Chalk Bass has one bulging eye

Smarkow · Dec 28, 2019

So my couple years old, otherwise healthy, eating and growing chalk bass has an enlarged right eye. This has been happening intermittently for several months. When it happens it lasts maybe 7-10 days and then goes away. Can’t remember if it is always the right eye or not. Other fish (including another chalk bass) in the tank all eating and healthy. Gets a varied diet including mysis, frozen reef blends, frozen large meaty pieces like squid, TDO pellets Just curious what this is...

If someone knows, should I treat it? Is this a nutrition or infectious issue? A chronic injury that gets exacerbated?

Picture and video of the fish eating today:

Eating like a pig. Does not seem to impair its ability to get food.

Flippers4pups · Dec 28, 2019

Treat with Epson salt.

Epsom Salt: Treats eye and other injuries. Popeye in one eye usually means injury, but popeye in both eyes usually denotes a bacterial infection requiring antibiotic treatment. Cloudy eye can be a bacterial infection or flukes.

How To Treat - 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of aquarium water. Repeat only once, if necessary. Use only “USP” grade Epsom salt.

Pros - Reef safe, as Epsom salt is just magnesium sulfate.

Cons/Side Effects - The effects of excessive sulfate in a reef aquarium are not fully known.

vetteguy53081 · Dec 28, 2019

Generally associated with water quality. Do a water change, add carbon source and you may add melafix or teramyacin for faster healing.

Smarkow · Dec 28, 2019

Fast answers thanks

Dierks · Dec 28, 2019

I agree with both the above!!

Smarkow · Dec 28, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Treat with Epson salt.

Epsom Salt: Treats eye and other injuries. Popeye in one eye usually means injury, but popeye in both eyes usually denotes a bacterial infection requiring antibiotic treatment. Cloudy eye can be a bacterial infection or flukes.

How To Treat - 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of aquarium water. Repeat only once, if necessary. Use only “USP” grade Epsom salt.

Pros - Reef safe, as Epsom salt is just magnesium sulfate.

Cons/Side Effects - The effects of excessive sulfate in a reef aquarium are not fully known.

Cool sounds like a do-able plan. Few clarification thoughts, based on do we think this is a mag or sulfate problem, ie why does epsom salt work? FYI I have tons of pharma grade Mag-sulfate powder on hand. I am not sure about my current sulfate level, I can send a triton in to find out. My mag is high right now 1500 by trident..

Convention is 1 tablespoon = 15 grams. Prob 280g total system volume -> 56 tablespoons -> 840 grams...
BRS calculator would have that raise my mag to about 1665.

I DO run alk ~9.5 to 10 balanced with Ca so while 1665 seems extreme to me I think if I raised it slowly it should be fine? I target salinity 35 ppt and measured at 34.6 today.

Thanks for the suggestion think I should start the process?

Smarkow · Dec 28, 2019

Flippers4pups said:
Treat with Epson salt.

Epsom Salt: Treats eye and other injuries. Popeye in one eye usually means injury, but popeye in both eyes usually denotes a bacterial infection requiring antibiotic treatment. Cloudy eye can be a bacterial infection or flukes.

How To Treat - 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of aquarium water. Repeat only once, if necessary. Use only “USP” grade Epsom salt.

Pros - Reef safe, as Epsom salt is just magnesium sulfate.

Cons/Side Effects - The effects of excessive sulfate in a reef aquarium are not fully known.

Oh and to clarify is just one eye and it is clear. So maybe he just keeps scratching it?

ccombs · Dec 28, 2019

Fast Answers... impressive.

Smarkow · Dec 28, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
Generally associated with water quality. Do a water change, add carbon source and you may add melafix or teramyacin for faster healing.

I don’t do regular/scheduled WC but was planning on doing some siphoning of detritus which usually gets me close to 10%. I have done many WC in the intervening months, have not noticed a correlation between the popeye and WCs or their lack, but I will start to pay more attention!

Edit - will also get some terramycin, but by the time I get it the eye may be normal again so who knows?

Flippers4pups · Dec 28, 2019

Smarkow said:
Oh and to clarify is just one eye and it is clear. So maybe he just keeps scratching it?

One eye probably injury. If worried about higher mag levels, set up a QT tank to treat it.

Me, I would try dosing Epson salt in the tank. It's safe and shouldn't cause any long term effects. In some cases it can reduce the swelling with in a couple days. Once it has gone down you can do a couple larger water changes to bring the mag levels down. Don't think any of this would be a issue.

Dierks · Dec 28, 2019

Smarkow said:
why does epsom salt work

Epsom Salt simply helps with swelling. Nothing more. The fish will do the healing itself. The Terramycin will actually help with any bacterial infection it may be fighting and/or help heal that eye back up to full strength.

Big G · Dec 28, 2019

If the eye continues to bulge and you feel that the fish has an infection that just keeps flaring up, you can also treat the fish in a QT with Maracyn1 aka Erythromycin for 10-14 days. It is a wide spectrum antibiotic that treats gram positive infections.

afuel · Dec 29, 2019

One eye is possible injury. I had a 2 year old yellow tang that suddenly had a huge pop eye a couple of weeks ago. There also appeared to be a possible scratch as well. After about 4 days the swelling decreased and it completely healed on its own.