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I have a hovercowfish that has developed popeye in both eyes.
Unfortunatly, at the moment, i don't have a hospital tank.
The water params are ok.
The poor little thing is in a really bad way, he rests on the bottom, then when strenght has returned, he swims for about 5 minute before crashing to the bottom again.
I believe he may be blind.
I must also mention i have inverts,corals etc, so dosing the tank would have to be done with something reefsafe..
Am i doing the right thing waiting for some sign of recovery, or should i relieve the poor things suffering??
Help please....
Im currently online and monitoring the forums.

Thanks
Chris

I could'nt wait any longer, so i shot out to my LFS and they recommended a medication.
It's called eSHa OODINEX ,it's a wide range marine treatment thats supposed to be reefsafe....
Having dosed the tank, the water is now a wierd emerald green colour
Just hope this works and it's not too late for my HoverCow.

See ya.

Oh well, got carbon in my filter and turned the skimmer back on,it was too late, poor little fella died, had to pull him out the second i was sure (toxin release)never mind.
Cya

Sorry to hear about your loss,
Sorry I didn't see this post sooner been gone for a few days. There are a lot of meds now that are available that are suppose to be reef safe. At least you have the meds this time and if anything like that happens again you can catch it right away. It's a good thing you have filters w/ carbon in them also. When your done treating do a little water change that always helps clean up the green water color.

Went through the same thing when treating my emeperor.

Thanks jkalfsbeck..
He was a really amazing little fella, but like you say, at least i have some medication ready (believe me, the smallest sign and the whole lot gets dosed ).
As soon as i can i'll get another (they are amazing fish),
and if i can eventually get the hang of taking decent piccys (bowfront tank) i'll post a few..
Thanks again

Chris

I am very sorry for your loss, losing a pet is tough.

The best advice I can give you at this point is this: Until you can do a species only tank for this little guy, he is best left at the LFS, or better yet, let him stay in the ocean. The problem with the cowfish, as you are aware, is the toxins they release when under stress, or upon death. If they release this, it can be a tank killer. I know you know this but allow me to expand on this. You have inverts, including corals in this tank. It really isn't environmentally conscious to endanger these corals or inverts. Many are in a precarious position in the wild already. It isn't responsible to further endanger them in your tank. If the environmental angle doesn't work, think about all the money and time you have put into your coral stock. Now imagine it GONE.

You may either agree or disagree, but this is just my opinion. I just don't like to see corals lost. I have lost one in the move so far, and my frogspawn is looking pretty puny. I just want to help others from having to deal with this.

Thanks honeybeze.
You do have a valid point. I think im going to have to set up a species only tank at some point (Arrgh, have to go through all that again, shudder ....)
When i first introduced him to my tank, i did'nt have much in the way of coral(mainly LR)but in the course of time i added quite a bit. To be honest, he never bothered with the coral or the inverts (he tried to nip my coral banded shrimp once, but quickly learnt the error of his ways).
He seemed most content munching on the seaweed i place in there for the Tangs and Dwarf angels. (i know the Angels can be e to nip coral as well, but as i've said, i supply them with plenty of seaweed to suppliment their normal feed and they seem quite happy with it)
All in all, it's a quite peaceful community tank, thats why i though about replacing my poor HoverCowfish but thinking about it, i have too much to lose now (plus the probable battering i'd get from my wife ) so he'll have to wait until i can set up a species tank (probably after we've moved)