From Catalufa lover
Hi Bob, just read one of your articles on the Popeye Catalufa.
I just recently became an obsessed Catalufa owner. And in fact, I am now in pursuit of this Japanese Popeye Catalufa that I saw on your article web page.
Where would you send me to order beautiful live caught Japanese Catalufa specimens?
-Maria from Columbus Ohio
<Good question... Maybe special order from Dr.s Foster & Smith or MarineDepot.com... Bob Fenner>

From Catalufa Lover in Columbus, Maria  9/20/05
Hi Bob, was reading your posts on Catalufas and I have some answers for you on care that's proven to work.
<Ah, thank you>
First, for eye degradation, browning around the eyes, flesh degradation, this is due to germs, not parasites that accumulate in the water. This is cured by a non-harmful antiseptic. I use Tee-Tree oil (100 % pure). In my 55 gal. tank. I generally splash 4-6 drops, every 2-3 days (as needed). It is non harmful to my blue starfish and sea fan. The degradation will clear up.
As lazy as I am, the tee tree oil has cured many problems, including fin splitting, wart growing, and even to some degree Hexamita. No water changes necessary.  If the fish begins breathing hard, simply re-insert the media, and try again in the next couple days with a lesser dosage.
Hexamita, or hole in the head, I use Metrazol in small dosages. 3 and 1/2 capsules every 3 days. Then I don't have to do annoying water changes! Metrazol almost killed Sammy last time I dosed with the prescribed amounts on the package! Sammy is doing fabulous, and I will soon send a pic of my little aquatic family.
<Okay>
As far as bubbles in eyes, Sammy never gets them. People just don't understand how important it is to keep a fish happy. As strange as it sounds, over working a tank, keeping it too clean has negative effects.  Let the tank go for a week, let nature take over. You will experience other issues like germs, but those again are cured with the Tee-tree. Also, tanks need real sunlight. Not just for vitamin D, but for the mental health of the fishy. One more thing, feed Hikari brand frozen fish food! Don't go to the store and feed perch, grouper, none of that stuff! Oh, and for sick fish-I mean really sick fish: Don't let the tank go dark at night! The fish's system takes over and they expend a ton of energy in some kind of zombie mode looking for food. The next morning, the fish is worn out! Sammy never gets total darkness. I do half and half at night. He appears to chill on the light side! How weird is that for a fish known to like darkness!
His habits are different in captivity! Treat the Catalufa as such!
<Good advice>
Believe it or not, my fishy is happy in his somewhat algae over grown tank at times. (though I don't let it go for too long). I just let nature do her thing. There is always a natural way to cure. She has and always will take care of her own!
-Maria from Columbus
Ps, I've never had fish in my life, and Sammy is doing wonderfully. Never experienced New Tank Syndrome.   
<Real good. Thank you again. Will post, share. Bob Fenner>

Pristigenys  serrula
Hi again,
That is it. At the moment it is about 5-6 inches and very slow and graceful, so I expect it's space requirements are a bit less challenging than a Naso or a clown tang.<To some extent> One very interesting thing is that yesterday while acclimatizing whenever I went near to offer it some food it played dead
flopping around and then would become alive again whenever I went away.<Well I have not
kept one of these species of fish, but have observed them in captivity and they have a somewhat interesting
personality. I would not be too concerned unless he stops eating or shows sign of disease>
Today it already accepted food readily and I hope it will be very happy in my tank.<I hope so> I guess it is a bit of a rare species as so little info is available.<Indeed>
Btw, its name is Fred, don't ask why,
Thanks again,<good luck with this rare find, IanB>
Massimo

Pristigenys serrula? (05/27/03)
<Hi! Ananda here doing some research this afternoon...>
Hi there,
I wonder if you can provide me with some info as you so kindly did on other occasions.
<I'll give it a shot...>
I recently acquired a splendid specimen of Pristigenys serrula which eats well and is very amusing to watch as it is extremely alert and intelligent.
<Sounds like a healthy fish.>
Already on the second day of introduction in the tank he could sense when I would be putting food in it by watching what was going on outside and it would rise to the top of the surface. It is a very graceful and slow moving fish which is a full 5' and lives happily with a maroon clown and a regal tang. Can you tell me how big will it get and where I can find some further
info? Other searches on the net have proved not very useful.
<Well, my first stop is always http://www.fishbase.org ... When I looked for the Pristigenys genus, I found a number of fish, including P. serrula. The Fishbase entry for that fish says it gets to be about a foot long, so now I'm wondering if the fish length you mentioned above is a typo, or if it's perhaps a completely different fish!>
Tips for basic husbandry? It is currently in a 120g reef tank with the above fish. All parameters scrupulously in order.
<Go ahead and take a look at the listings on Fishbase. Those sometimes include what the fish eats, based on stomach contents of captured specimens. If you have a completely different fish, send us a photo and perhaps someone can identify it.>
Thanks
Massimo UK
<You're welcome... Ananda>

