Eye infection, please help!!!

Coral Keeper · Mar 28, 2019

Yeah, she's still eating mysis shrimp pretty good.

ngoodermuth · Mar 28, 2019

Coral Keeper said:
Yeah, she's still eating mysis shrimp pretty good.

That’s good, keeping her well fed and the water clean will go a long way...

Coral Keeper · Mar 28, 2019

Would adding Vitamin C to the tank help boost her immune system/help in general?? Or any other vitamins/supplements to the tank?

Also, would hooking up a UV sterilizer help in any way?

Tastee · Mar 30, 2019

I recently used Voogle as an immuno-booster along with my antibiotic treatment so that may be worth trying. My issue was resolved successfully and perhaps this helped. The others on this thread are way more experienced than I am so hopefully some of them will comment on this.

Coral Keeper · Mar 30, 2019

So I have even more bad news... looks like the angelfish has velvet as well

Just dosed enough copper power (chelated copper) to be at 0.50 ppm and will slowly rise to 1.75 ppm over the next 48 hours...
Here is a picture of her..

Frtdrmrose7 · Mar 30, 2019

Coral Keeper said:
So I have even more bad news... looks like the angelfish has velvet as well
Just dosed enough copper power (chelated copper) to be at 0.50 ppm and will slowly rise to 1.75 ppm over the next 48 hours...
Here is a picture of her..

I would probably ramp up a little faster because velvet can kill quickly.

Coral Keeper · Mar 31, 2019

So, yesterday was day 8 of Erythromycin (Maracyn) and will be going on day 9 (9th dose) tonight... She still has the eye infection... Do I continue on to 14 days of Erythromycin?

Copper level should be at 1.50 ppm by 4pm today.. and 1.75 ppm by midnight today..

Coral Keeper · Mar 31, 2019

Antibiotics I'm using..

Coral Keeper · Mar 31, 2019

What her eye looks like as of 5 minutes ago..

Gareth elliott · Mar 31, 2019

With no improvement perhaps attempting a different family of abx? Also one that acts more friendly with your bio filter than the marycin’s since now dosing copper.

Kanoplex + neoplex + furan 2.

Thelaziasis is rare in fish but responds positively to Clindamycin in cats, but dont dose with copper in the water. Would bind to food with focus.

Also kinda expensive and will have to order online, wont be at the lfs.

Frtdrmrose7 · Mar 31, 2019

I think this is a secondary infection from velvet. I bet once the velvet clears up this will heal pretty quickly.

ngoodermuth · Mar 31, 2019

Frtdrmrose7 said:
I think this is a secondary infection from velvet. I bet once the velvet clears up this will heal pretty quickly.

I think this too, I’d finish the 10 days and then just see how it looks after a few days of therapeutic copper. If there is no improvement or it looks worse, can try kanaplex and/or furan-2...

Coral Keeper · Apr 1, 2019

ngoodermuth said:
I think this too, I’d finish the 10 days and then just see how it looks after a few days of therapeutic copper. If there is no improvement or it looks worse, can try kanaplex and/or furan-2...

Hmm.. okay, wouldn't it be better to just start the trifecta (metroplex, kanaplex, furan-2) of antibiotics right after the 10 days of erythromycin just to be safe? Because she still has the eye.. I would hate to wait a day or two and the eye gets a lot worse and she ends up actually loosing it.. ?

Coral Keeper · Apr 1, 2019

@Humblefish @Ford4life @HotRocks

Coral Keeper · Apr 1, 2019

Just took these pictures of her.. I'll try to get some better shots of her eye..

HotRocks · Apr 1, 2019

Sorry if we have discussed this already. Has the fish been dewormed with Prazipro yet?

I have seen this before being caused by flukes. If this is the case the meds may not be effective until the worms casing the issue are eliminated.

ngoodermuth · Apr 1, 2019

Coral Keeper said:
Hmm.. okay, wouldn't it be better to just start the trifecta (metroplex, kanaplex, furan-2) of antibiotics right after the 10 days of erythromycin just to be safe? Because she still has the eye.. I would hate to wait a day or two and the eye gets a lot worse and she ends up actually loosing it.. ?

