Purple Tang with Ich, now has popeye or damage to eyes?

[Sambino]

I treated the purple tang with 3 doses of Kanaplex per the instructions and the fish looked better, so I stopped treating the fish with Kanaplex which I now feel was a mistake. Since this purple tang has been battling bacterial issues again I started treating with Kanaplex again on the 1st. Today I turned on the lights and the fish was breathing pretty rapidly which concerns me and makes me think that he may not last too much longer. My seachem ammonia alert badge shows no ammonia in the water, but I will admit that the salinity has gotten away from me a little bit and slowly crept up to 1.030 and I am planning on doing some water changes to lower that down to 1.025. My main concerns are as follows:
1) Is there anything I can do for the fish to give it a better shot at survival? Am I overreacting and the fish may be okay?
2) I still have not seen this fish eat anything since I've started this thread and I am starting to worry a little bit. I've left some nori in the tank for the fish that is rubber banded down to a rock, but it seems to be left untouched.
When I look closely at the fish one eye is cloudy and slightly bulging out, the fins look to have little pinholes in them and the edges of the fins look damaged, almost as if something were nipping at his fins, however he is in this tank alone.

I figured it was best to keep this under the same thread, since this is the same fish having more issues.
Thanks!
-Sam

 

[Celestion]

Lol

 

[Sharkbait19]

Definitely try to get the salinity back down, that can help. The vid won’t play for me (try adding it as a YouTube link), but it definitely doesn’t sound good.
Keep lights low to minimize stress.
#fis#fishmedic

 

[Sambino]

Definitely try to get the salinity back down, that can help. The vid won’t play for me (try adding it as a YouTube link), but it definitely doesn’t sound good.
Keep lights low to minimize stress.
#fis#fishmedic

Hopefully this works.
For now, I've turned off the lights over this tank in hopes that it will reduce any stress.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Does he have any hiding spots in the qt?
He looks rough but not as bad as I was expecting. I’d keep up the antibiotic treatment for now.

 

[Sambino]

There is a 4" PVC pipe in the tank that he hides in and behind.
I will definitely continue to do the antibiotic treatment, probably for a total of 6 doses as I think that is the recommended maximum amount of doses per seachem.
Is it possible that this 20 gallon tank is too small for this size purple tang? What would be a more appropriately sized QT tank for this fish?
Would it be best to add more PVC hiding spots?

 

[Sharkbait19]

More hiding spots always helps. How big is the tang? A 20 would be fine for a small one but too big and a 40B is better. Given that it’s just him and meant to be temporary I think he is fine where he is.
Is that the lighting or is the water really that yellow?

 

[Sambino]

When I initially set up the tank I added nitrofurazone to the tank prophylactically (which I wont ever do again), but I have done numerous water changes on the tank since then and the water has remained yellow like that.
Should I try a very large water change (more than 50%) before the next dose of kanaplex tomorrow?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I treated the purple tang with 3 doses of Kanaplex per the instructions and the fish looked better, so I stopped treating the fish with Kanaplex which I now feel was a mistake. Since this purple tang has been battling bacterial issues again I started treating with Kanaplex again on the 1st. Today I turned on the lights and the fish was breathing pretty rapidly which concerns me and makes me think that he may not last too much longer. My seachem ammonia alert badge shows no ammonia in the water, but I will admit that the salinity has gotten away from me a little bit and slowly crept up to 1.030 and I am planning on doing some water changes to lower that down to 1.025. My main concerns are as follows:
1) Is there anything I can do for the fish to give it a better shot at survival? Am I overreacting and the fish may be okay?
2) I still have not seen this fish eat anything since I've started this thread and I am starting to worry a little bit. I've left some nori in the tank for the fish that is rubber banded down to a rock, but it seems to be left untouched.
When I look closely at the fish one eye is cloudy and slightly bulging out, the fins look to have little pinholes in them and the edges of the fins look damaged, almost as if something were nipping at his fins, however he is in this tank alone.

I figured it was best to keep this under the same thread, since this is the same fish having more issues.
Thanks!
-Sam

Just checking - I see the tank has good circulation, but is there aeration? Are there bubbles breaking the surface tension of the water?

 

[Sambino]

Just checking - I see the tank has good circulation, but is there aeration? Are there bubbles breaking the surface tension of the water?

There is some aeration coming from the sponge filter and the surface tension is slightly being broken up by the bubbles but the surface of the water looks almost still. Would it be helpful to add an air pump and airstone to aerate the water a little more and get a little more surface turnover?

 

[Sambino]

I just went to check in on the fish and the purple tang was lying down on its side, struggling to swim. I went ahead and added an air pump and airstone to the tank in hopes that the issue is just aeration but I'm pretty much preparing myself mentally for this to be a loss. We shall see later tonight when I turn off the lights on the other aquariums in the room.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There is some aeration coming from the sponge filter and the surface tension is slightly being broken up by the bubbles but the surface of the water looks almost still. Would it be helpful to add an air pump and airstone to aerate the water a little more and get a little more surface turnover?

It wouldn’t hurt, even if it isn’t the core cause, it may help the fish breathe a bit better.

 

[Sambino]

It wouldn’t hurt, even if it isn’t the core cause, it may help the fish breathe a bit better.

I'm very surprised to say that the fish is still alive. Last night he was lying on the bottom of the tank and breathing very rapidly so I was sure that this morning he would be gone. I plan to do a 50-75% water change later today with water that is predosed with copper between 2.5-2.8ppm. After the water change I plan to do the tank with kanaplex again.
Is it okay to continue to use kanaplex until the symptoms no longer appear or is it better to follow the instructions and stop at a maximum of 6 doses?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I'm very surprised to say that the fish is still alive. Last night he was lying on the bottom of the tank and breathing very rapidly so I was sure that this morning he would be gone. I plan to do a 50-75% water change later today with water that is predosed with copper between 2.5-2.8ppm. After the water change I plan to do the tank with kanaplex again.
Is it okay to continue to use kanaplex until the symptoms no longer appear or is it better to follow the instructions and stop at a maximum of 6 doses?

Why are you dosing copper above 2.5? I prefer to limit it to 2.25 to 2.5

Kanaplex can be toxic in high or extended doses. I’m not sure if you are nearing that limit or not.

 

[Sambino]

Why are you dosing copper above 2.5? I prefer to limit it to 2.25 to 2.5

Kanaplex can be toxic in high or extended doses. I’m not sure if you are nearing that limit or not.

I am dosing copper above 2.5ppm as the fish started showing signs of ich while in copper that was between 2.25-2.5ppm. Just to be safe I raised the copper level slightly as multiple people recommended.
I do believe that I am nearing the limit with Kanaplex, tonight would be the 6th time that he would be getting dosed with the Kanaplex.
What should I do to continue to treat the fish since the kanaplex has stopped helping improve the fish's condition?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I am dosing copper above 2.5ppm as the fish started showing signs of ich while in copper that was between 2.25-2.5ppm. Just to be safe I raised the copper level slightly as multiple people recommended.
I do believe that I am nearing the limit with Kanaplex, tonight would be the 6th time that he would be getting dosed with the Kanaplex.
What should I do to continue to treat the fish since the kanaplex has stopped helping improve the fish's condition?

You could switch to another broad spectrum gram negative antibiotic such as Neoplex.

 

[Sambino]

Unfortunately the purple tang died last night. I think it was the bacterial infection that got the better of him. There were holes in the fins and the edges of the fins looked damaged.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Sorry to hear - you did the best you could for him.