Cichlid's eye about to fall out due to bacterial infection

[gilltyascharged]

Sharing this from a post I made on The Cichlid Forum (not many active members frequent that sub-forum). Today I noticed improvement on his right eye, in which the "red thing" has disappeared and the cloudy lens has flattened out some.

I noticed our red-shoulder peacock (RSP), who has always been a bit bugeyed (which I'm now realizing was likely popeye), had a cloudy "film" over his right eye. I thought it might be signs of a bacterial infection, but my dad said we should wait it out. Fast forward to five days ago, and this same eye now has "stuff" coming off of it. Four days later something red seems to be protruding from the site, and my dad allows me to set up an old 5gal tank (not ideal, but the best thing we have right now) as a quarantine tank. There I see a white patch or two on his back (~1mm in diameter), which I'm almost positive are columnaris.

I read through many articles, and decided that the best course of treatment would be antibiotic-laced gel food (I myself just got prescribed some amoxicillin for strep a few days ago...never thought I'd spend a sick day making medicated food with my own prescription). While he has taken it so far, I can't help but worry that the infection may be too far along.
Note: I have just read ColinT's post. I am re-posting this from another fish forum I'm on, and have just now read through this particular site (prior to that I've been doing Google searches and going from there...whoops). The particular source I decided to gamble on was one called AquariumScience; this is all to say that no, I had not read ColinT's post up until today, and action was taken a few days ago.

TL,DR; red-shouldered peacock thought to have bacterial infection. Symptoms include popeye (both eyes), cloudy eye that appears to be falling off (right eye), and white spots on body thought to be columnaris.

(Post 1/2)

 

[gilltyascharged]

75 gallon tank that has been up for ~2mos, with a three-week fishless cycle. Water temp is consistently 80°F. Decorations were all added prior to fish inclusion, although vallisneria was added a few days after.

Tank inhabitants include DB peacock (tank boss), OB peacock, Bicolor peacocks x2, and young lemon jake (currently at the bottom of the totem pole). All fish are 4.5-6" in length; OB has been with us for 4yrs, and all but the DB came from a LFS about an hour away, introduced about a month ago (Aug 23), while the DB came from a LFS in-town (Aug 24).

Due to fish only being in there for a month, we have done a single top off (about 10% from evaporation) and a 15% water change. Water addition is via hose (my dad uses a filtration device on the end of the hose, also used in our camper), and I add dechlorinator to the water each time. We did introduce vallisneria from the LFS around the same time the fish were introduced, which has led to (what I believe is) hydra. Note that dwarf sag from this same supplier led to similar creatures in my 6.6gal puffer tank. I am unsure of water parameters as of this moment...hoping to get them checked out in next day or so (my parents have been busy, and I've been home sick with strep and a fever). Filtration consists of two 50gal HOB filters on either side of the tank.

This particular fish has been with us for a little over a month. I was not present when my parents purchased the fish, but it came home with somewhat tattered fins and a rather "bugeyed" appearance. I chalked all of this up to tank aggression at the store and just being a weird looking fish, completely overlooking the possibility of popeye.

Newest symptoms (from this last week) included what appeared to be an "eye injury" (a tattered strip of something hanging off the top of the eye), progressed to cloudiness in that particular eye, which then appeared to be an opaque "lens" that started coming off the eye, and now has something red protruding from the site. Upon closer examination, there are a couple of whitish spots on the fish that appear to be columnaris (about 1-2mm in diameter and slightly raised, but only in isolated areas). From my observations, this fish seems to engage in little conflict with his tankmates (tank boss seems more interested in asserting dominance with bicolor and OB male).

For reference, here are photos showing the progression of his eye:

"Bugeyed" appearance that has been present from Day 1:

I couldn't find a photo of the "tattered" appearance, but here is the "cloudy" eye stage:

The following photos are of the "red thing protruding" stage, taken as of Thursday...I am hiding them due to their potentially graphic nature:

Spoiler: Hidden images

In the two days on Amoxicillin-laced food (again, I am just now reading ColinT's post. This was information that I had not yet accessed until today), the afflicted eye appears to be looking better: the red thing is gone, and the tattered, opaque lens has flattened down to the eye. He is still popeyed, but the white spots on his body have also decreased in size.

 

[Colin_T]

What is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate level in the water?

What is the pH, GH & KH of the water?
Peacock cichlids (Aulonocara sp) are Rift Lake cichlids and come from Lake Malawi in Africa. This lake has hard water with a GH around 300ppm and a pH between 7.6-8.4.

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

Can we get a picture showing the entire aquarium?

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It's not Columnaris.

The white stuff on the eye is excess mucous. The fish also appears to have excess mucous (creamy white film) over its head, body and fins. This is usually caused by something in the water irritating the fish. Treatment normally involves big water changes and gravel cleaning the substrate every day for a week to make sure the water is good.

If one eye goes white and cloudy that is normally caused by a physical injury. Clean water and salt can usually fix it but in more severe cases or when that hasn't worked, then medications are needed to treat bacterial infections.

The red on the eye is blood and looks like physical damage. This is in the same location as the main bit of excess mucous (thicker white lump on the eye) in the early pictures. This could be from the fish being attacked or swimming into a rock or something hard that has caused the injury.

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If the medication is working then keep using it for at least one week (probably two weeks).

Try to do a massive water change and gravel clean the substrate before re-treating the aquarium. You should also wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean sponge before re-treating the tank.

If you have carbon in the filter, that should be removed so it doesn't suck the medication out of the water. Throw the carbon away and replace it with a sponge.

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If you use a garden hose to fill the aquarium, you should turn the tap on and let water run through the hose for a couple of minutes before collecting any water from it. Garden hoses have chemicals in them to keep the hose soft and flexible. This chemical is poisonous to birds, fish, people and animals. The warmer the weather, the more chemical that leaches into the water. Cheap garden hoses usually have less chemicals in them compared to more expensive types that are designed not to kink. I used to water the lawn or garden before filling the tanks from a hose.

You want to do big water changes on a regular basis (at least 50% each week) when keeping cichlids otherwise the water quality can go bad and the fish get sick. Cichlids are susceptible to nitrates and they can develop hole in the head disease caused by Hexamita, which thrive in dirty tanks. Big water changes and gravel cleaning helps keep nitrate levels down and reduces the number of disease organisms in the water. A clean filter also helps, and established filters should be cleaned at least once a month.