Dead fish
Hi David,
<Hello my friend!>
Thanks for your input!  I think when my friend found the Bigeye in August it was stranded in a small depression in the sand with some water in it. The tide was running out real fast at the time.  Still makes sense though that a healthy fish wouldn't be cruising around near the beach in open water.  The beach it was found on is all sand that stretches quite far without any cover near the shoreline, and there are hungry stripers cruising around too.  By nature, Bigeyes should/would be hiding in some rockwork or other structure to hunt and avoid predators.  It seemed healthy for awhile and even started to grow but perhaps the added bioload (blenny and clownfish) allowed for unseen symptoms to start. Didn't test for ammonia, figured after several weeks the tank was well cycled.  I did start the tank out with water and live rock from an established tank.  Anyway, the water continues to clear up and the other two fish are still healthy.  
<My pleasure! Please remember that the fishes in QT need to stay there a full month. You were very wise to QT that Bigeye. Kudos to you for "protecting" your main tank. David Dowless>
Thanks again. Jason

Re: dead fish
Dear WetWeb Crew,
I was wondering if you could provide some insight as to why my fish died. First, some background info.  The fish that died (sometime last night) was a Short Bigeye, about the size of a quarter, that a friend found stranded on a beach here in Maine back in August.  
<Do you really think a healthy fish washed up on shore? I certainly hope you had this guy in a quarantine tank>
She gave it to me to care for. Everything was going fine until about 3 weeks ago.  The fish was in a 10 gal qt tank with a hang-on type power filter with sponge for filtration and temperature set at 76-77degrees.  I added a Redlip blenny about 1 month ago
and small Clarkii clownfish about 2 weeks ago to the same tank with the Bigeye.  The Bigeye was feeding well and had started to grow.  It would take small pieces of shrimp, squid, or scallop from the end of my finger.  The problems began about 3 weeks ago, when the Bigeye would not take the food from my finger.  It was still eating, but not as much and was more selective.  This continued to the point where the fish hardly ate anything and would look at the food but not even try to eat it.  The last time it ate anything was probably 5 days ago, and that was a frozen Mysid shrimp.  About
10 days ago, I noticed the tail fin was cloudy and a small piece was missing from the bottom of the fin, like it had been torn off.  
<Sounds like something in the tank thought this tail would be tasty>
It looked like some type of fin rot, and turned bloody along the edge of the missing piece.  
<Fin rot sounds like a strong possibility. If blood was present the tail probably was not bit off>
I added Formalin and that seemed to help over the next few days.  All this time the blenny and clown appear to be healthy and are eating well.  I also noticed that the water has been somewhat cloudy for a few weeks now.
<Either a bacteria bloom or ammonia. Have you tested for ammonia?>
I assume this is from a bacteria bloom although I clean up all uneaten food from the bottom of the tank and siphon the bottom of the tank when changing water.  The tank has a bare bottom and 2 pieces of pvc pipe, a plastic coral and plant, and a small piece of dead "live rock."    I perform a 1 gal. water change every 6-7 days, and the cloudy water doesn't seem to clear up after the water change. The pH is 8.2, nitrate/nitrogen 10mg/l, specific
gravity  1.024, and alkalinity 5.5 meq/l.  A few nights ago I added a bag of carbon to the power filter and hooked up a Seaclone skimmer to help.
<Carbon should help. I'm really glad to see that you are testing regularly. Keep it up>
Noticed last night the water wasn't as cloudy.  The Bigeye was a spectacular fish and I hated to lose it. Any ideas what happened to this fish?  
<It's really hard to say...but a fish that washed up on shore? It could be anything. There was obviously a problem before it ever got to your tank>
The blenny and clown will remain in this tank for at least another month.
<Yes. Sounds very wise. I don't really notice anything that is amiss in your procedures except accepting the Bigeye in the first place.>
Sincerely,
<Glad to help! David Dowless>
Jason  

