Clownfish eye is bulging

[Jamie S]

I was away for a few days this weekend and came back Saturday night and noticed one of my Clarkaii’s bullying the other quite a bit. Last night the Clarkaii began acting a bit lethargic and when I got home he was hiding under a rock. When I got him out I noticed that one of his eyes is bulged. My guess is he got injured while being chased around the tank. I dosed the tank with Epsom salts and now I’m trying to find where to buy some erythromycin but my local pet smart is out of stock. Does anybody know where I can pick some up tomorrow on my way home from work? Any other suggestions are welcome as there’s always a chance my diagnosis is off. All other fish in the tank appear to be fine after close inspection.

 

[Humblefish]

It looks like just an eye injury (which will hopefully self-correct).

You would only need erythromycin if it starts getting infected (turns cloudy). API Erythromycin or Maracyn contains erythromycin.

 

[Jamie S]

Thank you. I’ll try to find some today.

 

[Jamie S]

I’ve dosed 2 days of Fritz Maracyn Oxy and the eye appears to have doubled. Should I try to find some Maracyn 2? Is there a difference? I can’t seem to find any around here and Amazon won’t deliver until the 6th.

 

[brokereefer]

Are you dosing Maracyn or Maracyn Oxy? Maracyn contains erythromycin but the Maracyn Oxy doesn't. Neither does Maracyn 2. So you'd want to find either Maracyn or API erythromycin.

I know Absolutely Fish up here has it for sure. I also have some if you needed it.

From what I've read, unilateral (one-sided) popeye disease is normally mechanical trauma or injury-related including possibly from microbubbles. Bilateral (both eyes) is usually bacterial-related. When I've had fish with popeye in QT, nonetheless I've always treated with antibiotics just to be safe.

 

[Humblefish]

Maracyn contains erythromycin but the Maracyn Oxy doesn't. Neither does Maracyn 2. So you'd want to find either Maracyn or API erythromycin.

^^ This

Maracyn or API Erythromycin is what you want to try first. In some rare cases, Minocycline (Maracyn 2) can help with eye infections and can be safely dosed in conjunction with Maracyn for good measure.

 

[Jamie S]

I did a 5 day dose of Maracyn as directed and the 6th day i did a 25% water change. His eye did go down but still bulging so I continued with the medicating. I finished the box yesterday (8total doses in the 10 gallon hospital tank) and his eye is still slightly bulged. Do I get another box and continue medicating or will the eye continue going down with the medication that's in the water? Do I wait for the eye to be fully back to normal before putting him back into the DT?

 

[MadReefer]

I would wait a few more days to see if it goes down; if not re-dose. I would not put it back until healed. I couldn't catch my dwarf angel once and treated the whole tank with "Bacterial Infection Remedy". Took some time but worked.

 

[Jamie S]

I would wait a few more days to see if it goes down; if not re-dose. I would not put it back until healed. I couldn't catch my dwarf angel once and treated the whole tank with "Bacterial Infection Remedy". Took some time but worked.

Thank you i'll wait a few days and see

 

[Jamie S]

Considering how bad his eye was, it’s gotten so much better. I stopped adding medication and just been monitoring him in the hospital tank. A few more days and I’ll put him in the acclimation box in the dt. Hopefully the other Clarkaii will stop bothering him. Thanks all for the advise. At one point I really thought his eye was going to come out of the socket I’m really glad it didn’t.