-
Folks, if you've recently upgraded or renewed your annual club membership but it's still not active, please reach out to the BOD or a moderator. The PayPal system has a slight bug which it doesn't allow it to activate the account on it's own.
Annularis popEYE
- Thread starter Tito
- Start date
Unfortunately your post was overlooked, I would imagine it was due to lack of knowledge by those who read it, I'm also not familiar with the use of Maracyn. I would indeed follow the directions on the package 
Sorry for missing your post. I would extend the treatment to 10 days.
Hopefully you are treating in a hospital tank and not the main display. No matter what the package says, all medications are bio-filter toxic, especially antibiotics.
Hopefully you are treating in a hospital tank and not the main display. No matter what the package says, all medications are bio-filter toxic, especially antibiotics.
Any way you can pick up a 10 or even 15 gallon tank?
How is the fishes appetite? What is he eating?
How is the fishes appetite? What is he eating?
Tito said:
The pale may work but I am concerned that in such a small area he may harm himself on the heater.
If I may make 1 suggestion, see if you can obtain some Beta Glucan capsules from your local health food store or vitamin shop. Open a capsule and sprinkle it on the mysis allowing it to soak in a bit before feeding. Beta Glucan is an immuno stimulant in fish and may help him fight off what ever is causing the popeye.
Thanks for the offer! Very kind. What I did was pulled out an old nano tank and filled it with tank water and some live rock along with the power filter I was running in the smaller tank. I think this will do for the next several days. I monitor his breathing for any distress. So far three days of treatment and all is well.
I'm sorry but somehow I missed this one also.
Are you using Maracyn or Maracyn-Two? Maracyn-Two is what you really want to use to treat popeye in marine fish. Maracyn has little use for SW fish.
For popeye treatment I'd go with a hostital tank using Maracyn-Two at double dose for 7 days as that seems to work pretty well.
Another option but not for the week at heart or "armature" is to relieve the pressure using a clean needle/syringe but this is best left to the experienced person as you can cause nerve damage or blindness if done incorrectly. If the treatment doesn't work I can talk you through this but I'd leave it as a last resort unless you've done something like this before.
Carlo
Are you using Maracyn or Maracyn-Two? Maracyn-Two is what you really want to use to treat popeye in marine fish. Maracyn has little use for SW fish.
For popeye treatment I'd go with a hostital tank using Maracyn-Two at double dose for 7 days as that seems to work pretty well.
Another option but not for the week at heart or "armature" is to relieve the pressure using a clean needle/syringe but this is best left to the experienced person as you can cause nerve damage or blindness if done incorrectly. If the treatment doesn't work I can talk you through this but I'd leave it as a last resort unless you've done something like this before.
Carlo
Tito said:
Have you checked your water parameters? You should not use live rock or any cycled filter in a hospital tank during treatment. The meds will kill off your bio-filter leading to water quality issues. Instead you should be doing 50% daily water changes to keep the tank from cycling and using and ammonia blocking product to be safe. After the water changes, add that days dose of medication.
Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria, your biofilter is composed of bacteria.
Carlo, both Maracyn and Maracyn-2 come in a saltwater versions now. The SW version is 2x the strength of the FW version.
Thanks for the replies. I got the Maracyn for Saltwater pack. Not Maracyn 2. THe Maracyn package says it is good for Popeye as well. With a tank that small and I don't think I will go thru the trouble of getting a larger hospital tank - no room plus my wife will not have it and I cant blame her. So - to me it looks like what I should do is just place the big guy back in the display tank and feed home Selcon soaked NLS pellets. Since he is eating perhaps he may be able to recoop on his own. I think I may just rethink this whole salt water thing. I just dont feel like putting up with the losses. I've been down this road before. Some fish live. Some don't. Some come sick. Some don't. I just don't have the money like that. When I brought this guy home I noticed his eye was a little cloudy and immediately I knew what was going down. So really it has nothing to do with my water parameters. My water is pretty good smell so sweat and looks so clear - I could just take a bath in eat LOL. Parameters are fine. If he recoops I may just sell him and go with African Cichlids. These Marine fish are cool but a pain the arse.
I meant the water parameters in the hospital tank. I in no way meant that you had poor water quality in the display tank.
The medication will kill off the beneficial bacteria in the LR you are using in the hospital tank leading to water quality issues in that tank.
