Bellus Angel with Popeye

Treefer32 · Nov 1, 2020

I noticed last night when the lights were off, that my Bellas angel just over a year in my tank, has popeye. (350 gallon mixed reef). The other fish, 3 tangs, a lamerack's angel, 6 chromis's, etc. Nothing else has any signs of stress, infections, or anything. I did just change the two year old T5 bulbs yesterday. I don't know if that would have stressed one fish? I'm going to continue feeding more, and hoping it eats and defeats the infection. Catching it and transfering it to a QT isn't possible given I'd have to tear everything down. Is there any other suggestions on anything I can do other than feeding more often in the hopes it's own immune system takes care of it?

Jay Hemdal · Nov 1, 2020

Can you post a picture? Exophthalmia has four primary causes: Flukes, mechanical trauma, bacterial infection and gas supersaturation. Of the four, only trauma and bacterial infections tend to show in just one eye.

Is the eye cloudy or clear? Can you see an air bubble in it?

Jay

Treefer32 · Nov 1, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
Can you post a picture? Exophthalmia has four primary causes: Flukes, mechanical trauma, bacterial infection and gas supersaturation. Of the four, only trauma and bacterial infections tend to show in just one eye.

Is the eye cloudy or clear? Can you see an air bubble in it?

Jay

I was thinking this morning it looks like a air bubble. But only one eye is popped out. it's shiny and highly reflective in the Lights. Makes it look bigger than I think it is. I fed this morning to see how the fish did, and the fish ate agressively, swims normally, and seems physically o.k. other than it's eye seeming to have a gas bubble behind it. I'll see if I can grab a pic.

Treefer32 · Nov 1, 2020

A few pics of the poor fish. I saw it actually scratching the eye bulge against a rock, very gently, but, she nudged it against a rock a couple times. I don't know if it's painful or itches, but, hate seeing it suffer.

I'll keep feeding heavily, how long should the infection / inflammation take to go down if it's fighting the infection off?

Robertellis30 · Nov 1, 2020

Throw it in a qt with some espon salt. Will get it taken care of in a couple days.

vetteguy53081 · Nov 1, 2020

Robertellis30 said:
Throw it in a qt with some espon salt. Will get it taken care of in a couple days.

Epsom salt not effective in saltwater especially with fish existing already in saltwater. It is a recommended recipe in freshwater.

vetteguy53081 · Nov 1, 2020

Treefer32 said:
A few pics of the poor fish. I saw it actually scratching the eye bulge against a rock, very gently, but, she nudged it against a rock a couple times. I don't know if it's painful or itches, but, hate seeing it suffer. I'll keep feeding heavily, how long should the infection / inflammation take to go down if it's fighting the infection off?

This swelling is usually caused by fluid leaking into the area behind the eyeball. The eye can be cloudy or discolored if the cornea was ruptured, or it can be bloodstained (in the case of the fish suffering a physical injury) . If only one eye is affected (unilateral), it is likely that the condition is caused by an injury rather than a problem with the water chemistry. This is particularly true if only one fish is exhibiting popeye. A swollen eye can be the outcome of a fight with another fish or your fish could have scraped its eye against an abrasive object in the tank.
Another cause of popeye is an infection.1
If this is seen in both eyes. . . . . Infection may be caused by a variety of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, and parasites.
Assuming this is from injury, maintaining good water quality and diet will help. Addition of melafix occasionally helps. Verify your salinity-ph-ammpnia and nitrate levels.
Recommended:

temp 77-79
salinity 1.024-1.025
ph 8.1-8.3
ammonia .03

Pop-eye is not a disease itself, but an indication of other underlying disorders in the tank.

Robertellis30 · Nov 1, 2020

"popeye"

Need a little help guys. I recently purchased a baby goldflake Angel and put him in QT. He's been there for about a week now. No prior treatments from me, although the vendor I got him from said they did TTM and prazipro. I noticed just now that one of eyes is bulging and there appears to be a...

www.reef2reef.com

Worked perfectly for me.

Treefer32 · Nov 1, 2020

Robertellis30 said:
"popeye"

Need a little help guys. I recently purchased a baby goldflake Angel and put him in QT. He's been there for about a week now. No prior treatments from me, although the vendor I got him from said they did TTM and prazipro. I noticed just now that one of eyes is bulging and there appears to be a...

www.reef2reef.com

Worked perfectly for me.

My magnesium runs pretty high in the tank. around 1500-1600. I would think that would be similar to an Epsom soak.

