Firemouth with white spot on eye

[Kristin1277]

Hi everyone, newbie here, I apologize if this is in the wrong order place but I just noticed my diremouth has a white spot on its eye. It has become very aggressive and is targeting my synodontis. I included a pic- any undead if it's an infection or a wound from fighting??

40 gallon wide
1 firemouth
1 synodontis
3 angelfish
2 albino corys

All living together past 2 years no new additions

 

[fishorama]

Well, to me, it doesn't look so awfully terrible, likely able to heal. I never kept syno cats with cichlids, firemouths are fairly mellow...for cichlids...as are angels.

I'd go for lots of water changes before freaking out or treating with something

 

[Frank Castle]

use Fishbiotic's Penicillin for any and all Eye-related issues. It treats Gram+ and Gram- bacteria so unfortunately it kills BENEFICIAL Bacteria as well.

Needless to say, treat the fish-in-need in a separate hospital tank. Do NOT use Penicillin in your main tank or it will wipe out your bio-filter

As with most medications, remove carbon/charcoal elements and turn off UV-Sterilizers before administering

 

[Tifftastic]

But what if it is not bacterial and just an injury? Treating with antibiotics "just to be safe" isn't really a good plan as this is what leads to antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. It really is best to just start with water changes and observe. There's nothing here that screams "bacterial infection! Administer medication now."

 

[Frank Castle]

But what if it is not bacterial and just an injury? Treating with antibiotics "just to be safe" isn't really a good plan as this is what leads to antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. It really is best to just start with water changes and observe. There's nothing here that screams "bacterial infection! Administer medication now."

I was told Penicillin clears up anything eye-related and is much more effective for Pop-eye than Maracyn or Kanaplex. You can always try it for a few days and if you don't see improvement, discontinue use. It takes ALOT to build up a resistance to antibiotics. You method could work, but Pop-eye and other eye-infection can become fatal rather quickly sometimes a week or so is all it takes. I'd rather be safe then sorry and keep pristine water conditions AFTER the threat is gone.

Just IMO, but I have lost fish because I didn't medicate when I should have.

Salt and Stress Coat is another option, but it won't clear up a lot of issues in between. I always ATTEMPT Salt and Stress coat for anything irregular and frequent WCs, but it just doesn't always work

 

[Tifftastic]

Popeye can advance fairly quickly, yes, but this isn't popeye.

It actually doesn't take that much to build up resistance. When you treat with an antibiotic you kill off the bacteria that is susceptible to the treatment. The first day you kill some, this leaves the stronger ones, the second day you kill off yet another round of more weak ones, leaving ones that are even stronger and so on. Treating for a few days and then leaving it is actually worse than treating a full course. This is why doctors tell you to take the full course even if you feel better and even if the symptoms are all gone. You could have one or two bugs that remain and are resistant and you could pass that on to someone else. Because if there are bacteria there you've just killed the weak ones and left the strong ones to reproduce. This leads to resistance. Bacteria can have multiple generations in hours to days (depending on the species). In some species you can get 100 generations in a day or 2, meaning evolution (the shift to populations with resistant genes) will occur rapidly. This is why the use of antibiotics in countries like the UK (where I am currently at) is heavily regulated. It is not responsible to just throw penicillin in the water.

 

[Frank Castle]

Popeye can advance fairly quickly, yes, but this isn't popeye.

It actually doesn't take that much to build up resistance. When you treat with an antibiotic you kill off the bacteria that is susceptible to the treatment. The first day you kill some, this leaves the stronger ones, the second day you kill off yet another round of more weak ones, leaving ones that are even stronger and so on. Treating for a few days and then leaving it is actually worse than treating a full course. This is why doctors tell you to take the full course even if you feel better and even if the symptoms are all gone. You could have one or two bugs that remain and are resistant and you could pass that on to someone else. Because if there are bacteria there you've just killed the weak ones and left the strong ones to reproduce. This leads to resistance. Bacteria can have multiple generations in hours to days (depending on the species). In some species you can get 100 generations in a day or 2, meaning evolution (the shift to populations with resistant genes) will occur rapidly. This is why the use of antibiotics in countries like the UK (where I am currently at) is heavily regulated. It is not responsible to just throw penicillin in the water.

well, the U.K. and the U.S. don't always see "eye-to-eye" on everything
OP is welcome to take your advice .....

....or welcome to hospitalize one fish in another tank and run a course of Penicillin every other day for 5 days......that's all it takes according to the directions on the bottle.

 

[Tifftastic]

Not seeing eye-to-eye on regulation doesn't change the science and available information on antibacterial resistance. Additionally, pretty much everything is resistant to penicillin at this point anyway due to overuse.
Of course the OP is going to do whatever they feel is best in the long run. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be informed of all the possible outcomes and results of their choice.

 

[Frank Castle]

Not seeing eye-to-eye on regulation doesn't change the science and available information on antibacterial resistance. Additionally, pretty much everything is resistant to penicillin at this point anyway due to overuse.
Of course the OP is going to do whatever they feel is best in the long run. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be informed of all the possible outcomes and results of their choice.

you can tell we are both Scottish.....

 

[blueearthaquariums]

Why cichlids are nipping to other fish. I have a red fire mouth male jwell fish he killed other fish. He is very hungry and angry too..