Barramundi with eye infection

[surfermike915]

So I came back from a trip for my sports and my Barramundi was fine. I was gone 4 days and he was eating fine. Today now is the 13th and he eyes are almost like popped and blood shot. This also happened to my Piraiba which ended up losing its eye. I tried to treat with a good amount of aquarium salt but that hasn’t helped much yet. Any one have any treatment recommendations that would be amazing. Thank you guys.

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

I've had a couple smaller pimelodids succumb to a similar eye infection last month due to relatively poor water quality; unfortunately, all three catfish ended up permanently scarred and practically blinded. I first quarantined them and attempted to treat the trio with Neoplex, Kanaplex, a small dose of Pimafix, and methylene blue; their eye infection got worse and large sores opened on two of the fishes' undersides. Cottony fungus started growing all over the eyes and sores. I decided to just place the trio back into their original tank (water param issues were fixed) and continued localized treatment (Neoplex, Kanaplex, and methylene blue distributed over the infected areas with a syringe) with dips every three hours in a concentrated solution of tank water and the medicines listed above in a five-gallon storage bin. This did clear the infections after a couple days; large patches of dead skin with fungus and bacteria that had covered the eyes and sores fell off and the fish started naturally healing from there. Unfortunately, chunks of the eyeball fell off with the dead skin, and the healed eyes had severely distorted and oddly flattened pupils with the eyes not protruding as much as before (lying relatively flush with the skull). All three fish do not seem to be photosensitive anymore, and none react to visual stimuli; I would be inclined to assume that they ended up blind; rather unfortunate, as I had been raising the trio of pims for around three years now with no prior health issues. The incident could've been prevented with more attentiveness and diligence on my part regarding water parameters.
All things considered, your barramundi doesn't look to be in terrible condition and should recover reasonably well with a little TLC. I'd recommend more frequent water changes and antibacterial meds; I've had decent luck with Seachem products. In my experience, salt doesn't seem to do much, if anything at all when attempting to treat bacterial infections. Make sure your water parameters are decent, do more frequent water changes, and attempt to avoid major fluctuations in the fish's environment.

 

[Fishman Dave]

I first quarantined them and attempted to treat the trio with Neoplex, Kanaplex, a small dose of Pimafix, and methylene blue;

I am assuming you followed the instructions and were not treating all these meds at the same time or together!

 

[surfermike915]

Hey thank you so much both of you for your help. I treated him with a small dose of erythromycin and did a water change. He ate too that night that I posted this. And last night was swimming and his eyes were 50% better. Well today I came home from school, and I guess within the last 24 hours, the sponge filter’s air hose fell off as the day before I recognized this issue and tried to fix it. Also staying at my dads didn’t help as maybe I could’ve fixed this in soon enough time. Nobody likes dead fish ever but they usually more times than not teach us something. I have learned. It just sucks knowing a fish you had grown out since march 2022 died and he was a mini monster at almost 13”. But once again thank you guys.

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

I am assuming you followed the instructions and were not treating all these meds at the same time or together!

I did use the meds together, and have generally been using various combinations of meds for various ailments on more adaptive species with somewhat better results than when I used a singular product to treat similar species. I did halt the melafix/pimafix after a day as it was more of a "safeguard" (if it can really be called that; I've personally had little to no luck with it), but I did continue to treat the catfish with a combination of the methylene blue and the two Seachem antibiotics. To be honest, this was the first time I used Neoplex; I've always used Kanaplex and didn't really think Neoplex was necessary, but one of the employees at my LFS (rather experienced and a person I'd reasonably trust) recommended it to me and did say it could be used with other meds. I really should've probably paid better attention to the instructions, though; I mainly skimmed through the dosing instructions and didn't read most of the other information provided. I was not aware that mixing and combining multiple different medications was inherently detrimental to the overall health of the fish. Thanks for the info!

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

Hey thank you so much both of you for your help. I treated him with a small dose of erythromycin and did a water change. He ate too that night that I posted this. And last night was swimming and his eyes were 50% better. Well today I came home from school, and I guess within the last 24 hours, the sponge filter’s air hose fell off as the day before I recognized this issue and tried to fix it. Also staying at my dads didn’t help as maybe I could’ve fixed this in soon enough time. Nobody likes dead fish ever but they usually more times than not teach us something. I have learned. It just sucks knowing a fish you had grown out since march 2022 died and he was a mini monster at almost 13”. But once again thank you guys.

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss Losing fish is practically unavoidable in this hobby, but that doesn't make it hurt any less when a fish dies under your care, especially one that you've raised for a long time. It seems as though you really cared for the fish, which is more than I can say about many other keepers. The sponge filter malfunction was practically unavoidable and sudden; you couldn't have done more than you did. The barramundi looked to be in great shape; it seemed as though you cared extensively for him. I hope all your other fish are doing well and continue to do so.

 

[surfermike915]

I'm really sorry to hear about your loss Losing fish is practically unavoidable in this hobby, but that doesn't make it hurt any less when a fish dies under your care, especially one that you've raised for a long time. It seems as though you really cared for the fish, which is more than I can say about many other keepers. The sponge filter malfunction was practically unavoidable and sudden; you couldn't have done more than you did. The barramundi looked to be in great shape; it seemed as though you cared extensively for him. I hope all your other fish are doing well and continue to do so.

Thank you so much. I love all my fish extremely and prize them, whether it be a ultra rare fish or an Oscar I got donated to me, the love is all the same. I’ve realized my mistake, and yes death is part of the hobby but what sets one apart from an average fish keeper from becoming a great one is whether they let stuff like this shake them, discourage them, etc. I’m too far in . Couldn’t stop if I wanted to. But thank you for such kind and caring words.