Taiwan Reef has a bulging eye, what to do?

[AuburnEagle23]

HI there Pam, I have been trying to figure out some answers as to why my Taiwan Reef has a protruding or enlarged eye at the moment, none of the other tank mates have any issues or any similiar conditions, I just caught it today, so whatever needs to be done to fix his issue I wanted to get on it asap. Below I have listed my tank setup, conditions, etc. The tank has been setup for about 2-2.5 months, and when it was originally setup, I had about 15 gallons of cycle tank water and all cycle filter media preserved when I setup the tank, so there was already a good about of established bacteria whenever I originally setup the tank. Please reply asap, don't want to lose this beauty. Thanks.

Tank Setup:

125G Aquarium
48" bubble strip for aeration
48" Nova Extreme F5 dual
48" Coral Life dual compact
Maxi Jet 1200 - for water circulation and current
Fluval FX5 Canister Filter - microfiber filter pad, spongers, biological filter media (no carbon)
4 roots of Java Fern Lace in driftwood
150 pounds of Carib Sea Super Natural Tahitian Moon Substrate

Tank Inhabitants:

2 - 7" Taiwan Reef Male
1 - 6 Albino Taiwan Reef Male
1 - 5.5" Otter Point Male
1 - 4.5" Otter Point Male
2 - 3.5" Otter Point Male
2 - 4" Bicolor 500 Male
1 - 4" TransvescentMale
3 - 3.5" German or Ruby Red Male
1 - 3.5" OB Male
1 - 4" Type North Male
2 - 5" Lwanda Male
1 - 4.5" Ngara Flametail Male
3 - 3.5" Dragonsblood/Firefish Male
2 - 4" Hybrid Male
1 - 5" Lemon Jake Male
1 - 2.5" Maleri Island Male
1 - 3.5" Lupingu Male
3 - 3.5" Lwanda Female
2 - 3.5" Taiwan Reef Female
1 - Albino Chocolate Pleco
1 - 8" Leopard Pleco

33 total inhabitants

Water Conditions:

Amonia - 0
pH - 7.9
KH - 180
GH - 120
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 40-80
Temperature - 79F

Maintenance:

Weekly water change of 15%
Gravel vac every 2-3 weeks
Filter media change every 2 months
I use Seachem Prime and Stability during each water change, and used them during initial setup as well and use API Buffermax every 2 water changes to keep the pH stable.

I think that should about cover all the information about the tank. Hope this helps. Thank you.

[Pam Chin]

Hi Auburn,

Fish have an amazing way of healing themselves, except for their eyes. More then likely your Taiwan Reef has injured itself, either by running into a rock or side of the aquarium, or in a confrontation with a tank mate. Sounds like you have a great tank going, and you certainly don't want to put any medications in to this established tank. I repeat do no medicate your established tank. Hopefully this will heal on its own, you just want to make sure that it doesn't get infected. The first line of defense is water changes, and while it looks like you are doing everything right, you are not changing enough water. 15% water changes are only diluting the problem, since your water changes are not what they should be you have a higher risk of infection.

These fish thrive on clean water, so you need to increase your water changes. Start by taking 10% each time you do your weekly water change work these fish up to at least 50% at a time. The good news is once you get them up to bigger water changes you can probably get away with doing these 50% water changes every two - 3 weeks. Because you are changing more volume, you can let it go a little longer. Get yourself in the habit of vacuuming at least half your tank each time you do a water change. Water changes only make your fish happier, and happy fish means lots of color and activity in your tank.

Meanwhile keep an eye on this fish, and if it looks like it is getting worse, then you need to move to hospital tank and treat it. Your fish may lose its eye, but it should be able to adapt and live a full life.

It appears by your listing of fish, that you are leaning towards an all male tank. All male tanks give you lots of color, however, it only takes one female to upset the entire tank. It doesn't matter what the species is any females will drive these males crazy. With no females present, then there is nothing to fight over. And since it is the female who picks the male she wants to spawn with, you have a very high percentage of a cross, which are frowned upon in the hobby. If you are serious about breeding, then you need to get a group of that species and work with them in a tank by themselves, or with something that they are not as likely to cross with.

The only other red flag I see is temperature. Malawi fish do much better at 76 degrees. Higher temperature are going to increase aggression, lower the oxygen level, shorten the life span of your fish, and compromise your water conditions. Cool them down a tad.

Sounds like a nice tank going! I am sure you are enjoying it!

Cichlid Power!
Pam