"<Swollen areas or bumps on eels can have many reasons:
- Parasites below the skin (marble like appearance),
- Internal bacterial infection (many shapes; usually growing; has to be treated in a hospital tank with antibiotics),
- Various types of tumors (some will go away by themselves, some can only be treated by a vet),
- Constipation (swelling at the belly, use Epsom salt; don’t feed much krill, but more mussel and crab meat),
- Carrying eggs (eel may increase its diameter more than three times, but yours is probably too young).
- In your case I would not exclude the eel was stung by the Lionfish, swelling is one of the symptoms. However, the swelling should become smaller with time unless a piece of the fin ray of the Lionfish got stuck in there and caused an inflammation. In that case you should see a tiny entrance wound.>
He is only about 8" long, if that matters. (Sorry we can't provide pix, but he won't show enough of himself to be relevant.)
<I hope the list above helps you to get an idea of the possible reason and treatment of the swelling.>
Water parameters: SG-1.023, pH-8.2, temp-77F, Am 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates <10. The tank is 90G FOWLR, w/ a 20 g sump, 100 lb. live rock, and a TurboFlotor protein skimmer.
<Sounds all okay.>
Should we remove the eel to quarantine and medicate--and if so, medicate with what?
<Only if you know what he has, you will know how to treat.>
Or should we just hang out and hope for the best?
<Try to get a better diagnosis with the list above.>
(Is he, say, just constipated?)
<Well possible. Is the swelling mostly at the belly?>
Sorry for the somewhat obvious question, but although he hasn't been with us for too long, we're very fond of him.
<I’m sure you are and I do hope Gumboot will get well again. Further recommended readings are
http
/www.wetwebmedia.com/moraydisfaqs.htm ;
http/www.wetwebmedia.com/moraydisfaq2.htm ;
http/www.wetwebmedia.com/snoflkeeldisfaqs.htm;
http/www.wetwebmedia.com/zebramdisfaqs.htm;
http/www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/f...disfaqs.htm>
Thanks immensely... Andrew & Laura in Chicago
<Hope that helps, Marco.>
Re: Swollen Snowflake Eel – 12/05/2007
Hi Marco!
<Hello Andrew and Laura.>
We can't thank you enough for taking the time to answer our question. We hope you won't mind if we attach a brief rider:
<No problem at all.>
As if things weren't bad enough, we experienced a 5 hour power outage here in Chicago, during winter. Fortunately the display tank only lost about 2.5 degrees in that time.
<No problem here for your FOWLR.>
Afterwards. Gumboot came out. His swelling was even more pronounced, and he seems quite apathetic. He lay dead center, in the front of the tank. His respiration was normal,
<Gills are not affected.>
but he was limp and not inclined to hide.
<This looks really bad.>
We've removed him to a 10 gallon QT, so we might better see what is happening with him.
<Understandable choice seeing the pictures. Offer him some cave to feel more comfortable and keep the water quality pristine.>
He remains sluggish. We've attached some pictures here
<I see one, had no idea the swelling was that large.>
, in hopes that you might be able to help us more. Do you have any sense of what might be going on here? We're ready to dose with antibiotics or iodide supplements, but we're not sure which way (if either) to go.
<Look for a wound from a lionfish sting and check if the lionfish has intact stinger ends. What we see here is probably an accumulation of fluids. If there is no wound I’d suspect an internal bacterial infection hard to diagnose exactly/treat accordingly without a veterinarian. You can try an antibiotic for gram negative bacteria like Maracyn Two, but, although some eels swollen like your moray survive, many die. It is impossible to know without tests which antibiotics actually work, due to the apparent use of loads of antibiotics at many collectors and wholesalers.>
Thanks again. We know you're busy, and we appreciate your help more than we can say.
Andrew & Laura in Chicago.
<Sorry I have no better news. Keep us updated, I still hope Gumball survives. Marco in Heidelberg.>
Re: Swollen Snowflake Eel; dead now – 12/06/2007
Hello again Marco,
<Hi Andrew and Laura.>
Once again, thank you so much for helping us to figure this out. Well, the sad if not unexpected news is that our eel died sometime overnight last night. He had "deflated" a bit and was just lying at the bottom of the QT.
<I am very sorry to hear that.>
He does look awful in the photo (he was only posing because he couldn't move well I think). We had tried to get him out of the main tank before the swelling had gotten as bad as in the picture, but he was still feeling good enough at that point to dive into every cave in the rocks, and since he wasn't eating couldn't be lured out with food. So unfortunately by the time he was sick enough to be captured, it was too late...
<A common problem with sick eels (and other hiding sick fish in reef tanks as well), it’s hard to get them out of the rockwork when they cannot be lured out with something to eat.>
We're leaning towards the internal bacterial infection diagnosis at this point. The swelling was smooth and clearly growing. We didn't see any punctures on his body, nor broken spines on the lionfish. Also, the two of them really showed no interest in each other and mostly stayed on opposite ends of the tank. They both were always hand fed (with a feeding stick) so no quarrelling over the same piece of food either. We just had a couple of follow up questions to run past you now - hope that's ok!
<Sure.>
If this was an internal bacterial infection, should we be worried about the lion too? He seems 100% fine - eating, swimming, alert, no weird bulges, etc., but they were together in the tank for over a month, and definitely a couple of weeks after Gumboot stopped eating (which was our first sign of trouble). If we do need to be worried about the lion, is there anything beyond
careful observation that we should do at this point?
<Careful observation is obligatory, although the Lionfish would likely also stop eating if he was infected. I’d also possibly change the diet and reduce the times you feed krill, there might be a correlation of feeding krill as a main staple and bacterial infections, however, this is hard to prove (krill is among the most common food items), would need lots of data and detailed analysis of the sold krill. Also add vitamins on a regular basis to strengthen the immune system and keep up with the high water quality. If you have an UV sterilizer available use it to reduce the number of possible pathogens in the water column.>
Also, we have been quarantining a marine Betta that we had been planning to introduce into the tank this coming weekend. We have been using water from the main tank for his water changes to keep the water parameters the same and acclimate him. He's been doing fine and eating great. Is there any reason to put off moving him into the tank as planned?
<If you already used the water from the main tank for its quarantine tank, and the fish did not show any signs of disease for weeks, you can also transfer the fish to the display. This most interesting fish also needs a varied diet.>
I guess that's all. We really do appreciate your advice and time. We're pretty new to this, and there's clearly a lot to learn!
<I can assure you the learning never stops. I’m sorry you lost Gumboot, but it appears to me you did, what could be done. Your picture of the eel and emails hopefully will help others to diagnose and treat.>
Thanks a million, Andrew & Laura in Chicago.
<I wish you more luck in the future. Marco.>
"
From the crew @wetwebmedia.com
http/www.wetwebmedia.com/snoflkeeldisfaqs.htm
