Hi, all - really sick Pacu, can you help?

[LittlePlaty]

Hello, fish-loving friends. I'm new on the board and I'd love some advice. My red-belly Pacu is having some problems with his eye and no matter what we do to treat it, it seems to only get worse. I think it's a fungus, but I'd greatly appreciate a second opinion and some advice about a particular med if anyone knows.

First, some background - he's a 4-year old red-bellied Pacu in a 150 gallon tank with 2 (on the small side) 15-year-old red hooks and one needle-nose gar. We recently moved from Florida to North Carolina. The fish were fine for 3 solid months, no issues whatsoever; they even made it through the move with flying colors. But recently, his eye has started to become covered with this 'film/fuzz' and nothing we do seems to help it. It's starting to affect how much he eats (and this guy has had a super appetite all his life).
Some numbers for posterity:
0ppm ammonia 0ppm Nitrite
20ppm nitrate
6 ph

Tank is clean - combo sump system with bioballs and a Cascade 1000 canister filter.

We had a ph of 7.4 in Florida but no issues until this. Here's a photo of his eye problem. It makes him sluggish and he 'hides' a lot where before he was pretty active:

Any advice? Thank you SO much in advance!

 

[Andy Sager]

It appears to be more than just a film over the eye. It may be viral or a parasite that is making it's way out of the fish through it's eye.
The most effective med I have found for Pacus, Silver Dollars, Piranna, etc is Furan 2. If you have tried that with no success, you may want to work with an antiviral or a medication more designed for internal issues ( ie Kanamycin, Gentamycin) to see if that works. You may want to separate the fish to better medicate with less stress on the fish from it's tank mates.

Hope this helps

 

[LittlePlaty]

Hi Andy,
Thanks - I'll give it a try. Like I said, my first thought was that it must be a fungus, but it hasn't responded to regular fungal treatment. I haven't tried Furan 2 and I appreciate the recommendation, especially when it seems so species-specific. I'll give it a go.
If anyone else has anything to add, I'd appreciate it too; I'm rather attached to the big guy and I want to get him feeling better!

 

[Andy Sager]

Actually, Furan-2 is not species specific but more a general overall med because it works against both gram + and gram- external bacteria and fungus. I've found, for some reason, whatever effects that family of fish seems to respond well to the ingredients in Furan2 vs single antibiotic therapies. If this is in fact viral or internal, Furan 2 will probably not work and then you need to work with the stronger internal meds I mentioned which are more designed for gram- bacteria which most internal diseases are gram- .
Good luck