You could do that. You could also keep the course with the erythromycin for as long as 14 days if needed.

The issue with going from one set of medications to another like this... is stress. Sometimes the medications become too much for the fish, it can be a slippery slope.

I had this happen with a wrasse. Did a rally bath and 14 days of the trifecta, and then tried removing medications and he started to decline. So, quickly did another bath and started different antibiotics... and he actually got worse and died. He may have died regardless, but piling on the meds isn’t easy on them either, so it’s sort of a balancing act.

Sometimes, It’s good to give a little break in between to try to let them recover a bit on their own...

But it’s your fish, so ultimately up to you.

Coral Keeper · Apr 1, 2019

HotRocks said:
Sorry if we have discussed this already. Has the fish been dewormed with Prazipro yet?

I have seen this before being caused by flukes. If this is the case the meds may not be effective until the worms casing the issue are eliminated.

ngoodermuth said:
You could do that. You could also keep the course with the erythromycin for as long as 14 days if needed.

The issue with going from one set of medications to another like this... is stress. Sometimes the medications become too much for the fish, it can be a slippery slope.

I had this happen with a wrasse. Did a rally bath and 14 days of the trifecta, and then tried removing medications and he started to decline. So, quickly did another bath and started different antibiotics... and he actually got worse and died. He may have died regardless, but piling on the meds isn’t easy on them either, so it’s sort of a balancing act.

Sometimes, It’s good to give a little break in between to try to let them recover a bit on their own...

But it’s your fish, so ultimately up to you.

@HotRocks I did a 5 minute freshwater dip the day she got the eye infection and I dont think there was anything on her.. i didnt see any flukes fall off or anything else... then after the freshwater dip I gave her a 90 minute Acriflavine MS bath a dosage of 1mL per Gallon. Then after starting Erythromycin (Maracyn) I also did a single dose of General Cure like you told me to just to be safe... Did not do a second dose of General Cure nor any doses of Prazi since I had to start Copper due to velvet.. Since I have copper running now due to the Velvet... What would be the best course of action?

@ngoodermuth Hmm... That makes sence... Tonight will be the 10th dose/day of Erythromycin.. so I'll finish that and give the fish a break for a few days and keep a close eye on her and hopefully she starts to recover on her own... But how would I know if she doesnt have any flukes or worms still since I tried FW dipping her in the beginning and nothing came off? Should I try giving her another FW dip?

HotRocks · Apr 1, 2019

Coral Keeper said:
@HotRocks I did a 5 minute freshwater dip the day she got the eye infection and I dont think there was anything on her.. i didnt see any flukes fall off or anything else... then after the freshwater dip I gave her a 90 minute Acriflavine MS bath a dosage of 1mL per Gallon. Then after starting Erythromycin (Maracyn) I also did a single dose of General Cure like you told me to just to be safe... Did not do a second dose of General Cure nor any doses of Prazi since I had to start Copper due to velvet.. Since I have copper running now due to the Velvet... What would be the best course of action?

@ngoodermuth Hmm... That makes sence... Tonight will be the 10th dose/day of Erythromycin.. so I'll finish that and give the fish a break for a few days and keep a close eye on her and hopefully she starts to recover on her own... But how would I know if she doesnt have any flukes or worms still since I tried FW dipping her in the beginning and nothing came off? Should I try giving her another FW dip?

Just have to let it ride until you get the fish out of copper. It probably will not improve in copper as it is a heavy immunosuppressant. The thing is you have to finish copper first.

I wouldn't add any other meds just complete the regiment you are on.

ngoodermuth · Apr 1, 2019

I honestly wouldn't at this point. I'd give some time to recover, keep feeding and observing and finish out the copper treatment and see how she does. If new symptoms of flukes develop (scratching/flashing, heavy breathing, yawning, head shaking, etc) maybe re-evaluate. But, you really need to keep the stress as minimal as possible.

Once copper is completed and if she seems to be healing otherwise, I might do two general cure doses 5-7 days apart as a precaution. But, I think the velvet and infection take first priority right now.