Adorned Wrasse Bubbles in Eye, Swimming Listlessly

[Brit’s Fish]

Yesterday, I noticed that my Adorned Wrasse was swimming like he was kind of tired and he looked like he may have been in a fight with a bristle worm. He eats bristle worms, so I wasn’t super surprised to see him with some bristles on him and I didn’t look super closely. He still ate, although not as excitedly as usual. This guy is besties with my Leopard wrasse and they love to investigate anything I’m doing in the tank, looking for easy snacks. They even swim through my hands if I’m holding something that interests them. My leopard wrasse looks completely fine and is acting normally.
Today, the Adorned Wrasse looks much worse. His right eye looks swollen and a little cloudy, his left eye has several bubbles in it. He was swimming around slowly and kind of looking confused. I easily caught him in a net & got him into the breeder box. His fins look a little tattered at the ends and very red at the base. He’s maybe breathing a little faster than normal but not too fast. Other than an initial protest, he’s quietly laying in the box now. I’m not sure what to do for him.

I’ve had this fish for probably 3-4 months and my LFS had him for at least 1 month.

It doesn’t seem like a spinal injury to me, but who knows? I have a net lid and about 3” of sand, deeper in the back, which is where he sleeps. All other fish look completely normal, are acting normal & eating normally.

The only new thing I’ve added recently was one bag of PhosGuard (rated for 60g) into the sump. This system is about 140g total. It’s clearly not doing much because my PO4 was 0.72 last weekend & now it’s 0.79.

Water parameters:
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 77.7
pH: 7.84
NO3: 36.2
PO4: 0.79
Mag: 1425
Cal: 460
Alk: 7.3

 

[Brit’s Fish]

#fishmedic

Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef
Aquarium water volume: ~140g total
Filtration type: sump, filter floss, skimmer & live rock
Lighting: 2 AI Hydra 32HD
How long has the aquarium been established? Tank is 2 1/2 years old
Digital image of the whole aquarium under white light - attached


Water quality - listed in original post. Test kits are Hanna (Salinity, NO3 & PO4), Salifert (Mag, Cal, Alk) & Apex for temp & pH.

In-depth information:
Have you lost any fish to this problem yet? I have not lost any fish to this.
Are any invertebrates affected? No inverts affected
Respiration rate of affected fish - 120 breaths per minute
Are the affected fish still feeding? Some, but not super interested
What remedies have you tried so far? None, just caught fish

 

[vetteguy53081]

#fishmedic

Aquarium Parameters:
Aquarium type: Reef
Aquarium water volume: ~140g total
Filtration type: sump, filter floss, skimmer & live rock
Lighting: 2 AI Hydra 32HD
How long has the aquarium been established? Tank is 2 1/2 years old
Digital image of the whole aquarium under white light - attached


Water quality - listed in original post. Test kits are Hanna (Salinity, NO3 & PO4), Salifert (Mag, Cal, Alk) & Apex for temp & pH.

In-depth information:
Have you lost any fish to this problem yet? I have not lost any fish to this.
Are any invertebrates affected? No inverts affected
Respiration rate of affected fish - 120 breaths per minute
Are the affected fish still feeding? Some, but not super interested
What remedies have you tried so far? None, just caught fish

Looks like result of injury to eye and may self correct
If it looks worse or cloudy, treat in separate tank with Maracyn- not Maracyn 2 for at least 5 days with added aeration

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Looks like result of injury to eye and may self correct
If it looks worse or cloudy, treat in separate tank with Maracyn- not Maracyn 2 for at least 5 days with added aeration

Would you recommend keeping him in the box for now or letting him out again? He did not seem interested in food when I tried to feed him about 20 min ago. I’m a little concerned that he can’t see the food.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Now that he’s facing straight forward, maybe he also injured his mouth? His lips look strange to me. Is it possible he dove into the sand a little too hard and hit the bottom glass?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Would you recommend keeping him in the box for now or letting him out again? He did not seem interested in food when I tried to feed him about 20 min ago. I’m a little concerned that he can’t see the food.

I like box but can cause injury and separate tank will offer ability to place a bowl of sand in tank for him

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Now that he’s facing straight forward, maybe he also injured his mouth? His lips look strange to me. Is it possible he dove into the sand a little too hard and hit the bottom glass?

It does look like mechanical injury to me as well. Bubbles in the eye are virtually always caused by that. Leaving it in a box like this can allow it to recover, but the extent of the injuries will determine that, and there just isn’t any way to judge their severity.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

It does look like mechanical injury to me as well. Bubbles in the eye are virtually always caused by that. Leaving it in a box like this can allow it to recover, but the extent of the injuries will determine that, and there just isn’t any way to judge their severity.

Thank you @Jay Hemdal & @vetteguy53081
I always appreciate your help!