe just treat the DT?
I have no corals at the moment and just 3 blue leg crab and 1 nassarius snail.
All other fishes (2 clowns & 2 anthias) look and seem to be eating just fin!

Sorry about the background noise...hispanic family gossip ;Hilarious

 

[Jay Hemdal]

How large is your DT? You had mentioned before about how hard it will be to catch the fish, you don’t want to harm them more by that. CB are known to get flukes, anthias also. Now that it is more than just one fish, you might consider that flukes are the culprit. Prazipro would be one possible course of action, and you can dose that in your DT....
Jay

 

[um_fan5]

Thanks @Jay Hemdal
Total water volume is approx 120G (DT and Sump)
I was prepared to remove all rocks...I do also have a trap in shipment!
Any adverse affect using prazi down the road on coral or on the CUC?

Edit:
Reading up on Prazi...humle's fish site...Thank you!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks @Jay Hemdal
Total water volume is approx 120G (DT and Sump)
I was prepared to remove all rocks...I do also have a trap in shipment!
Any adverse affect using prazi down the road on coral or on the CUC?

Edit:
Reading up on Prazi...humle's fish site...Thank you!

Prazi is safe for most invertebrates, except feather dusters. You’ll need to increase aeration during the treatment. I asked about tank size because of the cost. You’ll need to dose twice, typically 7 days apart. Remember though, I just tossed this out as a “what if”. If you can catch one of the fish, you could give it a 5 minute FW dip in a dark container. Then, put the fish back and let the dip eater settle and look for flukes on the bottom of the container...if confirmed, then for sure do prazi.
Jay

 

[um_fan5]

I'll try and catch the CB as it's a little "slower" than the anthia! I'm also going to hold off transferring the fishes in QT to the DT while I complete the Prazi treatment if it's indeed flukes!
What if I do a FW dip and I see nothing? What should I do then?

 

[MichaelReefer]

Actually, Maracyn 1 is the better choice for possible eye infections. Epsom salts Are actually a freshwater fish remedy that gets misapplied to marine tanks - it won’t hurt your fish, but it won’t help much either. Magnesium sulfate is Epsom salts, and it is the fourth highest salt in your salt mix. Adding a little bit more to your tank isn’t going to help the fish’s eye.
It always helps to feed anthias more frequently. Your wife is correct, the male may be badgering this female. Popeye often results from an injury, like hitting a rock, or from being caught in a net. Sometimes, it will go away on its own.
Jay
[/QUOTE]

I used Epsom salt on my Yellow Tang that bumped into something, and his eye was better in less than 12 hours. *shrug*

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Actually, Maracyn 1 is the better choice for possible eye infections. Epsom salts Are actually a freshwater fish remedy that gets misapplied to marine tanks - it won’t hurt your fish, but it won’t help much either. Magnesium sulfate is Epsom salts, and it is the fourth highest salt in your salt mix. Adding a little bit more to your tank isn’t going to help the fish’s eye.
It always helps to feed anthias more frequently. Your wife is correct, the male may be badgering this female. Popeye often results from an injury, like hitting a rock, or from being caught in a net. Sometimes, it will go away on its own.
Jay

I used Epsom salt on my Yellow Tang that bumped into something, and his eye was better in less than 12 hours. *shrug*
[/QUOTE]
Ah, but you don’t know if it would have gotten better without the addition (grin). Really though, our SW fish are literally swimming in mag sulfate, adding a tiny bit more is of no benefit.
Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have an orange lyre tail that just overcame popeye after 5 weeks. I did absolutely nothing and let it heal itself

 

[um_fan5]

Thanks @vetteguy53081 but the problem is now it’s 2 fishies and the CB doesn’t have the appetite it once had and both hiding in the rock work....before both were active swimmers! Also the CB fins have little holes in it!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks @vetteguy53081 but the problem is now it’s 2 fishies and the CB doesn’t have the appetite it once had and both hiding in the rock work....before both were active swimmers! Also the CB fins have little holes in it!

Melafix will help with popeye as well as maracyn 2. Melafix is safer to use.
Do you have micro bubbles in your tank?

 

[um_fan5]

Melafix will help with popeye as well as maracyn 2. Melafix is safer to use.
Do you have micro bubbles in your tank?

No micro bubble! And even if I did, it wouldn’t explain why the CB have little holes in the fin

 

[vetteguy53081]

If you’re getting holes in the fins, its an indicator of possible bacterial infection brought about by poor water conditions or secondary infection unless there is physical abuse by tank mates.
What is your current ammonia and nitrate levels?
Salinity?

 

[um_fan5]

So I went to my LFS because I don’t trust my API test.
My salt is at 1.026

 

[vetteguy53081]

Wow- Mag quite high. 1.026 is acceptable salt reading.

 

[um_fan5]

GM!

Not sure how fast Prazi is suppose to work, but I'm on day 4 since my first dose.

The change has been night and day! The anthia is not 100%...still a little pale and the eye is still a little swollen but no where near where she was last week. I thought 1000% I was going to loss her!

The CB no longer has the cloudy eye and the white spots on the fins are gone. I can still see little holes but both are more active than they were last week! Thank you @Jay Hemdal

I will dose once one after my weekly water change Saturday!