Cloudy Eye in brackish tank

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brackishdude

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Dec 28, 2002
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My five year old 27" fire eel has had a cloudy left eye for 3 days. If it is bulging, only slightly so.

My 100 gal tank is brackish (currently 1.005, range 1.002-1.009). With over 9 years of experience with this tank (my first and only), I consider myself a self-taught expert on many aspects of brakcish tank and fish care.

Yet, I have never had to treat my tank for anything! Deaths in my tank over the years have resulted from human errors: moves, beer poured in tank by drunk "helper", broken-heater-with-open-window syndrome, etc. I always figured I had stumbled onto some great secret with regular water changes including changes in SG in the above range.

His tankmates include scats, monos, a moray, an archer, nerite snails and countless scuds. All are healthy.

Does anyone have a suggestion? Does the fact that the tank is brackish have any relevance? I would rather not try my usual SG change, for fear it will jsut further stress him.

He is my show piece, the second oldest fish I own. Please advise!
 
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OrionGirl

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I would check your ammonia/nitrite levels. Most times, cloudy eyes are related to water quality, and fire eels tend to be on the sensitive end. The cloudiness may be a bacterial infection brought on by dipping water quality. Another possibility is an injury has become infected. Very easy to happen with eels--they tend to poke around into everything, and end up with damage to the eyes when they try to get into someplace a tad too small. If your water quality checks out, I'd go with this theory.

Treating cloudy eye can be done with antibiotics. You'll need to treat with a half dose--eels are considered scaleless fish, so are very sensitive to meds. If you can, pull him from your show tank into a q-tank. This will allow you to monitor his condition, and make frequent water changes. I wouldn't change the specific gravity, just provide lots of clean water. If he continues to eat and behave normally, he should pull through.

Good luck--they are great critters!
 

brackishdude

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Cured!

Thanks for the lead Orion Girl. My ammonia levels were registering on the lowest level. i did a 20-30% water change and cleaned my eheim. No gravel sweep.

I woke up this morning, 36 hours later, and the eye has almost completely resolved. Ammonia is unmeasurable.

Incidentally, I went the super biofilter-conscious route with the eheim. I usually only change the media when the flow is noticeably reduced, and then I am aggressive. I discard all of the floss, and rinse the permanent media with the hose. I figure I lose a lot of beneficial bacteria and it may take a while to reseed the filter, but its so much more convenient. Besides, I have a thick, mature undergravel filter, a dozen or so mangroves, and the return from the eheim is fitted to a double biowheel mounted inside the hood. So if I just don't feed for a few days (also, very easy) while the filter gears up, I figure I've got some leeway.

This time I took the filter to the sink. I reverse drained the residual into a bucket. I put the floss aside. I rinsed the permanent media from above with tank water, draining into the bucket. I then partially filled the filter with water by lightly rinsing some of the old floss into the canister using tank water. (Helps seed the new floss?) I placed the new floss in, and got it running.

It was just as easy as the hose method, and it certainly is less risky. I also havn't fed in several days.

What did I do with the water in the bucket? It was teeming with scud that had been sucked into the filter since the last time it had been changed. There was almost negligible "filter crud". I let the residue settle and poured 90% or so into the tank directley. I was able to save almost all of the scud.
 
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Pufferpunk

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That skuzzy junk makes GREAT fertilizer for your indoor & outdoor plants!
 
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