Red Wolf fish eye problem

[DMD123]

I had took out the large Mopani stump that had all the small sharp branches in case this is what the wolf had hurt himself on. I replaced it with a large, fairly smooth Mopani that he would have more freedom swimming around.

The thing is that his eyes are still looking 'off'... There is some white patches on the outermost areas and the only other thing I can think is that he might be scraping them in the plastic ZooMed log cave. He will dart in there quickly at times so maybe scratching eyes when he does? Its frustrating because at times now he acts as if he cant see food (quite large Massivore pellets) drop. Sometimes he finds the large pellets on the substrate and other times the food just sits and fouls the water and stinks up everything. Im leaning towards trying to take the log out and see if his eyes heal better.

 

[DMD123]

A few close ups of the eyes

 

[DMD123]

Just not seeing this clear up completely... likely over six months the fish has had this going on. It has cleared a little but still there. Ive tried external treatment with Kanplex but it is clearly in the lens itself, right at the surface, so not doing anything with this treatment. Kept water and filter pristine during this time frame and still no real major change. Considering trying a medicated food (kanaplex/focus) mix and seeing if that does anything... Kind of not sure at this point if this is permanent damage. Still contemplating if it could be environmental, possible scraping on the log decor it hides in?

 

[DMD123]

The problem has persisted and Im not seeing any change for the better. I feel like its worse with the fish missing pellets at times due to the eyes. I pulled out the zoo med log in case its a continual injury occurring. Will see if thats the case. Only one large Mopani piece with no sharp edges in the tank and a couple soft plastic plants. This is such a cool fish but the eye issue makes it so frustrating. Its a bit of a hit and miss at feeding time.

 

[DMD123]

Might just be my imagination but it seems like I am seeing some clearing in the one eye. Might have been constantly irritating the eyes going into the plastic cave or something. Now that the cave is gone, might just improve.

 

[DMD123]

Definitely have seen clearing in the one eye the other still looks bad.


The bad one

 

[DMD123]

Feel sorry for this fish. It must be near blind on its right side since it will completely miss food and will go in circles sometimes to find the food. I am not sure why the clouded eye on the right does not clear up like it did on the left. Since removing the large fake log the fish seems to have done better but still cant get the one eye to heal up.

Anything I can try? In the past I treated with Kanaplex and a good water change routine but that seemed worthless and didnt see any improvement. Any suggestions appreciated.

I do have a piece of Mopani in there... but it has no sharp edges or anything. Time to remove it too? Pretty much a bare tank?

 

[DMD123]

Still dealing with this issue. Have not went bare tank but am wondering if the fish might also be getting into it with the large BN pleco at night? I just dont see how these eyes are cloudy like that all the time and sometimes it is a bit clearer than other times. I guess the only way to really tell is to remove the bn pleco and the decor except for maybe large smooth stones and see if there is improvement.

 

[DMD123]

Hard core attempt to help him heal. Took out large mopani, mag float, thermometer, pleco cave and pleco.

It is just a couple soft plants, small stones, sand, heater with guard and the filter intake.

The only concern would be the pointy intake tube... Will see if eyes improve any, now that there is nothing it can continue to hurt itself on

 

[lloyd378]

And you are 100% sure it’s a contact injury and not some sort of disease?

 

[DMD123]

And you are 100% sure it’s a contact injury and not some sort of disease?

I don’t know for sure, but it didn’t have it when I first got it and as it grew it seemed fine but at some point it was just there. When I removed the large zoo med log, one side visibly was better but it looks bad again. @FishBeast thought it could be traumatic cataract. I had done Kanaplex before and no improvement. At this point its just a matter of eliminating possibilities and seeing if there is any improvement

 

[DMD123]

I was doing some research that suggested it might be bacterial and to try Melafix... I have some I can try but Im thinking its not going to help.

 

[lloyd378]

I was doing some research that suggested it might be bacterial and to try Melafix... I have some I can try but Im thinking its not going to help.

Ya, I’ve never found melafix / pimafix to do anything other than make the tank smell minty….

 

[DMD123]

Ya, I’ve never found melafix / pimafix to do anything other than make the tank smell minty….

I used it once with some new silver dollars that showed a bit of fin rot starting. It cleared it up. But I agree, most times it just makes for smelly water and no real help. Since I have the product I might try it to see...

 

[DMD123]

Just for “fun”, I cleaned his aquaclear filter in his tank. It was not that dirty because it was cleaned fairly recently. I then decided to do a dose of melafix to see if anything changes.

 

[DMD123]

Well no improvement with one dose, lol. But the fish is not happy, totally off its feed. When a happy, hungry predator wont eat you have an issue. The melafix might be messing with his sense of smell. Decided to just do a water change and get some freshwater in there. I might have dosed it a little too high. I use pond melafix which is much more concentrated.

 

[sir_keith]

My honest opinion here is that you are getting carried away with the antibiotics. This issue has been ongoing for more than a year; there is no real evidence that this is a bacterial infection; and the response to medication has been equivocal at best. And none of these agents are totally innocuous. I've seen these kinds of eye issues in aging fishes on many occasions; sometimes they clear up, and sometimes they don't, but in the absence of indications that the fish is in real distress, perhaps the issue bothers the fish-keeper more than the fish?

 

[DMD123]

My honest opinion here is that you are getting carried away with the antibiotics. This issue has been ongoing for more than a year; there is no real evidence that this is a bacterial infection; and the response to medication has been equivocal at best. And none of these agents are totally innocuous. I've seen these kinds of eye issues in aging fishes on many occasions; sometimes they clear up, and sometimes they don't, but in the absence of indications that the fish is in real distress, perhaps the issue bothers the fish-keeper more than the fish?

The fish does have difficulty with getting the food and many times misses and circling around to finally hit his mark. He eventually will get the food but it is sad to say the least and I want to see if he will heal up. There is no way he would have lasted in nature with this condition… I just feel sorry for him.

 

[sir_keith]

The fish does have difficulty with getting the food and many times misses and circling around to finally hit his mark. He eventually will get the food but it is sad to say the least and I want to see if he will heal up. There is no way he would have lasted in nature with this condition… I just feel sorry for him.

That's strange, because I have fishes currently that have age-related cataracts in both eyes, and it's much worse in appearance than your fish, but although their ability to find food is reduced, it's not even close to being life-threatening. Sure, they'd be having a hard time in the wild, but that's beside the point. My point was not that you shouldn't be trying to help this fish; it was that the antibiotics do not seem to be effective.

 

[DMD123]

That's strange, because I have fishes currently that have age-related cataracts in both eyes, and it's much worse in appearance than your fish, but although their ability to find food is reduced, it's not even close to being life-threatening. Sure, they'd be having a hard time in the wild, but that's beside the point. My point was not that you shouldn't be trying to help this fish; it was that the antibiotics do not seem to be effective.

I only dosed antibiotics once at the very start of the issue about the first part of 2023. He had the full run time with kanaplex and then when I saw no improvement, I just have done water changes like usual and removed certain decor that may have been an issue if it were eye scrapes, or something like the traumatic cataract that @FishBeast had suggested. The melafix is an antibacterial, and listed as an item for cloudy eyes. But this is not the typical cloudy eye you usually see where it looks milky but on the surface. This definitely looks like its in the lens and at times looks like it will improve a little but never completely clear.

He is a happy outgoing fish, just hate watching him struggle to eat.