Volitans With Cloudy Eyes... Best Treatment?

rastaangel

rastaangel

Member
I am currently in school 5 hrs away from home and left my girlfriend to tend to my tank...
Last weekend I came home to a bad algea/cyano outbreak and a massive ick outbreak... So I did a water change and she is dosing with polpy labs medic and she says that the ick appears to be disappearing but now they both have cloudy eyes, to the point the male cant see very well to even eat...
SO what is going to be the best treatment? There are corals and other inverts in my tank so it has to be reef safe and I dont think that she could handle the added care and difficulty of setting up a new hostipal tank and monituring ammonia levels and what not...
Would a fresh water bath cure them? Or is there a reef safe medication I can buy that she can dose to cure it while im gone? What would happen if they arnt treated for 2 weeks until I come home for good to set up a QT?
 
S

saxman

Guest
Never heard of the stuff, and the only link I could find had no info on its contents/active ingredients, so I can't advise you on its efficacy. However, IME, none of the "reef safe" cryto meds work very well at all. FWIW, if I don't know what's in something, it doesn't go into my tanx, period.
Did the fish's eyes go cloudy after treatment began? Lions can be sensitive to some ****** meds.
A lion's eyes can indeed go cloudy from a bad outbreak of ******, and they will usually shed their cuticle several times trying to rid themselves of the parasites (after shedding, its eyes may clear up).
In the interim, you could give the fish a formalin bath. Assuming 37% formalin, the dosage is 20 drops per gal for no more than 45 mins or less if the fish is stressing. Match temp and pH. This may give the fish some immediate relief by causing the cysts to drop off or implode, however, it's not a cure.
If you plan to treat with copper, make sure the preparation you use is chelated, or it may harm your fish.
Remember that you really need to let the tank go fallow (fishless) for at least 6 weeks (we go 8 weeks) or the fish will become re-infested.
HTH, GL, and keep us posted.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
puffers cant take copper.make sure the fish eats or she is a goner.the life cycle of the ich is 4 weeks so if the ich has just dropped you have maybe 2 weeks or so before it comes back and then some.ich will hurt the immune system of a fish and then they will be more susceptible to infections.you need to treat her with antibiotics for the eyes.but you cant use them in a reef.i would either have her get a qt and half a++ set it up .or take your chances till you get back.
i know the feeling years back i was partying at a bar with my brother out of town and my anemone got stuck in a powerhead poisoning the tank.my wife called crying that the fish were dying.luckily i had a 150 gallon running ,she scooped the fish to that .but still lost half of them.
good luck
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
just did some checking and lionfish are also sensitive to copper.so looks like hypo and antibiotics is the only way to go.
maybe set up a tank and get alot of extra water ready with some ammonia neutralizer.
 
S

saxman

Guest
Quote:
I thought lions couldnt be treated with copper?
Quote:
just did some checking and lionfish are also sensitive to copper.so looks like hypo and antibiotics is the only way to go.
I recently had this discussion with Jay Hemdal and Frank Marini, and they confirmed what I had been hearing, which is that lions CAN handle CHELATED copper preparations (such as Copper Safe) with no ill effects. Yes, they are sensitive to compounds such as copper sulfate and copper citrate.
Back in the days before there were chelated copper preps, lions and many "scale-less" fish were sensitive to copper, and copper was either contraindicated or used at half strength for longer periods.
I can tell you that we've treated ****** in lions and scorps with hypo in the past, but if we ever have to have to treat a lion for ****** in the future, we're gonna copper it and call it a day. Staying up on a hypo treatment isn't the easiest thing in the world, as besides keeping the SG at 1.009, the pH always tries to crash on you, so you need to keep the tank buffered too.
HTH
 
rastaangel

rastaangel

Member
The ick isnt the issue, or the cynao as I have both of them under control its the cloudy eyes... Nothing was used to treat the cyano, just the ick.
Can I freshwater dip a lionfish? Would it cure or help the eye cloud parasites? I picked up some seachem kanaplex medication today, I was told it would help.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
So many "reef safe" parasite remedies have appeared over the last several years; but I still believe that copper or hypo are the only real cures. I have used Cupramine copper in QT on every fish I've had for years. That includes the 3 Volitans I had before moving and the 5 I have now. Puffers, some Dwarf angels, and a few other fish are copper sensitive---but can still be treated using a lower, but still effective dose. SeaChem makes Cupramine and their Tech people are excellent, I call them often.
BTW; almost all collectors, shippers, wholesalers, on-line retailers and many LFS always use copper on all their fish and finding any fish that hasn't been treated with copper along the way is probably impossible. I know the controversy with copper, but I have never lost a fish that I thought was lost because of Cupramine. If using Cupramine, a SeaChem copper test kit is a must. IMO&IME; the fear so many folks have of copper is unjustified---just research & follow directions to the letter.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
I'm also a fan of the cuprimine. My fish are always pretty active and eat well while in Qt with the cuprimine. I don't really see any reason not to do it.
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
copper is not going to sure his eyes. We kinda got off track a bit.
 
rastaangel

rastaangel

Member
Ya I know... back on track lol
Whats my bext course of action? I have some kanaplex that I was told will work. Will a freshwater dip help? any other remidies I can use?
 
J

jstdv8

Guest
Kanaplex & Maracyn II seems to be the cloudy eye antiboiotics of choice. If you allready have the Kana go ahead and sue that in a QT and watch your ammonia
 
S

saxman

Guest
Assuming Kanaplex is a form of Kanamycin, it may be a bit tough on the fish's kidneys or CNS. We used to use Kanamycin for treating bacterial infections in SH, but Maracyn 2 works better and isn't quite as hard on the fish.
 
rastaangel

rastaangel

Member
it is 40% kanamycin sulfate and 60% potassium sulfate.
says use 1 spoon per 5g and repeat every 2 days to a max of 3 doses or to feed mix 1 spoon with food
i was told to mix a paste up and inject it into there food
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i would just spend the money on maracyn 2 .i have used it a few times and it works pretty fast.no need to put it in their food.
 
rastaangel

rastaangel

Member
I would, but the fact remains, my girlfriend who is lookin after my tank is having a hard enough time with simple care let alone setting up a QT, monitoring water parameters, and meditcation dosing. I am atempting this approach cuz I can go home and inject there weeks food with the medication and all she has to do it regular feedings.
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i hear ya.that sucks.i guess she is going to learn this hobbie in a crash course one way or the other.
i would just tell her to get a tank fill it with saltwater ,a pump,heater.put the fish in .get the maracyn 2 .it has the instructions ,very easy to follow the dosage.
make more water or buy it and change out 30-40% everyday till you get back.
maybe buy amquil and add that.
sucks being handcuffed like this
good luck
 
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