Blue tang eye

[cmustang]

Hello. This morning as I was checking in my babies, I noticed the blue tang hiding still. I waited awhile and finally she came out for a little bit. She was acting weird very scared and then then I saw her left eye. Looks bigger and a little bit cloudy. Don’t know what it is or how to help her out. I do have space in the sump where I can place her by her self or I do have an empty 55g I could set up this weekend for her. Please help.

 

[jsker]

@Jay Hemdal please #reefsquad

 

[4FordFamily]

I cannot make out much from the photo - is it pushed in/damaged? I cannot see for sure if it is clouded.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello. This morning as I was checking in my babies, I noticed the blue tang hiding still. I waited awhile and finally she came out for a little bit. She was acting weird very scared and then then I saw her left eye. Looks bigger and a little bit cloudy. Don’t know what it is or how to help her out. I do have space in the sump where I can place her by her self or I do have an empty 55g I could set up this weekend for her. Please help.

Appears to be a cateract issue and make have stemmed from either injury or too much light or even flukes. Best treatment will be placing clown in a quarantine setting and treating with maracyn AKA maracyn 1 for at least 5 days and see how it looks thereafter.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The general rule is; if one eye suddenly becomes cloudy and the other one is fine, it is an injury. If both eyes become cloudy over a long period, and the cloudiness looks internal, it is often cataracts. If both eyes become cloudy over a week to a month, it is generally flukes.

For a fish like this, if it is still eating, it may be best to just leave it alone and see if it heals on its own. Certainly you'll want to keep from startling it in any way, but moving this fish is likely to just cause additional damage. If it isn't eating, or if the eye gets worse, you would need to consider moving it to a treatment tank and dosing with an antibiotic such as erythromycin.

Jay

 

[cmustang]

Ok. Thank you very much. I will keep an eye on her and see if her other eye gets the same, I will make sure to see if she eats normal.I will prepare the other tank only in case. I will get both the erythromycin and the maracyn as my local petco has them. Also, I will try to get a better picture of her eye.