fish eyes

[angel51431]

Something seems wrong with the eyes of my old tiger barb. Sometimes the lens inside becomes cloudy around the edges. They're fine otherwise, no swelling, nothing on the outside of the eye. Just occasionally there is like a white circle. This lasts a few days, and doesn't seem to respond to medicine. Comes and goes whether I medicate it or not (I usually use Super Sulfa, or very rarely Penicillin, which I try to avoid because it may kill useful bacteria). Don't know whether it affects his eyesight. Can anyone tell me anything about this condition? I know nothing about it, other than what I've observed. I also know I've had gouramis with the same condition.

 

[stik6shift98]

i have head and tail liht tetras that have the same thing...but it only happens to one eye but they seem do be doing fine

weird

 

[angel51431]

Usually happens to both eyes in my tiger barb. I was thinking that maybe one of the smaller barbs might have nipped him in that area, but I doubt that'd affect both eyes.

 

[catfishmike]

how often are you doing water changes?many times the eyes of fish suffer the worst if there are bad water conditions.don't be afraid to change your water more than once a week you can change some once a day if you like and that will make sure there is no buildup of unwanted contaminates.not that i'm saying you haven't been doing them but that could prove to solve your problem.just a thought

 

[angel51431]

Yea, more water changes are a good idea. I usually don't change the water nearly as often as I should, though in the past few weeks I have been keeping up. Come to think of it, I probably should do water changes even more often, since my tank's quite crowded (I do a 5% change once or twice a week)

But how old would 'old' be for a tiger barb? My guy's about a year old, I've had him since he was a little tiny barb, and now he's about two inches long. Doesn't really sound like old age, more like middle age. I mostly said old, because he's the oldest and biggest of my barbs, so I just tend call him old. I don't really beleive he is 'old' though, when I've heard it to be normal for small fish to live for 2 or 3 years.

 

[fishaddict]

Maybe try doing 10 or 15 percent water changes once a week. As sad as it is i was only doing them once a month or even less but someone smartened me up when i got a pleco. Back to you 10 or 15 percent once a week lets say sunday or something oughta help. I think your fish might enjoy it.

 

[catfishmike]

you only do 5 percent?try 25 percent. that is probably part of the problem.the fish/age tingh varys as some people report cardinal tetras that have lived for nine years,wheras they live for about a year in the wild so it depends on the care and attention spent on the tank.

 

[beaver8888]

change water parasites probably or something more often if you already changed water

 

[angel51431]

beaver, I have no idea what you just said. But I highly doubt its parasites. The inside of the eye becomes cloudy, there are no buggies or worms or anything. And it comes and goes. Doesn't seem like a parasite to me.

Now then, 25 % all at once? Wouldn't that be a bit much? Its only a 10 gallon tank. I was thinking of starting to do small changes more often, like 5% every other day or something. Sounds a bit less stressful, no? Of course the water quality is already stressful to the fish.

 

[catfishmike]

yea beaver is like that i can figure it out,though.no you should change at least 25% once a week,especialy in a tank as small as ten gal. you can change more if you like but it's best to keep it to 50%or less on small tanks.make sure the water is the same temp.
the only reason why your tank would be stressed during a water change is if you add water that hasn't been dechlorinated,or if the water is too hot/cold.you know you never have mentioned what kind of filter you are using,that can play an importaint part in water quality.most people overfilter rather than underfilter.in my planted loach tank it's only a ten gallon and i do a 25%water change every monday like clockwork,i have never seen a problem.

 

[red belly pacus]

It sounds to me like a bacteria infection, water clarity is a must also you may want to isolate the fish with cloudy eyes and give them a broad spectrum antibiotic just incase you never know pop eye may be on the way . also with just a 10 gallon tank you can fill gallon jugs let them sit for 2 days they wont have chlorine and will be close to water temp of the tank for your water changes. also how long have the fish had this?

 

[angel51431]

I've never seen a case of popeye in my fish, I don't even really know what that looks like. I've never seen any eye-related extremities other than slight cloudiness. I don't know, really, how long the tiger barb had this. Sometimes the cloudiness goes away and returns within a week or two. Sometimes it doesn't come back for a few months.

Only the largest, oldest tiger barb has this eye thing, and he is one of, if not the oldest fish I have. Yea, that'd make him about a year old or so. I've had other fish with a similar problem before, and they were all, I believe, 'older' inhabitants. Not really 'old', but older than the rest of the fish.

The filter I use is an AC Mini, and I doubt I overfilter, since the tank is overcrowded (3 tiger barbs and 8 cories). Plus I have to admit, I don't vacuum the gravel too often. I'm horrible, I know. But I do dechlorinate the water before adding it. Another thing is, the pH of my tap (closer to 7) is higher than my tank (about 6.2), and the dechlorinating stuff puts it higher still. Would that be a problem?