Midas Blenny - possible pop-eye

[Reef1121]

Hi all,

So I've had my Midas blenny for about 6 weeks now and so far so good until today when I was feeding and noticed his right eye was cloudy when he came out of his cave under one of my rocks. I qt him for 4 weeks before introducing him to my reef. And had no signs of anything in the qt. was eating fine frozen and got him to eat nls pellets. So wondering if the cloudiness is pop eye and also wondering is pop eye contagious to other fish?

Water params as tested with Red Sea pro test kits today:
Nitrate: .35
Phosphate: .06
Calc: 470
Alk: 8
Mag: 1350
K: 400
Fe: .12
I2: .06

Tank mates:
1 x 3" purple tang
1 x 4" Copperband butterfly
2 x 2-3" Picasso percula clownfish
2 x 2-3" bartlett's anthias
1 x 3" male Mac cert lyertail anthia

2 x 2" female Mac cert lyertail anthias
1 x 2" cleaner shrimp (George)
70-80 various snail clean up crew members

As of right now I haven't seen anyone pick on him and during feeding times he swims around freely with everyone. Ill try and get a decent pic tomorrow after the LEDs ramp back up. But might be difficult as he's very elusive like most Midas blennies I've seen over the years in other people's tanks.

[Reef1121]

Well after a couple of days the eye is still cloudy and the area around the eye is starting to become blotchy white so I believe its some sort of bacterial infection. Not sure how it survived through the QT process but oh well. Seeing how hard it is to try and catch him and the fact that the bacteria is already in the water is it possible to treat a reef tank with maracyn 2 without any real ill effects? Or am I going to see mass casualties in my SPS and LPS?

[b0bab0ey]

Well after a couple of days the eye is still cloudy and the area around the eye is starting to become blotchy white so I believe its some sort of bacterial infection. Not sure how it survived through the QT process but oh well. Seeing how hard it is to try and catch him and the fact that the bacteria is already in the water is it possible to treat a reef tank with maracyn 2 without any real ill effects? Or am I going to see mass casualties in my SPS and LPS?

I would not use Maracyn 2, or any other antibiotic, in a reef tank. Your only in-tank treatment option for popeye is epsom salt, 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. More info is available in the link below. However, epsom salt is only useful if the popeye is due to injury, as it eases the swelling. If it's an infection, you have these two options: 1) Ride it out, maintain excellent water, feed vitamin enriched foods and hope the fish's immune system can fight the infection off naturally. or 2) QT and administer antibiotics, such as Maracyn 1 & 2.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/popeyefaqs.htm

[Reef1121]

If it is a bacteria is it contagious to the rest of the fish or just to the infected? Because none of the other tank mates have any signs of stress or disease on them. I think after reading Ill try and set my 10g extra tank I have lying around up again as a QT and treat with medication for bacteria/pop eye just to rid the fish of anything it might have. Just have to catch the little bugger first

[b0bab0ey]

If it is a bacteria is it contagious to the rest of the fish or just to the infected? Because none of the other tank mates have any signs of stress or disease on them. I think after reading Ill try and set my 10g extra tank I have lying around up again as a QT and treat with medication for bacteria/pop eye just to rid the fish of anything it might have. Just have to catch the little bugger first

IME bacterial infections are rarely, if ever, contagious unless it's a secondary infection being caused by something that is contagious. Such as a parasite. But it's always a good idea to QT and isolate if you can. Don't take any chances.

If you can catch him and QT, you could medicate with either Maracyn 1 & 2 or Furan-2. The first would be my preferred treatment; the latter would be the more economical choice.

[Reef1121]

I manages to catch him out yesterday and just did an early 10g change in my tank to set up a small QT. Going to run maracyn 2 for 5 days and then wait another couple days and see what he looks like. If everything is gone by then is it safe to add back to the DT?

Today after a almost 48hrs of treatment the cloudiness in his eye is almost gone but the blotchyness in his skin still remains.