Gold rim tang eye issue

[bshonesy]

Can someone please look and tell me what you think is going on with my gold rimmed tang? This tang has been in my tank for 5 years. He is hiding under a ledge and I’ve never seen a fishes eyes bulge out like this even in photos. He doesn’t appear to have any lesions or anything else obvious, but his behavior is not normal. All other tank inhabitants look healthy and behaving normally. @Jay Hemdal any ideas?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can someone please look and tell me what you think is going on with my gold rimmed tang? This tang has been in my tank for 5 years. He is hiding under a ledge and I’ve never seen a fishes eyes bulge out like this even in photos. He doesn’t appear to have any lesions or anything else obvious, but his behavior is not normal. All other tank inhabitants look healthy and behaving normally. @Jay Hemdal any ideas?

lIKELY AN INJURY AND TREAT WITH mARACYN FOR AT LEAST 5 DAYS, nOT MARACYN TWO

 

[bshonesy]

lIKELY AN INJURY AND TREAT WITH mARACYN FOR AT LEAST 5 DAYS, nOT MARACYN TWO

You think injury even with both of them like that?

 

[W31Olds]

Not an injury, but Maracyn is still the treatment. I can't tell if he's thin so it could also be Edema.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You think injury even with both of them like that?

yES ITS POSSIBLE BUT MAY ALSO BE BACTERIAL

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Can someone please look and tell me what you think is going on with my gold rimmed tang? This tang has been in my tank for 5 years. He is hiding under a ledge and I’ve never seen a fishes eyes bulge out like this even in photos. He doesn’t appear to have any lesions or anything else obvious, but his behavior is not normal. All other tank inhabitants look healthy and behaving normally. @Jay Hemdal any ideas?

The video is pretty dark on my phone - but the fish has severe bilateral exophthalmus.

Did the eyes develop this suddenly, or over days?
Is the fish still able to feed?
Any other fish in the tank?
If so, do they have any swelling?

While it might be from an injury, those usually involve just one eye. Like a person who falls down and breaks a leg - they could break BOTH legs, but that’s pretty rare.

The two other possibilities are gas supersaturation or internal bacterial disease. The questions I asked above try to sus that out……

 

[bshonesy]

The video is pretty dark on my phone - but the fish has severe bilateral exophthalmus.

Did the eyes develop this suddenly, or over days?
Is the fish still able to feed?
Any other fish in the tank?
If so, do they have any swelling?

While it might be from an injury, those usually involve just one eye. Like a person who falls down and breaks a leg - they could break BOTH legs, but that’s pretty rare.

The two other possibilities are gas supersaturation or internal bacterial disease. The questions I asked above try to sus that out……

I’m not sure I just returned from a weeklong trip so it’s impossible for me to know. But he wasn’t like this when I left 7 days ago.

No other fish, including a blue tang, are affected in any way. I’ve tried putting food in front of him, but he doesn’t seem interested in food.

Also I meant to mention, there is ich in this tank that has been managed for nearly 5 years with no lesions seen in that period of time. I’m using a UV filter, but note that the bulb is reaching the end of its life.

See if this video with a little external light is better.

If there is any option to treat in the main tank that would be best. There is no way to remove rock structure as it is covered in coral and the tang will be very difficult to catch. That said, I’m getting my hospital tank going in anticipation, and can certainly “try” to catch him.

 

[MnFish1]

Not an injury, but Maracyn is still the treatment. I can't tell if he's thin so it could also be Edema.

What is the difference between maracyn and maracyn II? In Fact, maracyn 2 is broader spectrum and probably would work better (in a hospital tank) which was not mentioned

 

[W31Olds]

Fritz Maracyn targets gram positive where as Maracyn II is gram negative.

 

[MnFish1]

Fritz Maracyn targets gram positive where as Maracyn II is gram negative.

FWIW - Maracyn 2 is broad spectrum and secondly, Most infections in salt water are gram negative,

 

[MnFish1]

I clicked send too quickly. Maracyn is probably better in fresh water - maracyn II is excellent for both gram positive and gram negative organisms - and gram negatives are more responsible for infections in salt water tanks. I don't see any references suggesting using Maracyn (instead of) maracyn 2. It is really too bad that the company decided to call them maracyn and maracyn 2, since they are unrelated totally different drugs,

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

What is the difference between maracyn and maracyn II? In Fact, maracyn 2 is broader spectrum and probably would work better (in a hospital tank) which was not mentioned

Maracyn 2 is minocycline and the calcium in seawater mostly deactivates that. It isn’t useful in marine aquariums.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I’m not sure I just returned from a weeklong trip so it’s impossible for me to know. But he wasn’t like this when I left 7 days ago.

No other fish, including a blue tang, are affected in any way. I’ve tried putting food in front of him, but he doesn’t seem interested in food.

Also I meant to mention, there is ich in this tank that has been managed for nearly 5 years with no lesions seen in that period of time. I’m using a UV filter, but note that the bulb is reaching the end of its life.

See if this video with a little external light is better.

If there is any option to treat in the main tank that would be best. There is no way to remove rock structure as it is covered in coral and the tang will be very difficult to catch. That said, I’m getting my hospital tank going in anticipation, and can certainly “try” to catch him.

I see the tang sort of bobbing on both videos - that may be due to gas behind the eyeballs causing positive buoyancy.

Treating this is going to be difficult/impossible. I built a pressure chamber years ago that would resolve this - until I lowered the pressure and it always came back. I tried needle aspiration as well, dozens and dozens of times, that never worked either.

If it isn’t supersaturation (caused by an air leak on the suction side of a pump) then this is bacterial action behind the eyes producing gas. Erythromycin (Maracyn 1) has had limited benefit against that, but it really shouldn’t be treated in the display tank.

 

[bshonesy]

I see the tang sort of bobbing on both videos - that may be due to gas behind the eyeballs causing positive buoyancy.

Treating this is going to be difficult/impossible. I built a pressure chamber years ago that would resolve this - until I lowered the pressure and it always came back. I tried needle aspiration as well, dozens and dozens of times, that never worked either.

If it isn’t supersaturation (caused by an air leak on the suction side of a pump) then this is bacterial action behind the eyes producing gas. Erythromycin (Maracyn 1) has had limited benefit against that, but it really shouldn’t be treated in the display tank.

Ok thanks. I cannot identify a source of supersaturation, but obviously cannot rule it out without a dissolved gas measurement. I will get him into qt and treat for bacterial and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok thanks. I cannot identify a source of supersaturation, but obviously cannot rule it out without a dissolved gas measurement. I will get him into qt and treat for bacterial and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice.

Sorry - early on I asked about other fish being affected - supersaturation would have affected all fish to some degree, so you can rule that out I think.