Blindness and Diarreah

[randyrags]

I moved my fish to quarantine due to an ick problem. I finally have the salinity raised and I have been noticing all four fish have diarreah. Also my puffer looks like he has cataract. He cannot see the food when I put in in and his eyes have a green-ish like coating. If I need to treat would like to do so before I put back in the display tank. I thought possibly maracyn 2 but I can only find the freshwater kind. PH has been around 8.0-8.2, Salinity 1.023, Nitrates 60, Nitites 0, Amonia 0, and temp 79. Thanks for any suggestions...

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Randyrags http:///t/396879/blindness-and-diarreah#post_3536065
I moved my fish to quarantine due to an ick problem. I finally have the salinity raised and I have been noticing all four fish have diarreah. Also my puffer looks like he has cataract. He cannot see the food when I put in in and his eyes have a green-ish like coating. If I need to treat would like to do so before I put back in the display tank. I thought possibly maracyn 2 but I can only find the freshwater kind. PH has been around 8.0-8.2, Salinity 1.023, Nitrates 60, Nitites 0, Amonia 0, and temp 79. Thanks for any suggestions...


I know those in the know will chime in...I am not fish doctor.

I just wanted to comment on your situation. Quarantine tanks are usually small...much smaller then a fish is used to, stress may be the cause, but don't put the fish back into the display until they are perfectly healthy...that is just my gut response. Not that I think you would...but just in case. If the puffer can't see, putting it back in the non-stressful environment of his home tank, won't help at that point.

 

[beth]

How long did you treat the ich? I'm assuming that you treated using hyposalinity? If so, how many days did it take you to raise the salinity out of hypo? Nitrates are pretty high which means the load of waste going into the system is higher then your system can export. How big is the quarantine tank.

You can use Maracyn Two for FW but it will need to be at double the dose.

 

[saxman]

Quote:
Also my puffer looks like he has cataract. He cannot see the food when I put in in and his eyes have a green-ish like coating.

Are you referring to the natural retinal tapetum lucida, which is a blue-green coating on the back of the retina of many fishes, particularly preds. It makes the most out of dim lighting. Generally speaking, if a fish has eye problems, they become cloudy-whitish, which can indeed be a symptom of ******.

 

[randyrags]

Correct I did do Hyposalinity and saw symptoms still at end of week two so did a total of 5 weeks and then I took 7 days to raise salinity back up. 50 gallon quarantine. So do you think Maracyn 2 is my best bet? Could Maracyn also help the eye problem? Thanks for everyone’s help again!

 

[beth]

I am recommending the M2 for the eye. Can you post a picture of the fish with the eye problem. I think the other fish can be acclimated back to the display unless they appear ill. What are you feeding them? What do you mean by diarrhea?

Also, pufferfish eyes can look cloudy, even though noting is wrong.

 

[randyrags]

I will try to get a picture when I get home… the other fish 2 clowns and a Moorish Idol just have loose stools- normally they have long stringy poop and lately it comes out in a cloud of little pieces. I do feed them flakes, Mysis, krill, frozen shrimp, silversides, and algae sheets. I do have garlic that I will try soaking food in. I also have not found the Zoecon that I was soaking food in. As far as puffer he misses the food in front of his face. Normally he attacks food as I put it in but in the last couple days he does his usual behavior of swimming from top to bottom of glass at usual feeding time but when I put the food in he rarely sees it and sometimes misses it on first chomp.

 

[beth]

Are these other fish doing well, aside from the loose poo? If so, I think it is best to acclimate those fish back to the display and then start the M2 as soon as you can. How long has it been since the puff has not eaten?

Once antibiotic treatment begins, turn off tank lights except during feeding time. However, do not leave the fish in the dark except to sleep. Antibiotics degrades when exposed to direct UV. Just before you perform the daily redoes, do a small water change in the quarantine.

 

[randyrags]

Yes other fish are doing well... Puffer has been eating just not much also takes awhile for him to find on bottom of tank.

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[beth]

Go ahead and transition the other fish to the display then.

 

[zoidberg01]

You have to be really careful with the moorish idol because of there stress but when my fish get stressed I put a some slime coat to help