Maroon Clown Eye Bubble

[CodyRVA]

I’ll preface by saying I just added miracle mud to my sump, thus my water is cloudy; I’ll try taking another pic later.

Male maroon clown has a bubble forming behind his right eye. He is paired to a female who is fairly aggressive with him, but they’ve been together 8+ months. No new additions to the tank, no coral, inverts, fish… nothing for 4ish months. Parameters are mostly good, it’s a young tank and I do have a bit of cyano.

The eye isn’t cloudy at all. And only the right side has the bubble. There is a small white dot on the top of the right eye. I have not noticed any of this prior to today. The fish is eating and swimming like normal.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ll preface by saying I just added miracle mud to my sump, thus my water is cloudy; I’ll try taking another pic later.

Male maroon clown has a bubble forming behind his right eye. He is paired to a female who is fairly aggressive with him, but they’ve been together 8+ months. No new additions to the tank, no coral, inverts, fish… nothing for 4ish months. Parameters are mostly good, it’s a young tank and I do have a bit of cyano.

The eye isn’t cloudy at all. And only the right side has the bubble. There is a small white dot on the top of the right eye. I have not noticed any of this prior to today. The fish is eating and swimming like normal.

Known as popeye which evolve from an eye injury, gas bubble embolism as examples. Keep an eye on it for now to see if it subsides however if it worsens, to prevent damage with the retina, have Maracyn as pictured below and prepare to treat if needed

 

[DSC reef]

The female probably popped him once or twice, I'd monitor for now since the little fella is eating well. I've had this happen and no intervention was needed luckily.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I’ll preface by saying I just added miracle mud to my sump, thus my water is cloudy; I’ll try taking another pic later.

Male maroon clown has a bubble forming behind his right eye. He is paired to a female who is fairly aggressive with him, but they’ve been together 8+ months. No new additions to the tank, no coral, inverts, fish… nothing for 4ish months. Parameters are mostly good, it’s a young tank and I do have a bit of cyano.

The eye isn’t cloudy at all. And only the right side has the bubble. There is a small white dot on the top of the right eye. I have not noticed any of this prior to today. The fish is eating and swimming like normal.

I can't see the bubble clearly, but that is a common result of an injury, and could be from tankmate aggression. As long as the fish is eating well and behaving normally, and the aggression subsides (may not happen with maroon clowns if their pair bond breaks down!) it will heal on its own, but it can take a month or longer.

 

[CodyRVA]

Thanks all, will keep an eye on it. I’ve never kept a pair of maroons before, but the pic attached is how they spend their day. They do “saddle up” at night, side by side, in the rocks together. They do their little “dance” periodically during the day and the male goes sideways and twitches rapidly. Other than that, they’re usually positioned like the pic below. Just fed the tank, all fish ate well.

 

[CodyRVA]

A few better shots.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

A few better shots.

Actual gas bubbles look silver/clear and this looks whiter to me. In the second picture I can see eye swelling and that is consistent with an injury.

 

[CodyRVA]

Actual gas bubbles look silver/clear and this looks whiter to me. In the second picture I can see eye swelling and that is consistent with an injury.

Much appreciated! I’ll monitor his behavior and follow up accordingly.

 

[CodyRVA]

With a bruise, should I expect to see the eye get cloudy at all? It was clear, but today it’s starting to look a bit cloudy.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

With a bruise, should I expect to see the eye get cloudy at all? It was clear, but today it’s starting to look a bit cloudy.

Yes - I've seen injuries cause severe cloudiness. If it gets worse, or spreads to the other eye, as mentioned above, you may need to treat it with Erythromycin in a hospital tank (Maracyn 1).

 

[CodyRVA]

Yes - I've seen injuries cause severe cloudiness. If it gets worse, or spreads to the other eye, as mentioned above, you may need to treat it with Erythromycin in a hospital tank (Maracyn 1).

Thanks for the insight! The other eye is still perfectly fine. The hurt eye isn’t super cloudy, just a bit, will continue to monitor.

 

[CodyRVA]

Another quick update. Eye has definitely clouded up a bit more, same size “bulge,” the other eye is still perfect and the fish is eating/swimming as usual.

 

[CodyRVA]

Another update, seems like it might be time to dose some meds/move to QT…? Other eye is still fine, eating and swimming great.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Another update, seems like it might be time to dose some meds/move to QT…? Other eye is still fine, eating and swimming great.

It does seem to be getting worse. Do you have a hospital tank with a functioning biofilter? If so, you could consider moving this fish into that and treating with erythromycin (Maracyn 1).

 

[CodyRVA]

I don’t, but I can assemble one quick. I assume Fritz maracyn oxy is not what you originally suggested, not the same thing?

Any other meds I should add?

@Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I don’t, but I can assemble one quick. I assume Fritz maracyn oxy is not what you originally suggested, not the same thing?

Any other meds I should add?

@Jay Hemdal

Correct, maroxy wont work.

 

[CodyRVA]

Another update, waiting on meds.

 

[CodyRVA]

Another update. Meds arrived today, curious what y’all think… should I move the fish to QT and dose the meds or ride it out a bit longer and see what happens? It doesn’t appear to be getting worse at this point, fish is still eating and behaving normal. I don’t want it to get worse, but I know moving the fish will add stress.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Another update. Meds arrived today, curious what y’all think… should I move the fish to QT and dose the meds or ride it out a bit longer and see what happens? It doesn’t appear to be getting worse at this point, fish is still eating and behaving normal. I don’t want it to get worse, but I know moving the fish will add stress.

If you have a biofilter on the QT, I'd say try using Erythromycin. If you are planning to set up a QT "on the fly" with no biofilter, I think the risk for doing that would be greater than just waiting things out. Eye issues like this take a LONG time to heal, even with antibiotics - a month to 6 weeks in many cases.

 

[CodyRVA]

If you have a biofilter on the QT, I'd say try using Erythromycin. If you are planning to set up a QT "on the fly" with no biofilter, I think the risk for doing that would be greater than just waiting things out. Eye issues like this take a LONG time to heal, even with antibiotics - a month to 6 weeks in many cases.

It’ll be on the fly. I can pull a rock from my sump and I did pick up a bottle of bacteria, but I’m skeptical. I’ll keep a close watch, if it gets worse I’ll move him.