Cloudy eye.

[moneyLaw]

One of my 10 discus (in 100 gals) has one cloudy eye. Eating aggresively (eat the most out of all 10 discus), active and social. Normal coloration. Nothing wrong with it except one eye. I have that fish for more than 4 months. Started about two weeks ago when I treat the whole tank with prazi-pro (may be coincidence). I normally change 70% water 2-3 times a week. I have been changing 70% water daily for almost a week now and added two tablespoon of salt per 10 gallons with each WC. The tank has sand substrate and I vacuum the sand throughly with each WC. But the eye is not getting better.

Temp: 86F
PH: 8
Ammonia: 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate ~5 (hard to read on the color test). I age my tap water.


Is cloudy eye serious problem? If the fish has cloudy eye for prolong period of time, will it go blink on that eye? So far all the threads I have read about cloudy eyes just suggest water change and salt. Should I just continue with WC and salt? if so, how long does it normally take for the cloudy eye to get better with daily WC? Should I start treating with medication? If so, which medication should I use? Thanks in advance.

[Eddie]

One of my 10 discus (in 100 gals) has one cloudy eye. Eating aggresively (eat the most out of all 10 discus), active and social. Normal coloration. Nothing wrong with it except one eye. I have that fish for more than 4 months. Started about two weeks ago when I treat the whole tank with prazi-pro (may be coincidence). I normally change 70% water 2-3 times a week. I have been changing 70% water daily for almost a week now and added two tablespoon of salt per 10 gallons with each WC. The tank has sand substrate and I vacuum the sand throughly with each WC. But the eye is not getting better.

Temp: 86F
PH: 8
Ammonia: 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate ~5 (hard to read on the color test). I age my tap water.


Is cloudy eye serious problem? If the fish has cloudy eye for prolong period of time, will it go blink on that eye? So far all the threads I have read about cloudy eyes just suggest water change and salt. Should I just continue with WC and salt? if so, how long does it normally take for the cloudy eye to get better with daily WC? Should I start treating with medication? If so, which medication should I use? Thanks in advance.


Anything new added to the tank?

Have you cleaned your filter recently?

[moneyLaw]

Thanks for the quick respond, Eddie. Can always count on you to help newbies. :).. I have 2 eheim 2026 (rated for 96 gals) running on the tank and I clean one of my filters every two weeks. (so basically each filter gets clean every month). Should I clean both filters with WC tomorrow? I was kind of afraid I might knock out the bacterial colony if I do that.

The cloudy eye started before I added anything to the tank. Since then, I have added two fish from Kenny. (I know I shouldn't have done that, but his 3R was irresistable. :) None of the other fish has cloudy eye or any other unhealthy symptom. (no hiding, no clamp fin, come to the front of the tank everytime I walk past the tank) Also the infected fish (BD) is the fattest fish in the tank and eats everything I put in the tank. Plz give me some suggestions on what to try. Thanks.

Mike.

[moneyLaw]

Here is the pic of BD

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx257/MIke7171/IMG_0233.jpg

[nc0gnet0]

superficial scrape?

[Eddie]

Have you had any drastic PH drops?

[moneyLaw]

I haven't tested PH since four, five months ago (didn't know that ph changes can cause cloudy eye), so I don't know whether there were some changes in pH two weeks ago that caused cloudy eye.

But I just tested the pH right now and it is ~8. And 4-5 months ago it was ~8. I don't know whether that was helpful for diagnostic.

Also I am trying to think back carefully on what changes happened in two weeks. The only two things I can think of are the cloudy eye started when I dosed prazi-pro. First I thought it was water quality, so I started changing water more frequently. (at that time, I use 1/2 aged water and 1/2 from tap), but a week ago, I bought a bigger container so that I can age 100% of the water. Those were the only two changes I know of. (100% aged water happens after the cloudy eye).

btw: how long does it take 'normally' for a fish to recover from cloudy eye? I don't know whether i should wait and see and continue 70% daily WC.

[Eddie]

It really depends on how the eye became cloudy. If it was physical damage, it can take quite a bit. If its bacterial, it will also take time. If it was water quality, then it should be improving with your increased water changes. Might give it another week and see how it goes. Is it getting better or worse at all?

