I currently have a 220g tank that has been up and running for about 9 months full of live rock and in general doing very well.  I have one fish in it, a juvenille Regal Angel that I have had for about 4 months.  He went through a full QT before being introduced and has been doing very well.  Eats well everyday pellets 3 times day and PE Mysis in Selcon daily.  He is fat and in all respects healthy. 

I noticed a couple of days ago that one of his eyes was 'pop eyed'.  Noted no cloudiness, so I was hoping for a physical issue that woudl heal up.  This morning I noticed that the one eye was cloudy and it loosk like the other eye may be following suit. 

He continues to eat fine, but has always been a bit shy and secretive.

Long story short, I simply cannot remove him from #250+ pounds of rock without causing some massive stress to him and me to move him to QT for treatment. 

I have some triple Sulfa and Metronidazole that I can treat his food with, but there is not a whole tank rememdy that I am aware of for what I expect is a bacterial infection that I am willing to risk in a 220g tank. 

So, my question is this, if this fish passes, the bacterial infection that was the cause, does it remain in the tank?  Can I expect that any other fish that I put in the tank in teh future will be affected by the same thing?  I am also open to any suggestions for treatment options. 

Thanks in advance.

Bobby

  I understand your not wanting to try and catch the fish, but instead of removing the rocks, you could drain the water out of the tank into temporary containers and simply pick the fish up and put into QT for treatment.  You may have to move a rock or two but at least the fish is not able to move away.

 Such infections are usualy caused by water quality issues and to treat the entire tank would most likely upset the biology of the system and cause even worse issues.  A few good water changes and then increasing the scheduled water changes would be the easiest fix, and once done, any new fish should not have a problem as the bacteria that causes such problems is always going to be around and it is the overall health of the fish and the system that prevents the bacteria from gaining ground on any fish.

Chuck

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

Water quality is solid, 10% water change weekly with RO/DI, Trates at 0, Phos at .03 on a hanna meter, Carbon changed every 4 weeks, and as an aside, it is a ZeoVit tank, so by its very nature I am forced to keep parameters tight.  SKimmer works flawlessly.

Good option of draining the tank, I am just not sure I have enough containers to drain 200+ gallons of water....

Again, I will keep him fed with Selcon, do an additonaly water change, and consider the drain.

Thanks again for the help.

Chuck

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

Surprisingly I was able to catch him with a net in the 220g without to much of an ordeal.

Got him in the QT last night and started a Triple Sulfa regiment.  Will update in a couple of days.

As a side note, this is a good example of why having a QT tank up and running is such a great thing, you never know.

Thanks!

Bobby

Chuck

-----------------------------------------------------------------