Apisto Agassizi Alenque eyes

Hi Dirk,

I just wanted to quiz your mind...

I recently aquired a pair of Agassizi Alenque, and noticed that the eye was a little clouded in the centre of the pupil. It almost reminds me of a minor cataract. It is definately near the surface of the eye that is clouded, and not something deep inside the actual eye. Both eyes appear to be affected, but the left eye is worse.

The alenque appears to still be able to see fine, but just wanted to check what this could be??

Any ideas what this is? How could I treat it??

I unfortunately do not have a macro lens, so cannot get a close enough shot of the eye to show!

Thanks again for your time and help!!

Regards
G!

 

Hi Big G.

I will leave the final diagnosis for the professor... mostly because you asked him, and because he is more than qualified to answer...

From some reading I've done online with a similar issue I had with my angel, it would appear to be a bacterial infection INSIDE the fish, and is shown through that eye "cataract."

I did a few minor water changes over a week and it helped... generally speaking I would try and avoid anti-basterial meds as it could possibly take out the filter. But let's see what the Prof has to advise??

 

Hi Gareth,

and thanks Zoom for your comments.

To some extent, in this situation, you must ask yourself, if you were an older person, and you suffered from a cataract, what the reason for this could be?

Well, it could either be something related to age or it could be related to an infection, or it could be related to physical damage because of the eye scraping against external surfaces and therefore causing an injury.

So, if we analyse this in relation to your Alenquer agassizzi, then they must have been transported to you relatively recently, and therefore the injury issue must be quite realistic. I have transported angels and due to the fact that they have swum up against the wall of the container or plastic bag, they have damaged their eyes in the process. In most instances this has healed entirely, but in some instances this has left this clouding of the eye.

With regard to treatment of eye problems in humans, the circulation of blood through the eye is relatively poor. For this reason, the general treatment of eye problems is via local drops or ointments via the eyes and not via medication taking in via the mouth. In the case of fishes, I would think that if the fishes have this problem and are treated with say an antibiotic via the water, the problem should clear within a week. If it does not, then the problem is more severe and then the treatment is either too late or it will require more severe antibiotics which in most instances we just simply are not informed about.

For these reasons, I think that the primary reason why your fish shows this problem is because of damage during transport. The first damage would have been during transport from Asia where it was bred and the second was during the transport from Johannesburg to CT. If this would not have cleared up within a week after transport the problem was not longer bacterial but was the result of the physical damage and in most cases cannot be cured.

So, at this late stage, treatment is no longer possible. the bottom line is that if fishes are transported repeatedly, the possibility of permanent physical damage is very likely and treating this is not going to help because this is permanent physical damage. It is the risk that one takes if one accepts fishes that have been transported over large distances.

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Thanks Dirk!!

Well, in some small way, thats quite reassuring that its not something that is going to affect/infect my other fish that this Male was temporarily with!!

I had recently been reading about alsorts of wonderful worms and Flaglea (spelt wrong no doubt) that affected the eyes, but was unclear as to if this was a possible symptom?? But with the explanation you give above, I will rest more easily!!

Thanks again, I will keep an eye on him and see if he shows any signs of clearing in a few days or so??

Regards
G!