Achilles Breathing Hard in QT w/ Copper Safe

[76fishman]

Looks like his right eye is clouding up. That’s not good. Indications of secondary bacterial infection. If it develops into a case of pop eye it’s going to require special treatment. But deal with the ich first.

The right eye has a small scratch on it which I believe is leading to the cloudiness

 

[bruno3047]

The right eye has a small scratch on it which I believe is leading to the cloudiness

That small scratch needs to be watched for possible infection. If the eye starts to bulge, that’s pop eye. That’s an infection and needs to be addressed or the fish could lose the eye.

 

[76fishman]

That small scratch needs to be watched for possible infection. If the eye starts to bulge, that’s pop eye. That’s an infection and needs to be addressed or the fish could lose the eye.

I have some epsom salt on hand that I have used to treat Popeye before

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have some epsom salt on hand that I have used to treat Popeye before

Epsom salts in the water is a freshwater treatment that people mistakenly applied to marine fish….magnesium sulfate is the fourth highest salt in our mixes, so adding a bit more just raises the salinity a bit….
Many cases of Popeyes involving just one eye heal on their own. I sometimes suggest erythromycin, but I suspect that in many cases, the fish would have gotten better without treatment ….
Jay

 

[76fishman]

Epsom salts in the water is a freshwater treatment that people mistakenly applied to marine fish….magnesium sulfate is the fourth highest salt in our mixes, so adding a bit more just raises the salinity a bit….
Many cases of Popeyes involving just one eye heal on their own. I sometimes suggest erythromycin, but I suspect that in many cases, the fish would have gotten better without treatment ….
Jay

Haha thanks for that information! I knew MgSO4 was a salt but didn’t put 2 and 2 together.

Achilles is eating pellets still so I’ll keep an eye out for now. Hopefully breathing improves

 

[76fishman]

Achilles showing signs of ich again. Adding copper in again slowly and buying a Hanna copper test kit

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Achilles showing signs of ich again. Adding copper in again slowly and buying a Hanna copper test kit

Ugh. Don’t add the copper too slowly, you need to get to a full dose in 24 to 36 hours.
Jay

 

[76fishman]

Did a water change and Brought copper levels up to 2.36 from 1.96 (measured with Hanna checker).

tang breathing hard now and not eating. Im at a loss of what to do now

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Did a water change and Brought copper levels up to 2.36 from 1.96 (measured with Hanna checker).

tang breathing hard now and not eating. Im at a loss of what to do now

Which copper are you using?
Does the tang show any ich spots now?

Jay

 

[76fishman]

Ugh. Don’t add the copper too slowly, you need to get to a full dose in 24 to 36 hours.
Jay

Using copper power. No signs of ich. It’s weird. Gonna try and bring the copper level down to 2, which is where it was going fine prior

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Using copper power. No signs of ich. It’s weird. Gonna try and bring the copper level down to 2, which is where it was going fine prior

Copper Power isn’t going to be an issue here, as long as the dose is less than 2.5 ppm. I just saw you are using the API copper test? I have had a lot of reports of difficulty getting good readings from these. I use a spectrophometer to read when I test, so I can’t say which direction the misreading tends to go for people….what if it is reading low for you?

Jay

 

[76fishman]

Copper Power isn’t going to be an issue here, as long as the dose is less than 2.5 ppm. I just saw you are using the API copper test? I have had a lot of reports of difficulty getting good readings from these. I use a spectrophometer to read when I test, so I can’t say which direction the misreading tends to go for people….what if it is reading low for you?

Jay

Used the Hanna checker and reading was 2.36. Not sure if the Achilles is having and adverse reaction to the cooper. But now attempting to bring concentration down to ~2 ppm since it was doing ok at 1.96 ppm