Popeye Gem Tang - Injury

marinehead · Jul 9, 2023

Hello everyone,

I got my Gem tang 3 months ago. And it’s had what I thought was pop eye for over 2 months now after getting a laceration from a fight with another fish.

I’ve tried leaving it alone for over a month, but it’s just gotten considerably worse over time. Now I see him developing a whitish stews mark around his eye, which I fear might be HLLE.

Tried Epsom salt dosing, no improvement after 1 week and dosing every 48 hours.

Losing hope and I would QT, but I feel it might get stressed out more. He is barely eating, it might not look it, but his stomach is definitely skinny. Fear that it might progress from bad to worse.

Any advice? Thanks in advance

Intense37754 · Jul 9, 2023

QT dosing Erythromycin per manufacture instructions for eye issues

vetteguy53081 · Jul 9, 2023

marinehead said:
Hello everyone,

I got my Gem tang 3 months ago. And it’s had what I thought was pop eye for over 2 months now after getting a laceration from a fight with another fish.

I’ve tried leaving it alone for over a month, but it’s just gotten considerably worse over time. Now I see him developing a whitish stews mark around his eye, which I fear might be HLLE.

Tried Epsom salt dosing, no improvement after 1 week and dosing every 48 hours.

Losing hope and I would QT, but I feel it might get stressed out more. He is barely eating, it might not look it, but his stomach is definitely skinny. Fear that it might progress from bad to worse.

Any advice? Thanks in advance

Ouch- looks like a definite injury with possible retina issue. Rule out the retina for now as it may heal fine but this guy needs treatment using ethromyacin in the form of Maracyn AKA maracyn 1 - NOT Maracyn Oxy

marinehead · Jul 9, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Ouch- looks like a definite injury with possible retina issue. Rule out the retina for now as it may heal fine but this guy needs treatment using ethromyacin in the form of Maracyn AKA maracyn 1 - NOT Maracyn Oxy

thank you! Is Fritz Maracyn same as Maracyn 1?

vetteguy53081 · Jul 9, 2023

marinehead said:
thank you! Is Fritz Maracyn same as Maracyn 1?

Yes

Jay Hemdal · Jul 9, 2023

marinehead said:
Hello everyone,

I got my Gem tang 3 months ago. And it’s had what I thought was pop eye for over 2 months now after getting a laceration from a fight with another fish.

I’ve tried leaving it alone for over a month, but it’s just gotten considerably worse over time. Now I see him developing a whitish stews mark around his eye, which I fear might be HLLE.

Tried Epsom salt dosing, no improvement after 1 week and dosing every 48 hours.

Losing hope and I would QT, but I feel it might get stressed out more. He is barely eating, it might not look it, but his stomach is definitely skinny. Fear that it might progress from bad to worse.

Any advice? Thanks in advance

Can you post clearer photos under white light or can you tell me if there is a distinct air bubble inside the eye? If so, is that getting worse? If so, the fish may end up losing the eye.
Not sure where you heard about Epsom salts, but that does not work for marine fish. Erythromycin in a treatment tank will help for secondary infections (but not air bubbles).
Here is an article I wrote on fish eye health, it may give you some background info:

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

marinehead · Jul 9, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Can you post clearer photos under white light or can you tell me if there is a distinct air bubble inside the eye? If so, is that getting worse? If so, the fish may end up losing the eye.
Not sure where you heard about Epsom salts, but that does not work for marine fish. Erythromycin in a treatment tank will help for secondary infections (but not air bubbles).
Here is an article I wrote on fish eye health, it may give you some background info:

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

Really hoping that’s not the case for this guy. Here’s some photo from a few days ago.

marinehead · Jul 9, 2023

Jay Hemdal · Jul 10, 2023

marinehead said:

Sorry, I still can't tell if there is an air bubble or not. If you have a suitable isolation tank (this is a pretty big fish) you should try dosing with the Erythromycin.

Jay

marinehead · Jul 10, 2023

Thanks for the advice, I plan to get a tank today to hold it in for QT, get Maracyn and Take more photos

marinehead · Jul 19, 2023

Hi @Jay Hemdal here’s a clearer photo of the gem!

marinehead · Jul 19, 2023

Jay Hemdal · Jul 19, 2023

marinehead said:

It looks slightly improved to me - that is often the way these cases go, the injured eye will just get better slowly over time, sometimes leaving a scar, other times not. At this point, I would not pull the fish to treat with erythromycin, as the stress of doing that might outweigh the benefit.

Jay

marinehead · Jul 23, 2023

Thank you! The eyes are starting to get a white cloud now. Plan to just leave him alone as to not stress per your advice.

Should I continue with leaving it alone? His eyes have been in the same state for almost 2 months now. Thoughts?

Jay Hemdal · Jul 23, 2023

marinehead said:
Thank you! The eyes are starting to get a white cloud now. Plan to just leave him alone as to not stress per your advice.

Should I continue with leaving it alone? His eyes have been in the same state for almost 2 months now. Thoughts?

BOTH eyes are involved, not just the right eye? It could be more than an injury since both eyes are involved. Have you treated this fish with praziquantel?
Jay