You can move him back to the display, but only after you have completed a full course of the medication. Once you start a treatment you have to follow it through for the full course whether the fish looks cured or not. Stopping a treatment early just leads to resistant strains of the bacteria you are trying to treat making it even more difficult to treat if it reoccurs.
The medication will kill off the beneficial bacteria in the LR you are using in the hospital tank leading to water quality issues in that tank.
You can move him back to the display, but only after you have completed a full course of the medication. Once you start a treatment you have to follow it through for the full course whether the fish looks cured or not. Stopping a treatment early just leads to resistant strains of the bacteria you are trying to treat making it even more difficult to treat if it reoccurs.
It's the same med just new packaging (as far as I know). It can have some affect on popeye but it's not really what you want to use. 2 is what you want. Basically in a nut shell one fights gram positive and one gram negative.
Almost (99%) of any infection you would see in a reef tank that needs treatment should be done in a hospital tank using Maracyn Two and not the original. The opposite for fresh water and ciclids.
In general I'd agree with what Matt pointed out about starting a medication and using it to completion like the directions state but if you are treating the wrong gram it really doesn't matter much. You could get lucky and be able to treat popeye in your SW fish with the original but I'll bet you still see something of a problem in a couple of days in which you should switch to the gram negative med which will work properly. You could also get lucky and it could go down/back to normal on it's own even without meds but it's unlikely.
Out of curiosity, have to looked hard at it's eye to see if you notice anything unusual like an abrasion on it? Every once in a great while I'll see a fish like this where they scraped up against a rock or something and injured the eye. Treatment for this is different yet if permanent harm didn't happen.
Don't give up yet Tito. SW fish don't need to be harder. Just be very careful in your selection at the store for starters. Look very hard and study the fish. Make sure it looks healthy, ask to see the fish eat before you purchase it. If you notice any spots or anything that doesn't look normal don't buy the fish. Only purchase a fish that looks healthy. Next setup a small 10 gallon tank that you use to quarantine all new fish purchases in. You'll need a heater and small HOB filter for it. No lights are needed. QT all fish and never/ever add them directly to your tank until you are sure they don't carry any decease into your main reef tank.
Carlo
Almost (99%) of any infection you would see in a reef tank that needs treatment should be done in a hospital tank using Maracyn Two and not the original. The opposite for fresh water and ciclids.
In general I'd agree with what Matt pointed out about starting a medication and using it to completion like the directions state but if you are treating the wrong gram it really doesn't matter much. You could get lucky and be able to treat popeye in your SW fish with the original but I'll bet you still see something of a problem in a couple of days in which you should switch to the gram negative med which will work properly. You could also get lucky and it could go down/back to normal on it's own even without meds but it's unlikely.
Out of curiosity, have to looked hard at it's eye to see if you notice anything unusual like an abrasion on it? Every once in a great while I'll see a fish like this where they scraped up against a rock or something and injured the eye. Treatment for this is different yet if permanent harm didn't happen.
Don't give up yet Tito. SW fish don't need to be harder. Just be very careful in your selection at the store for starters. Look very hard and study the fish. Make sure it looks healthy, ask to see the fish eat before you purchase it. If you notice any spots or anything that doesn't look normal don't buy the fish. Only purchase a fish that looks healthy. Next setup a small 10 gallon tank that you use to quarantine all new fish purchases in. You'll need a heater and small HOB filter for it. No lights are needed. QT all fish and never/ever add them directly to your tank until you are sure they don't carry any decease into your main reef tank.
Carlo
If the person had the receipt and it's only been a day I'd take it back. But on the other hand I wouldn't sell a sick fish to begin with as it's bad for business in my opinion.
This is a really tricky issue for a store to handle because unlike many of the reefers here on the club, lots of people DON'T know what they are doing.
In all honesty I think more stores will take back fish if just purchased then you think. You may not get full credit but it really doesn't hurt to ask. Stores don't want people to think they are selling ill fish. Maybe if they won't take the fish back you could ask them if they have a hospital tank they could treat the fish in for you since you just purchased it? Again it doesn't hurt to ask.
Carlo
This is a really tricky issue for a store to handle because unlike many of the reefers here on the club, lots of people DON'T know what they are doing.
In all honesty I think more stores will take back fish if just purchased then you think. You may not get full credit but it really doesn't hurt to ask. Stores don't want people to think they are selling ill fish. Maybe if they won't take the fish back you could ask them if they have a hospital tank they could treat the fish in for you since you just purchased it? Again it doesn't hurt to ask.
Carlo