Emperor cloudy eye changing

[manny14]

Running a 210 fish only - had some ich in the tank and treated it with 0.5 of cupramine, dosed slowly, nobody seemed to have any adverse affects.

Everyone was eating and doing good until last Friday I noticed my emperor had both eyes cloudy, fast forward to Sunday one eye was clear one cloudy, Monday the same, Tuesday the cloudy eye turned a little red and the photo is from today. Please advise - he’s eating like a pig and acting totally normal.

 

[Ben.QLD2]

I'd be concerned about a possible secondary bacterial infection. Possibly caused from trauma by the fish scratching due to cryptocaryon irritans. I would consider a separate hospital tank for that fish and treat with antibiotics. You will also have to keep treating for the cryptocaryon if you haven't yet completed that.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Running a 210 fish only - had some ich in the tank and treated it with 0.5 of cupramine, dosed slowly, nobody seemed to have any adverse affects.

Everyone was eating and doing good until last Friday I noticed my emperor had both eyes cloudy, fast forward to Sunday one eye was clear one cloudy, Monday the same, Tuesday the cloudy eye turned a little red and the photo is from today. Please advise - he’s eating like a pig and acting totally normal.

This may be a cataract isdue and the best recourse is to treat in a quarantine setting using either Maracyn which is ethromyacin or seachem neoplex with Maracyn my choice for at least 5 days
Increase oxygen during treatment

 

[Jay Hemdal]

When I see an emperor with two cloudy eyes, my first thought is Neobenedenia flukes. However, in this case, one eye got better? That tends to make the diagnosis less clear. Still, have you treated these fish for flukes yet? I see some vague marks on the angel's skin that could also be flukes.

Jay

 

[manny14]

When I see an emperor with two cloudy eyes, my first thought is Neobenedenia flukes. However, in this case, one eye got better? That tends to make the diagnosis less clear. Still, have you treated these fish for flukes yet? I see some vague marks on the angel's skin that could also be flukes.

Jay

Haven’t checked for flukes. And yeah, I had to compare photos I took to make sure I saw it right, but the right eye healed and is normal now but the left just got worse

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Haven’t checked for flukes. And yeah, I had to compare photos I took to make sure I saw it right, but the right eye healed and is normal now but the left just got worse

You might consider dosing with prazipro just in case - 2x, 8 days apart with good aeration. Very little risk, even in a reef tank.
Jay

 

[manny14]

You might consider dosing with prazipro just in case - 2x, 8 days apart with good aeration. Very little risk, even in a reef tank.
Jay

Can I mix it with cupramine?

guys at my LFS recommended focus + metroplex and focus + Kanaplex in their food. He eats like a pig and acts totally normal.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Can I mix it with cupramine?

guys at my LFS recommended focus + metroplex and focus + Kanaplex in their food. He eats like a pig and acts totally normal.

Focus+metroplex? That is for internal protozoans, I don't see any symptoms of that. issue here. Kanaplex would be useful if the eye issue turns out to be bacterial.

Cupramine is kind of harsh. People have dosed it in conjunction with Prazipro, but it does add to the stress. Be sure to aerate the tank well if you go that route.

Jay

 

[manny14]

Focus+metroplex? That is for internal protozoans, I don't see any symptoms of that. issue here. Kanaplex would be useful if the eye issue turns out to be bacterial.

Cupramine is kind of harsh. People have dosed it in conjunction with Prazipro, but it does add to the stress. Be sure to aerate the tank well if you go that route.

Jay

Now my blonde has black ich too haha. My tank is falling apart lol, not sure what to do at this point. Emperors eye seems slightly better today.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Now my blonde has black ich too haha. My tank is falling apart lol, not sure what to do at this point. Emperors eye seems slightly better today.

That's a pretty severe case. Prazipro is often suggested for use against that, but the reality is that prazi only effects tapeworms and flukes, and it just stuns them and makes them fall off. These black ich turbellarians are a different type of worm, and they are imbedded in the skin, so don't fall off, even if they are stunned. So why to people say prazi works? That's because this disease is often self-limiting, infections clear up on their own with any or no treatment at all.

