Eye Injury Infected

[RGoltz]

I have a Kole tang which was purchased from a well know QT source and introduced to my tank approximately 3 weeks ago. The fish is a bit of a butthead and occasionally aggressive behavior gets him in over his head.

Approximately 1 week ago, the Kole injured his eye which manifested as a scratch with some loose tissue. I have been monitoring since then. Yesterday the tissue looked “worse” which I thought could be part of the healing process. However, the eye is now slightly cloudy, please see attached photos.

At this point do I need to pull the fish and start antibiotics? And if so, what is the appropriate course of treatment?

Attn: @Humblefish @Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The other eye is 100% normal? I think I can see two diffuse white spots on the fish’s flank and I want to rule out Neobenedenia flukes. Are there any similar white spots on the right side of the fish?
If you are sure it isn’t flukes, then the standard eye infection treatment is erythromycin (Maracyn 1) in a treatment tank.
Jay

 

[RGoltz]

@Jay Hemdal yes the other eye is 100% normal. I am pretty confident this is the result of an acute injury; there was a sudden appearance with what appeared to be loose tissue.

I noticed those same spots but scanning through photos they seem to be on the glass as they progressively travel with a series of rapid photos.

I think the path forward is based on how effectively I can apply treatment. I will place a trap in the tank tonight and then attempt to trap the fish tomorrow. I have some kanaplex on hand, is that an acceptable treatment or should I obtain erythromycin?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal yes the other eye is 100% normal. I am pretty confident this is the result of an acute injury; there was a sudden appearance with what appeared to be loose tissue.

I noticed those same spots but scanning through photos they seem to be on the glass as they progressively travel with a series of rapid photos.

I think the path forward is based on how effectively I can apply treatment. I will place a trap in the tank tonight and then attempt to trap the fish tomorrow. I have some kanaplex on hand, is that an acceptable treatment or should I obtain erythromycin?

I prefer Erythromycin for eye issues, but nobody has done a qualitative study on this, and external eye issues can be caused by a multitude of bacteria. I suspect that in many/most cases, the ones that get better would do so in spite of the treatment offered (grin).

If you are interested, here is a link to an article I wrote some time ago on fish eye health:

Aquarium Fish: The ‘Eyes’ Have it: A Review of Eye Health in Aquarium Fishes

Aquarists need to inspect their fish closely every day, for signs of impending health problems. It is much easier to resolve a problem when it first starts, than to attempt a drastic emergency treatment when the fish is close to dying.

reefs.com

Jay

 

[RGoltz]

@Jay Hemdal thank you for the continued replies, I appreciate it. I read the article which is fantastic. My takeaways were:

1. The next determination is the cloudiness on the eye’s surface, (on the surface of the cornea) or deeper inside the organ (involving the pupil). A fish with one eye that has a cloudy cornea has likely just injured the eye and time will often heal the problem (assuming no secondary bacterial infection arises).
2. The eye may or may not have clouding of the cornea, and bubbles may or may not be present. If this problem is suspected, the best treatment is to keep the fish safe from further trauma and see if it will resolve on its own.

I am thusly inclined to attempt to determine if this is clouding on the outside of the eye. If this is true and the condition appears stable, leave the fish in the display where I have the best ability to maintain water quality and keep the fish eating.

Your comments above (I suspect that in many/most cases, the ones that get better would do so in spite of the treatment offered), together with other comments I have seen in post suggest that you believe antibiotic treatment for eye infections may be of limited efficacy. Is that fair?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes - that sums up my opinion very well. Remember though, it’s just an opinion - watch the fish closely and keep your options open (like having a treatment tank ready to go, etc)
Jay

 

[RGoltz]

Thanks, Jay. I will monitor closely and then update this thread with the outcome. Hopefully this will be a good source of information for someone in the future.

 

[RGoltz]

I’m happy to report that the Kole has mostly healed.

The eye still has a bit of haziness that you can see if looking closely. Honestly I think this is like a cut on a person where I might say 80% of the healing takes 20% of the time and the last 20% of healing takes 80% of the time. I don’t know that any of this is true, I just like to make stuff up!

So, I think the assessment that @Jay Hemdal and I discussed above is probably accurate and the process would be:

1. Assess the cause of infection
2. Determine the area of infection
3. Assess the overall health of the fish

In my case this came out to:

1. Acute injury
2. Superficial (surface/corneal)
3. Good

So, I left the fish in the display and he healed quickly.