Popeyed Popeyes
hi bob,
it's me bob, from The Aquarium. it's time for yet a bit more of your vast wisdom bank. this question is regarding the fish commonly called "Popeye Cataula", I think your database calls them squat Bigeyes.
we have 3 of them with gas bubbles in the eyes. one is so severe it floats! do you have any advice on how to alleviate this distressing malady?
<... Depends on the cause... likely improper decompression from collection>
I've tried using an insulin needle without much success. I just read that they should never be taken out of the water!
why doesn't anybody tell people this stuff:<
<"They" don't know>
again your site is info-packed and I will be grateful for any help you can offer.
thanks,
bob
<Keep the lights low... and the system stable otherwise... the gas in the eyes will evacuate over time/days hopefully. Bob Fenner>

Re: popeyed Popeyes
I've seen this at least 2 other times, and it usually proves fatal due to eye degradation. antibiotics are useless, as I suspect the problem results from a pressure-related condition.
<Pressure from? Were these priacanthids just collected? Are there fine air bubbles in the system that are involved here?>
please help me think of a new strategy to beat this, because these are awesome animals!
I'll dim the lights, hold my breath, and keep the faith!
thanks for your timely answer!
thanks again,
Bob
<We need to find the real cause of this exopthalmic condition... the eyes of these and most fishes are highly vascular zed... they are indeed "windows to the soul"... and to health... If this condition has arisen spontaneously, with all specimens, I am inclined to suspect dissolved gas as the prima facie origin... look about this system... is air getting entrained and mixed with water somewhere? This is the cause. Bob Fenner>

Re: popeyed Popeyes
they are in 3 separate systems, 2 of which I have not ever seen. Our main system at the shop will cavitate from time to time, a situation I have little control over. 
<What? What do you mean... never seen systems? No control? Please read over the following: http://WetWebMedia.com/bbldisease.htm
on Gas Bubble Disease/Emphysematosis... in this case in pond examples... but the cause here is very likely the same... as I speculated in the last interchange. You (singular/plural) need to fix the source of cavitation... the Catalufas/Big-Eyes are more sensitive to dissolved gas complaints, but this condition is mal-affecting your other livestock... look about the pump (especially the volute/seals and likely MIP fitting into it for air leaks... often able to be easily detected by turning the pump off while watching the area (water will squirt out)... The air and water mixing together is the cause of your problem... fix it. Bob Fenner>
The pressure I spoke of was a speculation that perhaps they were caught deep, and brought up quickly. Could a reduced specific gravity possibly help here?
<No, at this point more likely to kill the livestock. Bob Fenner>

Re: popeyed Popeyes
I can check out our system, but the other two fish were brought in by
customers. As usual, good info.
Thanks
<The other two Big-Eyes have the same condition? That is, gas behind the eye? They've been in these other systems for how long? Bob Fenner>

Re: popeyed Popeyes
About a month on one, and 7 months on the other, a tank I maintain from long distance, and have little knowledge of the day to day.
<Mmm, it's almost infinitesimally possible that all three of these (Pristigenys alta?) would be suffering from gas bubble disease in this scenario... I though they might all be in the same system... even in a store setting... with centralized filtration>
In the 7 month tank, we have an Imperator angel that would knock your sox off, a Blue Tang with no symptoms of lateral line erosion (2 years), and a dogface puffer that makes me proud to be a Dad, if I'm making sense.
<I think so>
The one month tank is kept by the kind of people I would want to watch my stuff when I'm gone.
I spend 10 hours a day watching both fresh and marine animals do what they do, and there are times it becomes engulfing.
<I understand>
I'm sure, by seeing your reactions, you feel the same way.
Were you aware of the Eco-Vitality program?
What happened to them?
<Heard of it, don't know>
I spent my day on the road, doing what fish guys do, and I'm still a little pissed that we can't save every life we encounter.
<Such is not possible my friend. We try, but in the final synthesis can only save ourselves>
But ya gotta try, Bob.
From one Bob to Another,
Let's make it happen!!!!
Peace, my friend,
Bob
<Be chatting, Bob Fenner>