[moneyLaw]

I dont think it is a physical damage since I can see cloudiness happens inside the eye, no damage on the outside. I am not sure whether it is getting better or worse. Sometimes I can barely see it (like when it is chasing food aggressively, while other times I think it is quite noticeable. (may be depends on how light hits the eye)

If it is bacterial, will it recover itself if I don't treat it with medication and just large WCs? I will follow ur advice and give it another week to see whether it will go away. Otherwise, I will bug you again for which medication I should use to treat it. Thanks for all your help, Eddie.

[Eddie]

I dont think it is a physical damage since I can see cloudiness happens inside the eye, no damage on the outside. I am not sure whether it is getting better or worse. Sometimes I can barely see it (like when it is chasing food aggressively, while other times I think it is quite noticeable. (may be depends on how light hits the eye)

If it is bacterial, will it recover itself if I don't treat it with medication and just large WCs? I will follow ur advice and give it another week to see whether it will go away. Otherwise, I will bug you again for which medication I should use to treat it. Thanks for all your help, Eddie.


Give it another week but watch it closely. If it starts getting worse, nix the waiting and move the fish to a hospital tank. Pick up a few packages of Furan 2, just in case.

All the best,

Eddie

[moneyLaw]

Will do. Thanks again, Eddie.

[moneyLaw]

Hi Eddie,

BD's eye is not getting better. I decided to treat the fish with Furan 2 like you suggested. Just ordered the medication and I won't receive it until Monday or Tuesday.

I do have a couple of questions about setting up the hospital tank.

1. I have a sponge filter that I can use for the tank. Should I seed the sponge filter in the display tank now?
i am not sure whether I need the hospital tank to be seeded since I assume I will be doing water change every day while re-dosing furan 2 for four doses (four day).

2. Should I change ~ 100% water before re-dosing it each day? (the instruction said only 25% wc, but i figure you would favor 100% WC)

3. After four days, should the fish be returned to the main tank ? Or do I need to keep the fish in the hospital tank until the eye gets better? (in this case, I think I should seed the hospital tank).

4. At what temp? lights on or off? Anything else that I should be aware of? Thanks.

[Eddie]

1. I have a sponge filter that I can use for the tank. Should I seed the sponge filter in the display tank now?
i am not sure whether I need the hospital tank to be seeded since I assume I will be doing water change every day while re-dosing furan 2 for four doses (four day).
No need for a seeded filter in a hospital tank, just air and a heater.


2. Should I change ~ 100% water before re-dosing it each day? (the instruction said only 25% wc, but i figure you would favor 100% WC)
This depends on the size of the tank. More is generally better if you are dealing with bacteria and no biofiltration going. Always make sure you dose the Furan before filling the tank back up.

3. After four days, should the fish be returned to the main tank ? Or do I need to keep the fish in the hospital tank until the eye gets better?
If the fish improves within the 4 days thats fine but if it does not recover, keep the F-2 going for up to 10 days. You still wont need a seeded filter if you just maintain water change frequency.

4. At what temp? lights on or off? Anything else that I should be aware of? Thanks.
82F, lights off. Nope but if you have anymore q's, ask away. ;)


Good luck!

[moneyLaw]

"Always make sure you dose the Furan before filling the tank back up. "

Not sure what you meant by that. Shouldn't I re-dose the Furan AFTER filling the tank with new water?
FYI: My hospital will be 20 gallons tank, so I can do ~100% water change every day.


"If the fish improves within the 4 days thats fine but if it does not recover, keep the F-2 going for up to 10 days. You still wont need a seeded filter if you just maintain water change frequency. "

When you says the fish improves within the 4 days, do you mean the fish no long has cloudy eye at all? or do you mean if the cloudy eye becomes less? Thanks.

[YSS]

Is the entire eye cloudy or just part? I have a very healthy fish with one eye partly cloudy. She was always like that. I guess it's no big deal. However, I've also had many bad experiences with cloudy eyes as well. I guess better to be safe than sorry. Good luck.

[Eddie]

"Always make sure you dose the Furan before filling the tank back up. "
Not sure what you meant by that. Shouldn't I re-dose the Furan AFTER filling the tank with new water? It means exactly that, add the antibiotic and then fill.


"If the fish improves within the 4 days thats fine but if it does not recover, keep the F-2 going for up to 10 days. You still wont need a seeded filter if you just maintain water change frequency. "
When you says the fish improves within the 4 days, do you mean the fish no long has cloudy eye at all? or do you mean if the cloudy eye becomes less? Thanks. I mean the fish has no cloudy eye at all.