Angel has cloudy eyes

[Mad Highlander]

One of my Angels has cloudy eyes, does any body know what causes this and how it can be cured? It can't be water quality, I keep a careful eye on that and change 1/3 of the water in the tank twice/week.

[O-man21]

did it just develop? or has it been there, it might be a catarack.

[Mad Highlander]

I don't think it just appeared, I think it was more of a gradual thing. It wasn't like that a month ago, but I've been putting alot of time into a recent charity event. Although I've been paying attention to their fins, colour and behaviour and the plants and water quality, I haven't looked into their eys for quite some time.

[Kit Walker]

Usually cloudy eyes is the first indication of high ammonia levels.

[Mad Highlander]

The ammonia levels are testing O.K., there are only 5 fish in a 40 gallon tank so I didn't think ammonia would be a problem. I'll Check again though.

[ScottoMacD]

Cloudyeye can and usually does appear with bad water quality, or from a fish that is being picked on.

What kind of filtration are you running on the tank?

You might want to increase the amount of water and frequency of the changes.

Depending on what 5 fish you have in there it might be a very heavy bioload for the tank and you water quailty will go down faster.

For the immediate problem. You could add some melafix to the tank and the cloudy eye will clear right up in a couple of days.

It's not very harsh and won't affect the other fish or the tank biology in any negative way..

If the fish is being bullied. Well that is a whole different ball game.
Again. It could be that the 5 particular fish you have in the tank may need more space. So they are taking it out on this one.

You could try rearranging that tank. This will remove any set territories that might be causing the problem.

Or you may have to find out which fish is the bully and remove it.

The problem with bullies is that once one target is gone, it will find another then another.

[Mad Highlander]

Just tested the ammonia levels and got 0ppm.

The filtration is an Eclipse system (I know not great, but with the water changes and a low bioload it should be fine).

The fish in the tank are two adult angelfish two juvenile (1.5 inch) Festivums and 1 clown plec. For a planted tank that size (40 gal) that's not a heavy bioload. At least I don't think so.

As for bullying, the afflicted angelfish is the biggest fish in the tank and is definately "the Boss".

Maybe I'll look into that melafix.:confused: