Anthia with an eye injury

[Jan]

I has an anthia that has a large bubble in it's eye. At first I thought it may be pop-eye researched pop-eye, looked at pics and read a couple of articles. After reading what Bob Fenner and his crew had to say about pop-eye i'm convinced this fish does not have pop-eye. It has an injured eye that is badly swollen. It looks like there is a shiney bubble inside it's eye ball. Pop-eye is usually bi-lateral. Either way what I read is that both an eye injury and pop-eye are very curable. The problem is this fish wont come out from behind large rocks that are leaning against the back of my tank. It's color is also changing. I've noticed that when L. Anthias are sick or stressed their bodys appear mottled. Do I just let it be and see what happens?

 

 

[Mountaineer]

I am not advising this.....and I am not expert on fish heath....but I do know a LFS owner and hobbyist in the Va Beach area that had a fish like you described and one night before leaving the store he stopped and couldn't stand to let the fish suffer anymore. He put his hand in tank picked the fish up took a razor blade and excised the bad eye. That fish was swimming around the next day like nothing had happened and he didn't want to sell the fish after this.

 

I know this probably did not help, but thought I would share that experience.

[paul b]

I have cured this dozens of times with a hypodermic needle, but you do have to catch ther fish. You need to pierce the bubble and draw out the air or fluid.

I have never lost a patient by doing this

[Jan]

LOL, did I really write "I has an Anthia", lol.

 

Well both situations have the end result. I have no problem lancing or puncturing the eye to allow air and/or fluid to be released. catching the fish is going to be a big problem. It's a very fast and very skiddish fish. It found the ideal hiding place from the day I introduced it into the tank. It's deep behind the rock work. I know that once I start taking apart that section, it will quickly find another hiding place. Just when i think I have it all under control, I get another wrench in the works .

Edited March 28, 2010 by Jan

[Jon Lazar]

I would leave her alone and give the eye some time to heal. If you can target feed where she's hiding so she can eat without coming out, that's great too.

[Coral Hind]

I agree. The stress of tearing a tank down to catch her would not be good for the fish or you.

[davelin315]

With an active feeder like that, I think unless you catch it and help its eye, it'll die. They rely a lot on their eyes as planktivores and if you are not observing it out and eating, then it's not going to heal itself. I had one with an eye problem before (had it in the store and didn't notice it until I got it home) and it went into hiding and never came out.

[zygote2k]

Both of my Lamarcks had eye injuries like what you have described and I decided that since I am not a veterinarian, I would not want to perform any surgery on a fish eye. I also decided not to QT the fish or treat for any mis-diagnosed disease. I decided that the best course of action was to leave it alone and let it heal or not naturally.

Both have made full recoveries and appear to have excellent vision in both eyes.

 

What everyone fails to realize is that drastic measures can cause further harm or even kill the fish. At the worst, it'll be a one eyed fish. Let nature take its' course and your tank and the inhabitants will fare much better.

[Mountaineer]

Just found this online article which might be worth a read for you in the latest edition of Advanced Aquarist. Good luck and let us know how this turns out.

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/3/fish

[davelin315]

Both of my Lamarcks had eye injuries like what you have described and I decided that since I am not a veterinarian, I would not want to perform any surgery on a fish eye. I also decided not to QT the fish or treat for any mis-diagnosed disease. I decided that the best course of action was to leave it alone and let it heal or not naturally.

Both have made full recoveries and appear to have excellent vision in both eyes.

 

What everyone fails to realize is that drastic measures can cause further harm or even kill the fish. At the worst, it'll be a one eyed fish. Let nature take its' course and your tank and the inhabitants will fare much better.

An angel is different than an anthias, though. An angel can go for days, even weeks, without feeding without immediately deteriorating and dying, but an anthias needs to eat a lot and will waste away faster than you can blink an eye (or lose an eye in this case). If it were another fish, I would possibly agree and say leave it untreated, but with an anthias, your best bet is to catch and treat it if it is not eating, and chances are if it's hiding, it's not eating.