Possible popeye or similar

[94Roarge]

Hey, I finally found a frogfish the same as my current one, and it seemed in great health, apart from it's eyes. Swimming actively (for a sendentary fish) and focusing on anyone at the front of the tank.

Can anyone help ID what the issues with it's eyes are, and how to treat if necessary? It is in the bucket it came in with ome Easy Life for the time being before it goes into a tank.

 

[94Roarge]

Kinda need these hey....

 

[melypr1985]

Hi there! I see some spots on him that could be ick. I"m not super familiar with these fish, but I know the eyes shouldn't look like that. They are swollen and infected with the cloudiness. Humble will be by in a bit, but I'm going to give @Lionfish Lair a shout for some of her input as well.

I'd say, until we decide the root cause of the eye infection we can treat the infection itself. Epsom salt for the swelling and an antibiotic like Kanaplex or Furan 2 in the QT.

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.

 

[94Roarge]

Thanks! Is the repeat a next day type repeat?

 

[94Roarge]

Also there was a mishap in the drip process as the drip stopped/got clogged and he spent a while with no water movement. I went to check and he was upside down not breathing. Picked it up and wholla! Back to life, so dumped most of the water out and restarted the drip and added some prime for the ammonia.

My QT wasn't in great shape so in the moment he went into the DT (not really DT style yet) in an acclimation box.

 

[Humblefish]

Thanks! Is the repeat a next day type repeat?

You can repeat in 48 hrs.

Begging @Lionfish Lair to chime in on this thread.

 

[Paul B]

Hello Humble and Meredith. I am very familiar with that fish and he (or she) does not have pop eye. ( I had an old girlfriend with the same eyes) but does have ich or some other parasites. The eye cloudiness is an infection caused by the parasites.
Very easy to cure but I will let you guys explain it.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Yup! I agree with Paul!

 

[Paul B]

Lionfish, we agree! I like that.

 

[Humblefish]

Can a frogfish be treated with copper for the parasites?

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Lionfish, we agree! I like that.

I know! I was excited and even used "!" a couple of times to commemorate. LOL. I think we agree on a lot more than it would appear. I just think our pathways of arriving at a conclusion is very very different.

Can a frogfish be treated with copper for the parasites?

That's not like a scaleless frogfish and they are usually called toads. I've never coppered a toad and I don't know anyone who has done it, so I'm not sure how sensitive they are.

@rayn , do you know if any of our friends coppered a toad?

 

[Paul B]

I have coppered toads and so far have not had a problem. But the copper we had in the 70s when I used to do that sort of stuff was probably scraped off of kitchen plumbing pipes.
Those fish are very hard to kill. They can even live out of water for a very long time as long as they are damp. They will also give you a nice bite so don't stick your finger near his mouth.
To kill one you have to lay it in the street and have a school bus run over it, twice. But don't do that as I love those types of fish that remind me of old girlfriends.

 

[94Roarge]

Thanks everyone! Super helpful, I really appreciate it!

On a side note while the copper is worked out, is it possible to keep two of these together or am I a crazy person to try it?

They have the same markings but slightly different body shapes, so I'm thinking possible different genders. They were also both ordered under the same scientific name.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

Do you have pictures of them both with the marking you see... or just some general photos of the other one? I don't know if they are sexually dimorphic or not.

 

[94Roarge]

They have cirri in the exact same places, just one has longer cirri than the other and the markings/pattern on the body are quite similar. The first one is Halophryne diemensis and the secnd one was ordered by the shop under the same scientific name. The first one I got is much more well fed than the second, so that might contribute to the skinnier look it has.

If any of that helps you [emoji14]

 

[Lionfish Lair]

No, I don't believe they are the same species. Try to get a full side on picture of them both. (and any other pics are gravy). Pictures that include the tail are important.
The one on the right could be an H. diemensis, but the right is something different, like an H. trispinosus

 

[94Roarge]

That was my first impression when I saw it, so my gut feeling was probably right. At the moment it needs some drastic help somehow.

 

[94Roarge]

His slime coat is cloudy and his fins are clamped. But I have faith it couod come back, they are a tough fish.

What shall I put on my shopping list and would a bit more flow through the box be helpful?

 

[Humblefish]

If I were gonna roll the dice using copper on that fish, it would be a chelated copper product such as Coppersafe or Copper Power. Only because known copper sensitive species seem to fare better with chelated.

 

[94Roarge]

If I were gonna roll the dice using copper on that fish, it would be a chelated copper product such as Coppersafe or Copper Power. Only because known copper sensitive species seem to fare better with chelated.

Hmm, I'll have to see what I can find for the austrlian version of those, wish me luck :/ and as for flow?