semi reef tank, all fish have cloudy eyes , need help

[jinx]

have a 90 gal saltwater setup for years. reef tank(semi). no room for a quaratine tank at all in my apartment. just added a flame angel and a coral beauty. both looked great when i purchased them. have live rock, dusters, shrimp, snails, mushroom corals.. plenty of coraline algae growing. did water change 2 weeks ago salinty good and temp fine. noticed coral beauty today looks pale , cloudy eyes, little white around lips. all of my other healthy fish have cloudy eyes. tangs, clownfish etc..This all happened within 2 days. fish are still eating except for coral beauty. what do you think it is? how should i treat it. i will never catch all of these fish to get out of tank. ill have to destroy setup which im not trying to do.

[steve1s]

Cloudy eye can often be the sign of a mild bacterial infection. Fish can often get through it without meds but it is a good idea to do a few water changes to reduce DOC as much as possible and make sure they are getting vitamin fortified foods a few times a week to boost their immune systems. Zoe, Selcon or other quality additive would help.

If persitant, you may need to use a safe med like Melafix which is primarily tea tree oil and can help with mild but stubborn instances. If prolonged, quarantining and treating with a gram negeative anti biotic might be necessary. Never use anti biotics in the main tank, it will destroy your biological filter and reek havok.


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Cheers
Steve

[jinx]

thanks steve, i am now seeing fish glance off rock. think it maight be ich?
what do you think about RX-P if it is. would cloudy eye be related to ich?
would melafix harm anything in my tank? how long do you think something like this clears up? starting to remove carbon now.

[steve1s]

Melafix will not harm anything in the tank. The most it will do is gum up the equipment a bit from the oil and make the skimmer produce excess skimmate so turn it off or down some. Just ensure excellent suface aggitation as it will increase suface tension.

The RP-X is nasty stuff. Read the label carefully. It is not safe for many types of animals. Personally, anything that indicates it is not completely reef safe is not good to use not matter what needs to be safe guarded.

If you suspect C.irritans, the best action would be to QT the fish in a seperate holding tank that is basically bare bones. Heater, sponge/corner filter and possibley a PH with some short PVC pieces for the fish to hide. Once done you can then effectively treat with a good chelated copper med or preferabley, >>hyposalinity (http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html)<< . Hyposalinity and copper must never be used simulaniously but the anti biotic can if secondary bacterial infections arise. Leaving the main tank fallow for 4+ weeks will ensure that when the healthy fish are returned to the main tank you will never have a re-occurance providing treatment was done properly and effectively.

Good Luck!!
Cheers
Steve