pop-eye tx with melafix

[Brad Black]

The problems just keep adding up! I have a Bengai Cardinal in QT with hypo for ich tx, now he has bilateral eye sweliing. I have a product called malafix here I am considdering using (to the water). It is an anti-bacterial. Does anyone have any experience with melafix? I need to start a tx soon as it is getting worse quickly. Thanks,
BB

[leebca]

I've used both Melafix and Pimafix. The best I've seen them do is prevent healthy fish getting ill (maybe). But I have never seen them help an ailing fish (for sure).

That treatment (if it is that) only affects the water. Pop-eye is not a water problem, it is a bacterial or fungal problem inside the fish. It may have been caused by stress, nutrition, or water problems.

Best to read up on others' opinions and what works:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=792631
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=572323
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=561991
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=5777657

The fish needs antibiotic treatment NOW! The best choice (IMO) is a combo Maracyn Two and Maracyn One for saltwater fishes.

BTW, your fish in QT coming down with this disease indicates either poor nutrition or poor water conditions. For nutrition see:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=785228
Be sure to add beta glucan to its food while it is recovering.

Good luck! :)

[Brad Black]

Thanks for the links, that is just what I was looking for! Sorry to say though that all is lost, he died this morning. I think he may have sustained eye (and other ) injuries durring netting and transfer, along with the ich and stress. You are right to say water quality was also an issue in QT, I battled daily to keep ammonia down (50% W/C's daily in the last few days), and also PH and ALK were difficult despite major effort to keep up. Thanks again for the links, I will look them over now
BB

[JHemdal]

BB,

Sorry to hear your fish died. For future reference, one overlooked, and very common cause of exopthalmia is mechanical damage during transfers. I don't mean rubbing of the fish's eyes against the net, I mean from vigorous shaking of the fish's head. Bilateral cases are rarer from this cause, but not unknown. You know the time when you snag the fish in the net and pull it out of the water and it vibrates rapidly in the net? That is when this occurs. Actual bubbles are sometimes produced around the fish's eye.
Another common cause is of course gas supersaturation. I've never heard of fungal diseases causing exopthalmia, but some bacteria are gas producers, and therefore can cause the problem.
I suppose that there can also be fluid-related causes of exopthalmia, but I don't have any experience with those. Besides, if it reaches a point where a fish's osmoregulatory system is that screwed up, the prognosis isn't likely to be very good.
The final problem is that regardless of the cause, if it is gas-related exopthalmia, and the bubbles are above a certain size, the condition is not likely to resolve even if you solve the original problem. I have been experimenting with a pressure chamber that reduces the bubble size, and allows the gas to reabsorb back into the fish's blood. Its a bit complicated to describe here. There are pictures of it in my book, Advanced Marine Aquarium techniques, out this month from TFH.

Jay Hemdal