Columbian Tetra with 1 cloudy eye

[SJackson]

Hi! I just found this forum this morning while looking for help on a topic. If anyone here can help me I would appreciate it very much.

One of my Columbian Tetras has one cloudy eye. I've never had this before so I have tried to look things up on the internet about it and really can't find much information.
Water conditions taken at 7:52 am Eastern time on Feb. 2, 2004:
Ammonia (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.): 0 ppm
pH (TetraTest): approx. 8
Then I have the QuickDip 5 from Jungle:
pH: 8.4 (but I will take the reading from the TetraTest as more accurate but they are close)
Nitrate: 40 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Hardness 0 ppm
Alkalinity: 300 ppm

I have been doing 30% water changes every other to every 2 days. The pH level went from 9 down to 8 on its own in about a week. I have cut back on the amount of flakes I feed them in the last week which has helped keep the tank cleaner and reduce the smell the tank was putting off. The only thing that I can think of was that on Saturday, after I did the water change I wiped the outside of the tank with Windex. I sprayed a papertowl in a totally seperate room, then wiped the glass on the outside making sure not to go too close to the top or to touch any part of the tank that I touch normally when I feed them (like the lid). Aso, on Friday night I had a music DVD of my favorite band playing really loud. The tank is on the opposite side of the room, but I didnt know if this could hurt them too.

All of the other fish seem to be fine except for the one with the one cloudy eye. Here are the other questions you seem to need to maybe help answer my question.

What size is your aquarium? 10 gal.
How long has it been running? Approx 1 month
How many (and which) fish are in the aquarium? 3 columbian tetras, 2 rosey barbs, 1 algie eater, 2 snails
What is your water temperature at? around 75 degrees F.
What filters are used on the aquarium? Whisper 10-20 gal power filter
What dechlorinator (if any) do you use? Petsmart brand
What other chemicals do you use regularly? ACE, Petsmart brand bacteria starter
What is your filter maintenance? change once a montH
How often do you maintain your filter? once a month

 

[tear1977]

If a fish has cloudy eyes it is normally slime disease or poisoning/poor water quality. Slime is a parasite infestation by flukes and protozoan parasites. There are plenty of medications on the market.

Robbie.

Double check your water condition.

 

[OrionGirl]

There are many causes for a cloudy eye. If the fish has been in the tank a while and is healthy, with no ammonia/nitrites, I'd suspect this is the result of an injury. If the fish startled and smacked into something, it can easily cause a cloudiness that will normally clear up within a few days. Rather than medicating without knowing what's wrong, I'd monitor for: worsening conditions, abnormal behavior, failure to eat. Preferably, remove the fish to another tank for this observation, so you can be sure nothing else causes the fish any problems.

Bacterial infections are also a common cause for cloudy eyes--one that may or may not be related to water conditions.

 

[SJackson]

Well it could have been from smacking into something. The other day when I was doing the water change I was having one heck of a time getting that gravel filter tube thing to start sucking water. I could have scared the living daylights out of him then. It was soon after that, that I noticed the eye go cloudy. I checked it again this morning, and while it is still cloudy it isnt nearly as bad as it was.

I'm just new to fish and tanks and I get really paranoid whenever something doesn't look normal. Hopefully this will just go away in a day or two. If it doesn't, I don't know what I'm going to be able to do because I don't have a second tank for observation away from the other fish. Plus, I don't have the money or the space to put up a second one.

Thank you for all of your help. It is very appreciated.