Yellow watchman goby eye problem

[soily]

Hi
I have a yellow watchman goby that i have had for around six months, overnight one of his eyes has swollen up and become red with white tissue hanging off it to a distance of a millimeter or so.

I have trawled the web looking at pictures but can find no comparative images. The tank is well established and all inhabitants (coral,snails fish etc) are quarentined for 8 weeks minimum.Nothing has been added to the tank for at least 10 weeks except a hammer coral that was quarentined.

He's not eating and just staying on the bottom doing nothing, None of the other fish (2 common clown and a cherub angel) are bothering him.

Any ideas anyone. If anyone needs tank parameters i can provide them.All other livestock looking and acting as normal.

thanks in advance.

 

[PSU4ME]

Do you have a picture? maybe that will help some of the really good ID'ers track it down (I however am not one)

Effectively.......BUMP!!!

 

[DaveK]

Such eye problems are fairly common. It's called popeye. There isn't much you can do. I'd just leave it alone, unless there is an obvious infection. Often it gets better by itself. Sometimes the fish looses the eye and it heals over. If it's an infection, it may kill the fish, but it's difficult to treat the condition. In that case, you have to decide if moving the fish to a quarantine tank and treating with antibiotics is worth the stress on the fish. It's a tough call.

 

[soily]

Cheers Dave

Thanks for the advice, i have a quarentine tank but catching the little fellow would be a real pain as he lives in a cave in a base rock and as hes off his food at the mo enticing him into a net or trap would be hard. Ill let it run for now and keep an eye on it.

Have you any idea if the condition is infectious and if so could i treat the whole tank or will i need to quarentine. Also any idea where it comes from, as i said everything is quarentined so im just trying to find my error if i have made one.

 

[jpsika08]

I would try to the the bottle trap for the goby and use the QT to treat him.

Here is a quick video:
[YOUTUBE]6P_hI7drGSQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

[leebca]

The condition as originally described is worth treating. "Redness" is usually not a part of Popeye and indicates an immune response in progress. The "white" hanging off is mucous coating being sluffed off. The mucous coating has therapeutic value to the fish in that it carries many of the fish's own immunity. This means the fish is most likely gotten a systemic infection of the eye or ocular nerve.

Move the fish to quarantine. Keep in mind, the fish was caught in the ocean and all you have to do is catch it in a small tank. Be smarter than the fish (my assumption). However if still uncertain, here are some ideas:
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...41546-goin-fishin-catching-fish-aquarium.html

The concern about catching a (pet) marine fish is just that, as hobbyists, we don't have that experience, which leads to confidence. Don't be timid.

In quarantine I want you to treat the fish with a double dosage of Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish. Double what the instructions say to add.

Since the fish isn't eating, I would suggest you take fast action on this. If the fish was http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...9-fed-properly-received-proper-nutrition.html then it can go without eating a couple of weeks while under this stressor.

 

[soily]

Lee, hoped you would respond to this, thanks as always. Just to clarify do i need to worry about cross infection to other fish or just sort out the goby?

As before i'll catch him eventually as i'm sure my brain is larger than his, ........ just!!

Thanks Pete

 

[soily]

Ok Lee just tried to source maracyn two in the uk but it seems its banned/not available in the uk as its a controlled antibiotic, apparently i can import from the US if customs dont open the package or i can try a vet. Obviously i'll try a vet but in the event i get no joy do you know of anything else by either trade name or otherwise i can use,

thanks pete.

 

[soily]

Caught the fish. Hes very sluggish and subdued but ok hope i can save him

 

[leebca]

My apologies Pete. I didn't notice you were in the UK.

My next choice would be Nitrofurazone (in the USA, it is in the product Furan-2).

My next choice requires a prescription in the UK (I think), however is available elsewhere in the EU: Nifurpirinol (a nitrofuran antibiotic).

And last would be furanace or furanase.

You will need to look for the antibiotic itself (maybe) rather than the brand name.

Good luck! lsmile: