What is wrong with my Severum?

[breakspirit]

My severum has what appeared to be a gash on his face which has been there for a week or two. I figured he just ran into something. I went to clean the tank and now he looks like this:


He has some kind of a sac of fluid hanging off his eye and at first I was afraid his eye was popping off his head or something. He isn't acting abnormally as far as I can tell. I haven't added anything to the tank in a very long time, so I don't think it could be a disease I've introduced. Any thoughts? I'd say it looks like an infection. Is he gonna die?

 

[squint]

It does look like a bacterial infection, especially with the history of recent trauma. If it was my fish, I'd QT it and break out the best antibiotics I have. I usually use a combination of kanamycin and TMP-sulfa. I should get some oxytetracycline though. At the very least, use the Maracyn I/II combo. That still works on enough bacteria to be worth trying while you order some of the more exotic medicines.

The initial wound above the eye should have healed in two weeks. Since it hasn't, it's safe to say that an infection is at least one of the problems.

I think the fish has a reasonable chance of being saved if promptly given good antibiotics.

 

[breakspirit]

Thanks for the response. I'm headed out the door now to get him some drugs. How long should he be quarantined?

 

[squint]

Until he gets better or doesn't make it. My guess is that this will be resolved one way or another within 2-3 weeks. It's not a bad idea to order some of the more powerful antibiotics just to have around.

I get a lot of stuff from:

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/products2.html

I do research the dosages independently though as some of their recommendations are low, such as for kanamycin.

 

[breakspirit]

Well, I've put him into his own 30 gallon tank with some Maracyn. This is my first time quarantining a fish and I hope I'm doing everything right. In order to cycle the tank super fast, I put 6 gallons of water from his old tank in there along with a large log to seed some good bacteria into the tank. The filter is new, as it's the only extra I had. It's one of those biowheel ones with the carbon built into the filter pad. I know that can take away some of the effectiveness of the antibiotic, but I figure he'd be worse off with no filtration than with lessened antibiotics.
Wish me luck. I'll update this if anything changes.

 

[squint]

The bacteria for biological filtration are usually killed or greatly inhibited when using antibiotics so I've always just had a heater and an airstone and just did large daily water changes. I would drain almost all the water out, refill slowly, and then administer another full dose of antibiotics. Depending on the size of the fish, I would sometimes just fill a 5 or 10 gal tank halfway so I could use less antibiotics and so that the water changes would be more practical.

Did you get Maracyn I, II, or both? I recommend using both because one treats gram positive bacteria and the other treats gram negative.

 

[breakspirit]

I just got Maracyn I because the label didn't make it clear that it did anything extra that would be useful for this situation. What does gram positive or negative mean?

 

[squint]

Most bacteria can be divided into two categories based on a staining technique (gram staining) that colors cell walls. The ones that stain are gram positive retain the dye due to their much thicker cell walls. A particular antibiotic is usually only effective against one or the other so if you don't do a gram stain you'd best use at least two antibiotics--one that is effective against gram positive and another to take care of gram negatives. Most bacteria that cause infections in fish are gram negative but streptococcus, one species that can cause popeye in fish, is gram positive. Maracyn I is erythromycin is effective against gram positive and Maracyn II is minocycline which is for gram negatives.More info:http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fa084

 

[breakspirit]

Sadly, my severum died this morning. He looked like he was getting better and his wounds were healing, but he was floating when I checked him today. At least I know I did everything I could to save the poor guy.
Thanks again for your help, Squint, I really appreciate it.