Jay Hemdal · Nov 1, 2020

Robertellis30 said:
"popeye"

Need a little help guys. I recently purchased a baby goldflake Angel and put him in QT. He's been there for about a week now. No prior treatments from me, although the vendor I got him from said they did TTM and prazipro. I noticed just now that one of eyes is bulging and there appears to be a...

www.reef2reef.com

Worked perfectly for me.

Eye diseases sometimes resolve on their own, a tiny Epsom salt addition wouldn’t have helped. Magnesium sulfate is the fourth salt by volume in salt mixes, it only has benefit in freshwater or when dosed orally. Humblefish has a lot of good information, but he was incorrect about this particular use.
Jay

Jay Hemdal · Nov 1, 2020

Treefer32 said:
A few pics of the poor fish. I saw it actually scratching the eye bulge against a rock, very gently, but, she nudged it against a rock a couple times. I don't know if it's painful or itches, but, hate seeing it suffer. I'll keep feeding heavily, how long should the infection / inflammation take to go down if it's fighting the infection off?

That is very severe exopthlamia. The lack of cloudiness points to mechanical damage or supersaturation. I doubt it is the latter, but check for air leaks on the suction side is any pumps, or a sump catching air.
Mechanical trauma isn’t treatable. I had made a pressure tank that would resolve the issue, but it would return every time I bled the pressure off. Hopefully it will resolve on its own!
Jay

Treefer32 · Nov 2, 2020

Thanks Jay! when I do water changes, sometimes I let the sump drain too far and the pump sprays water mixed with air into the tank. I know it's bad for an external pump and try to limit that, but, it's not an exact science with light distortion and knowing when the sump return chamber is empty or not.

I did that last Friday and the popeye was noticed late Saturday night. I never noticed it Friday or Saturday when I was cleaning the tank and feeding. Not saying I paid any special attention to that fish, I could have completely missed it. So, let's say the external return pump sprayed a lot of air into the tank and this fish some how gasped too much of the air. Is it able to degas itself over time and return to normal or will it have to live with a prolapsed eye forever?

Wondering if this is something that given enough time (a few days or weeks) will it recover, or will it forever live in my tank with a prolapsed eye? It's going on 2-3 days (depending when the injury occurred) and it doesn't look much different than before. But it's being social swimming in the open water with other fish, it's eating aggressively (just fed this morning), other than it's eye so far, it's doing o.k. it almost eats more aggressively now than it used to.

Jay Hemdal · Nov 2, 2020

I also wonder if the fish got startled and hit a rock. Supersaturation usually affects both eyes and multiple fish. Run a Google search for Hemdal the eyes have it that is an eye disease article I wrote...I’m on my phone and can’t post a link....
Jay

Treefer32 · Nov 2, 2020

I found the article and read through it. Looks like the most likely cause is physical trauma. She's been chased a few times by the Lamerack's angelfish. don't know why. He just likes to pick on her. I also have a Dragon Wrasse that gest agressive with food, his cave, etc. My Caribbean blue tang is annoying and occasionally chases a random fish for no reason. So, there's. For the most part, the aggression has been harmless. The Blue tang picked at an injury on the Dragon wrasse a couple times. But the Dragon Wrasse has already healed and is doing fine. So, it may just be pecking orders. I'm increasing feedings of meaty foods to twice a day. (Selcon and fish aminos soaked home made frozen fish food twice a day, plus a sheet of nori). I was only feeding once a day, but, due to the potential physical injury and fish showing increased signs of aggression I'll feed twice to see if that helps.

I'm also dosing Reef Energy AB+ Aminos once every 2-3 days for corals. I'm hoping the increased nutrition and foods help reduce aggression, fighting, and increase healing. I love that little angelfish. I was hoping to get her a mate at some point, at $200 a pop I was holding out and letting things stay the same for a while. I may have to catch the Carribean blue tang at some point. I love his color and design, but he can be an ****.

Treefer32 · Nov 11, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
I also wonder if the fish got startled and hit a rock. Supersaturation usually affects both eyes and multiple fish. Run a Google search for Hemdal the eyes have it that is an eye disease article I wrote...I’m on my phone and can’t post a link....
Jay

I wanted to give a quick update. It's been a week with the Bellas angel having popeye on one side. In the last week the swelling and everything has reduced significantly, I'd say it's down by 60-75%. It still sticks out some, there was some white fleshiness behind the eye that has cleared up and the air bubble look is completely gone. If it continues to heal and swelling continues going down within another 2-3 weeks no one will notice it had almost lost it's eyeball. It's still a healthy eater, it goes about it's day swimming around as though nothing is wrong. No one has been picking on the fish that I see anyways. So, it seems like it's nearing a full complete recovery! I would love to chalk it up to my home made selcon soaked and amino acid soaked frozen food. But, I'll give full credit to the fish!