Foggy Eyes?

V

ViperGTS19801

AC Members
Jun 30, 2006
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Our Plecco, Balas and Angel have kind of this foggy thing over their eyes, almost like cataracts. They are worse on some days, and the plecco and angel have only had them since today.

Interestingly, the plecco was found upside down this morning, and when we flipped him over, he seemed fine.

He was found upside down again this evening as well, but when flipped over again he seems fine (aside from the foggy lenses so to speak).
 
cloudy eyes in fish can have many causes including velvet, Ich, fish tuberculosis, corneal edema, cataracts, nutritional deficiency, bacterial infections, fungus, or on rare occasions digenetic flukes such as Diplostomum. trauma and hereditary factors can also be causative. in the vast majority of cases however, water quality is the issue. have you checked your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?
 
I agree with liv, and in addition to that post, it is also very very difficult to treat with meds. The only tried and true cure is to practice religious water maintenance schedules and getting that water into pristine shape. Unfortunatley though, I would say you may lose at least 1.
 
I don't know I would be talking about the same thing but Tinfoil Barbs sometimes have this "hazy" looking eye when the water quality is poor. This happened to me once and what i did was to do alot of partial water changes. The cloudiness of the eye disappeared on its own after about a week since good or "pristine" water quality was restored. Yours, might be the same thing, or maybe not but the first thing I'd do right now is test the water parameters. If you have ammonia and/or nitrite > 0, do some water changes immediately.

By the way how long have you had these fishes? If they are relatively new did you cycle your tank? :dive:
 
We really have to start doing consitent water changes anyhow. We haven't done any since we got these fish about a year ago.
 
OK, hold on, don't do major water changes to start off. Change out about 5% of the water daily. You most likely have Old Tank Syndrome, where Dissolved Organic Compounds, hormones and all kinds of other fishy bi-products have built up. Your water has probably become "thick" doing a massive water change will "thin" it and can cause shock to your fish. For more information google "osmoregulation". Once you have changed 5% of the water daily for 2-3 weeks, then you can start doing 40-50% weekly, but please take it slow to start out or you will kill your fish.
 
yes, follow joylynn's advice. if you haven't done water changes in a year, that is most certainly the cause of the cloudy eyes and loss of fish. i'm sure you've got a full -blown case of OTS. and yes, at this point, a large water change could stress the fish to point of death. it's seems backward, since good clean water should be better for your fish, but like she said, your fish have become accustomed to living in their bad water. so follow her advice, start off gradually to get your fish used to better water again. then be good about your water changes. 25% weekly is the minimum recommended by most folks on this forum. i used to be bad about water changes, too (50% a month), and it led to all kinds of health problems in my fishes that i'm still paying for. now i do 40-60% EVERY WEEK, in each of 4 tanks, and my fishies love me for it. they've never been healthier or happier.
 
Agreed with the previous two posts....as well, the OTS probably has your pH around 4.5-5....and sudden, large partial water changes would increase it drastically and suddenly....which would also likely be fatal to most of your fish.

With no regular water changes, have you also been negligent on filter maintenance as well?
 
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