Sight After Eye Infection

squidy

squidy

Member
Lee - I just received a small Moorish Idol and put him in QT (30g). He started eating the next day so I started him on Mardel Coppersafe. Two days after he arrived I noticed a single cloudy eye. I gave him another day to see if he would overcome the infection on his own but it appeared to get worse as it became whiter and seemed to be sloughing the exterior layer of tissue. So I started him on Mardel Maracyn Two for the infection. It has been 2 full days on the Maracyn Two and he is showing signs of improvement. The white infected tissue is gradually disappearing. My main concern now is that as this white tissue goes away, I can more clearly see the damage left behind. There arrears to be a hole or crevasse where the lens of his eye was. Is this something he will regenerate or should I prepare for a partially blind fish? He never stopped eating throughout treatment. I can also verify that at the moment, he cannot see out the damaged eye.

Thanks for any insight you can provide Lee.
 
L

leebca

Well-Known Member

I don't like saying negative things about products, but in my circle of experts and experienced hobbyists, CopperSafe has a bad reputation. Not a very good choice of a copper medication. So, I don't know what, if any effect, that has contributed to the current condition. Giving the benefit of the doubt -- that it hasn't had any kind of negative impact -- then the answer to your concern would be not to worry.

A fish's eye is amazing. It has properties so much better than the human eye. I'm not suggesting we all should have fish eyes, but one amazing feature the fish eye has, which the human (and almost all land animals) don't have is its ability to repair and lay down more retina. Their eye constantly adds more retina, whereas our eyes, after a few years, don't alter the amount of retina we have. We lose our retina, we are blind for life -- at least so far in the current science of things. :)

So, a blind fish will see again -- maybe not as well as it could or should -- but it will see again. What you can do to help the fish rebuild its eye is to privide extra Vitamins A and D in its foods. Make sure these vitamins are from the sea (not human Vitamins).

Good luck!
 
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