fish had injury on face, now it's eye is covered in puss or something?

[peasofme]

i bought this bicolor blenny that was in a tank with two large cinnamon clowns. the bigger clown was chasing the smaller one trying to bite him. the bicolor had a white mark on his face like a tiny chunk of his flesh was missing from getting bitten or something (it was where one of his nose holes is supposed to be i think). the blenny did have a bunch of rocks to hide from the clowns. well i bought him thinking it wasn't much of an injury on him and would just quickly heal. it's been a week and now his eye is covered puss or fungus or something. the covering stuff is opaque looking and his prior bite mark injury has turned from white to dark. he is eating and seems ok, but stressed from his eye (breathing fast, etc). any help or info? thanks

[Reefing Madness]

Takes a couple of weeks for the eye to heal up, sounds like he'll be ok though. I have a Scopus Tang that went through the same thing, but his eye never came back, he has a clear spot where the iris should be, but you can see into his head. So, it all depends on how much damage was done to the eye.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

Sounds like it could be a bacterial infection to me. Likely from the injury.

[ClownieTang]

+1 just wait for it to heal in a couple weeks and QT or dip that sick fishy with medication.

[leebca]

I'd prefer to see a photo to be sure, but there are generally two prevailing scenarios here.

1. If the area was damaged to the point where there was redness or even blood showing, then the 'normal' healing process is for the area to turn grayish to white while the wound heals.

2. If the area doesn't exhibit the above kind of coloration and appearance, it could well be what FoMoCo is suggesting -- an infection of some sort.

I wouldn't risk doing nothing since, the fish in captivity has a lot of bacteria and opportunistic pathogens to deal with in the confines of an aquarium. It's easy for the fish to succumb to secondary and additional problems if the original is not treated. I would assume a bacterial or viral infection and move the fish to a treatment tank and treat with an antibiotic that goes inside the fish (through the fish's skin). I prefer the use of Maracyn Two for Saltwater Fishes, although the medication for Freshwater fishes is just as good. I would in this case, double the recommended dosage.

An alternative to the above is to provide several good, close up, clear photos so I can help differentiate between 1. and 2.

Information for setting up a QT/hospital tank is given in sticky post in this Forum.

Good luck!

[peasofme]

splotches of white and some dark red under and to the right of the eye. this is the best i could do for pics.

[leebca]

I appreciate the attempt, but not close enough for me to say anymore than I previously posted.

[peasofme]

he didn't make it. how long should the tank remain fallow as to not spread the disease to a new fish?

[leebca]

The answer depends on the pathogen. If it was a 'fake' fungal infection or bacterial, then waiting won't matter. If the pathogen was a true fungal infection, then you'd want to disinfect the entire system, since these kinds of pathogens are deadly, contagious, and extremely hard to get rid of. If it was just an injury, it falls into the first group and waiting won't make any difference. Since the greatest likelihood is in the 'it doesn't matter' category, I would just proceed. I would advise using a quarantine system in the future, however.

[peasofme]

if it was a true fungal infection, how long would it take to show up in a new fish?

[leebca]

A few days to a few weeks. Fungal infections are part of the 'opportunistic' group of pathogens. That is, the fish has to be disadvantaged, low energy, stressed, to allow such a pathogen to gain a foothold.