SuperNan79 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 My coral beauty has been in qt getting treatment for torn/ragged fins that weren't healing. Told when I got it (free) that another fish had been harassing it- I believe it as the B&W clown is super aggressive even to me! So, after two weeks of treatment- one week with melafix and another with erythromycin as it was apparent in qt that something more than lack of healing was going on. Fins are growing back, but has lesions/divots the size of nearly a dime on each side of body below dorsal fin. LAST NIGHT I took a good look at him as I wanted to see how the progress was going and his left eye has popeye! Started the melafix back up. Read that I should use Epsom salt so I bought some and got home and opened it only to realize it has added things to it; peppermint, rosemary, spearmint and fragrance:-/ anyone use this type before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rworegon Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Wish I could help Nan but I don't have any experience with Epsom salts ant trading fish with it. I would be hesitant to put a fish in with ask that stuff though. Maybe just clean water and antibiotics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badxgillen Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I have never treated a salt water fish with epsom salts either and would steer you away from using it.Is it possible he is scraping against some of the tank decor? Most often the beginning of popeye is caused from an abrasion.As Randy said Clean water,good foods,possible antibiotics. I also like to keep my Quarantine at a lower salinity to assist in keeping the protozoans and such at bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Epsom salts are used in treatments of fish where the "bubble" or bouancy is caused by the fish retaining air e.g. anglers, seahorses, etc . It is a substitute for diamox, which is a controlled medication that you need a prescription for (unless you buy from Canada). I have never heard of it being used for popeye in a salt water fish. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen, I have just never heard of it. I've never had a fish with pop eye so I never looked into it, but Epsom Salts are used with other fish. If you are going to use it I would recommend a pure unscented form with no added chemicals or fragrance. If you are treating the fish in a separate hospital type tank IME, usually the problem results from poor water quality. I have had to do 50% daily water changes in hospital tanks replacing the same percentage of medication as the water that was changed. To much antibiotic is very bad for fish as well. Going on to a third week , especially stepping down in intensity of the anti biotic would be a cause of concern for me. If the stronger antibiotic did not kill the problem treating with something weaker will likely make the original bacteria much stronger. JMO Take it for what it's worth. Edit: It does appear that people are treating pop eye with Epsom Salts and it has shown positive effects if the popeye is caused by an injury and fluid retention and not by other means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperNan79 Posted October 22, 2014 Author Share Posted October 22, 2014 Very helpful info. I will start doing more frequent water changes. I was changing water percentage and schedule based on instructions on antibiotics. I just did a 50% water change because I'd missed the change day due to being out of town. Too much at once? Matched salinity, temp, and pH. I did have one tunnel in the tank that he would go into so I removed that. He doesn't seem stressed about it being gone. I think I'll cut back on the other treatments as eye seems just a little better. His appetite was lacking zest so I tried adding garlic extreme to some this morning. Maybe I'm just not seeing him eat, as he seems active and alert still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rworegon Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I would add a piece of 2" pvc, either a straight piece, or better yet an elbow or tee for him to hide in. PVC will not absord any medication and still gives the fish somewhere to "escape" when feeling threatened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 IME in breeding fish you can not do to large of a water change if temp and pH are matched. Most successful guy I know was doing a 100% water change twice a week on 20-25 tanks but had the highest success rate in the industry. I used to do. 50% change 2x weekly on my reef when I could get the research grade water for free. No such thing as to much if the new water is perfect. Key with antibiotics is you have to replace whatever percentage you took out. Replacing under will make the bacteria resistant or immune. Just like when a human gets anti biotics they tell you to take the whole thing, same with fish. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperNan79 Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Good to know on the water changes :-) I had finished the full treatment as the directions called for on the antibiotics before I did the water change. I wish I could take a better pic of the areas on the CB. Maybe I can get a pic tomorrow during daylight hours (no lights on the tank- it's by a window, I like the extra algae growth... It's like a built in algae scrubber lol). The tank looks like it should house something from the green lagoon lol- a swamp beast or something. But the CB picks at it and it feeds the snails. I pulled the snails and started some of that protozoan killer stuff- malachite green or whatever it's made of (read label but can't remember how to spell or say it). The fish's affected areas (not including the eye) didn't really get better or worse with the antibiotics... but they've been in this 'way' for quite a while- the lady I got it from said the ornery clown had been badgering the CB. I believed it for quite a while but it just wasn't healing. Is it possible it's scarred? I know I know TTIWWP lol. Tail fin has been almost nonexistent whole time I've had it and it's not ragged nor does it have any obvious funky stuff growing on it- it's pretty puzzling. Anyone know much about that linear line disease? Starting to look at other causes and that stood out in the list of diseases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperNan79 Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 [ATTACH]13801[/ATTACH] So this is one side and the other side is about the same but not quite as bad. Same exact area tho. Note the lack of a tail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperNan79 Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Pic taken through algae covered glass lol. Going to do another water change 100% and clean the tank top to bottom (need to do that anyways if it is a parasite) tomorrow- new water mixing tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.