However, this is a severe infection. Here is a section from my book that discusses treatment options:

Treatment options

Because turbellarians cause a fairly deep-seated infection, they are difficult to remove using freshwater dips or other topical treatments. Other treatment options that have been utilized with varying degrees of effectiveness include:

Praziquantel at 2 mg/l is a safe, commonly used treatment for this malady, but for some reason, it is not always effective.

A 45-minute formalin dip at 166 ppm can be effective, but then the fish must be moved to a non-infected aquarium.

Chloroquine at 15 ppm has been shown to be an effective treatment, but some fish may experience toxic reactions at this dose.

Organophosphate pesticides, such as Trichlorfon (Dylox), have been the treatment of choice for many years but cannot be recommended due to their potential toxicity to humans.

Copper treatments are ineffective, at least at the concentrations well tolerated by fish.


Jay

 

[manny14]

That's a pretty severe case. Prazipro is often suggested for use against that, but the reality is that prazi only effects tapeworms and flukes, and it just stuns them and makes them fall off. These black ich turbellarians are a different type of worm, and they are imbedded in the skin, so don't fall off, even if they are stunned. So why to people say prazi works? That's because this disease is often self-limiting, infections clear up on their own with any or no treatment at all.

However, this is a severe infection. Here is a section from my book that discusses treatment options:

Treatment options

Because turbellarians cause a fairly deep-seated infection, they are difficult to remove using freshwater dips or other topical treatments. Other treatment options that have been utilized with varying degrees of effectiveness include:

Praziquantel at 2 mg/l is a safe, commonly used treatment for this malady, but for some reason, it is not always effective.

A 45-minute formalin dip at 166 ppm can be effective, but then the fish must be moved to a non-infected aquarium.

Chloroquine at 15 ppm has been shown to be an effective treatment, but some fish may experience toxic reactions at this dose.

Organophosphate pesticides, such as Trichlorfon (Dylox), have been the treatment of choice for many years but cannot be recommended due to their potential toxicity to humans.

Copper treatments are ineffective, at least at the concentrations well tolerated by fish.


Jay

He’s eating like a pig, doesn’t stop actually and good movement. What do you recommend?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

He’s eating like a pig, doesn’t stop actually and good movement. What do you recommend?

The only treatment you could do while the fish is in the DT would be prazipro, but that often fails. All of the other treatment require moving the fish to a QT.

Jay

 

[manny14]

The only treatment you could do while the fish is in the DT would be prazipro, but that often fails. All of the other treatment require moving the fish to a QT.

Jay

You mentioned others not doing anything as it can resolve itself. If he’s eating tons of nori (with garlic and selcon) and eating frozen, should I worry? Nobody else in the tank has it

 

[Jay Hemdal]

You mentioned others not doing anything as it can resolve itself. If he’s eating tons of nori (with garlic and selcon) and eating frozen, should I worry? Nobody else in the tank has it

My fear is that this is a pretty severe case. There are reports of this being a fatal disease in severe cases.
Jay

 

[manny14]

My fear is that this is a pretty severe case. There are reports of this being a fatal disease in severe cases.
Jay

Looking at him from afar, you’d never be able to tell he had anything which is what’s weird. Moves great, darts around, eats nori in selcon/garlic like a monster, eats frozen

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Looking at him from afar, you’d never be able to tell he had anything which is what’s weird. Moves great, darts around, eats nori in selcon/garlic like a monster, eats frozen

I've never lost a fish to black ich, but others have. I would see a few spots on newly arrived fish from Hawaii, but it would just go away during my normal quarantine process.

Jay

 

[manny14]

I've never lost a fish to black ich, but others have. I would see a few spots on newly arrived fish from Hawaii, but it would just go away during my normal quarantine process.

Jay

My tank is exploding for some reason. My flame angel now had cloud eye and isn’t doing well, hiding today. Not sure what happened, was eating great and normal yesterday.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

My tank is exploding for some reason. My flame angel now had cloud eye and isn’t doing well, hiding today. Not sure what happened, was eating great and normal yesterday.

That doesn't look good at all. Can you post a video? I want to see if it is breathing fast.

Jay

 

[manny14]

That doesn't look good at all. Can you post a video? I want to see if it is breathing fast.

Jay

He was breathing fast and hiding. I dosed the tank with prazi. Not sure what else I could do in this case

 

[manny14]

Update: flame dead unsurprisingly. Everyone else seems to be handling the cupramine / prazi combo just fine.