Chalk Bass with large eye

[Berzer]

My chalk bass has an extremely enlarged eye. only one so i assume it's an injury. It looks to be an air bubble of some sort, but the eye is so huge i'm wondering if it could be something else. I've read epsom salt is good for treating, but what good antibiotics are there to use in particular for it if any?

 

[srgetz]

Start by doing several large water changes with well aerated (24hrs) sw. This will substantially lower the bacteria level (like an antibiotic does). You cannot put an antibiotic in the display aquarium, it will destroy your biofilter and other inverts. Do a water change every few days for the next few weeks; this improved water quality should help the fish kick this. No meds are needed if you follow this, IMO. Can you post your water parameters including nitrate level?

 

[Berzer]

Last time i checked a few days ago it was 8.3ph, 0 nitrite and ammonia, and a KH of 10 which i added some buffer to it to push it back up to 14 where i keep it. I'm wondering if my Fridmani Dottyback chased him into a sharp rock. The tank he's in is a FOWLR and a little caulerpa. Nobody in the tank is really aggressive with him except for the dottyback. He tends to rule the tank if he chooses. I have in the 29 gal a yellowtail damsel, true percula clown, lawnmower blenny, Fridmani Dottyback, Firefish, Dragon Sifter Goby, Clown Goby, and the Chalk Bass. The largest are the Dragon Goby which is about 7 inches and the Lawnmower blenny who is about the same size. Everyone else is about 2-3 inches in length. I will test the nitrate tomorrow when i get a test kit. I got my substrate from a friends tank which was about 5 years old. I just did a 50% water change on it last week and i took out all the live rock and got around in the substrate really well. I'm thinking this fine sand is really a crock and a half. The sifter loves it but its majorly hard to clean. I may take it all out and put in some thicker aragonite that the sifter can still sift. What do you think?

 

[srgetz]

I have in the 29 gal a yellowtail damsel, true percula clown, lawnmower blenny, Fridmani Dottyback, Firefish, Dragon Sifter Goby, Clown Goby, and the Chalk Bass. The largest are the Dragon Goby which is about 7 inches and the Lawnmower blenny who is about the same size.

Man that is a huge bioload in that 29, that tank is overstocked by 3x. With this load in a 29g, you are going to have problems like this (and worse) if you don't get a larger tank or remove the large fish. You really need a 75g for all that stock, a 55 minimum. Can you possibly spring for a 55 or 75g? These are fairly inexpensive nowadays. A 29g is adequate for keeping 6-10" of fish, beyond that you cannot keep a healthy, stable tank. I question if he can heal in that tank...you need to make decision, bigger tank or less fish. 8O

 

[Berzer]

Yeah, i decided last nite to split my tanks up abit. My other 29 gal has ich in it and my maroon clown has some bacterial infection on him, so i pulled everything except for the hermits out of that tank and QT them for 2 weeks so that the ich or whatever is in there will die off with no host to feed on. I'm going to move the maroon back in 2 weeks and then split the other tank and cut down the bioload. Probably moving the Lawnmower blenny and the Fridmani as well as the damsel. That may help out. Still too much fish? No room for a 55 or larger. the 29's sit in this shape |_ next to each other. I may move to a 54 corner later on. Thanks for the help!

 

[quarryshark]

If the eye does not clear up on its own, if you can..move him to his own qt tank. There you could treat with epsom salt, 1 tsp to every 10 gallons. That would help with the inflammation.
Also agree, a larger tank would serve you well.

 

[Berzer]

I have noticed today that his eye has gone down some. He has been hiding out in a patch of caulerpa down at the substrate. When he does come up to eat he has this sort of bent shape to his body like an arc but i think it may be because he is not feeling well with the giant eye. Could i do an epsom bath? Maybe like 1/4 of a tsp to a gallon or two of water for an hour? maybe that would work.

 

[srgetz]

and QT them for 2 weeks so that the ich or whatever is in there will die off with no host to feed on

Good move, but if definately ich (looks like salt), it has to be fishless for 4-5 weeks while you treat all fish with hypo or copper, as ich can survive up to 30 days without fish. What exactly are the symptoms of the maroon clown (and others)?

 

[Berzer]

I have determined that it must be some sort of bacterial infection with the maroon clown. I have him in a QT tank at work with the other 2 damsels who show no signs of ich or such, but i just wanted to be safe that there is no ich in the tank. I had treated with copper power about a month ago and let it run for 30 days in there as well as my live rock i pulled out of it sat for more than 30 days in a bucket with an airstone in total darkness. The eye on the bass has gone down alot more today. it's not so round on the front anymore and is just protruding from the inside out with the air bubble next to the eye. He is still hanging out at the bottom but i believe he will move around more once i have moved his tankmates to the other tank and free up some room in the tank. He's still eating so thats a good thing as well. I guess i was wrong with the 2 weeks deal on QT for ich. Someone had told me that copper power cannot be fully removed from the tank, but i have had hermits in the tank living every since i used poly filter to remove it. They've been in there for about 3 weeks or more and none have died. The maroon clown had like white cysts on his face on one side near the cheek spine. Ever since we have treated the fish at the store in their own tank with maracyn plus, they seem to be doing better, the white stuff on his face is slowling dissapearing. I had assumed my coral beauty had bitten my clown on the face and caused a bacterial infection but the way he was hanging out at the top of the tank for a portion of the day and especially at night as well as scratching his face at times, was a sign of ich. In the qt at work we have copper as well as the maracyn plus. I hadn't seen any actual ich on the damsels,but the maroon clown had those white spots that seem to be going away.

 

[quarryshark]

Watch to make sure the spots do not come back. With the life cycle they seem to come and go, but they come back in even greater numbers.

 

[Berzer]

Chalk bass's eye has almost completely healed itself. Still slightly protruding but it doesnt have that huge bubble over it anymore pushing it out. Clown is acting abit better but still has very faint white lines. Dosing with maracyn again today.

 

[srgetz]

Glad to hear this. ICH would look like salt specks on the fish body and fins, so you seem safe from that. Also most bass get fairly large 1+ ft long, and a 7" fish should not be living in a 29g.

 

[Berzer]

Had a friend of mine that is very up on his disease identification take a look at the clown and he says that it is something close to lateral line erosion and said just to spoil him with good food and vitamins. Any advice on how to rapidly kill Ich in a tank without any fish without destroying the bio? Maybe turning up the heater to like 90 for a few days, or overdosing with copper?

 

[srgetz]

You can raise the temp to 86, that is the ideal temp for ich to run out its life cycle. Then you have to wait 30 days minimum from time fish were removed. That is the only way to safely kill it off, by removing the host. The copper would kill your biofilter and pollute the tank for future inverts, not good. Never put copper or any med strong enough to kill any invert in the main tank. Patience, patience, patience is the key to success in this game!