# Deadly cloudy eyes



## PocketlintFairy (Jan 20, 2007)

We had a 55-gallon cichlid tank that was going terrific for a good while but one by one the fish would stop eating as well and decrease in swimming. Then after a couple days they would get a cloudy eye or in both and die in the next day or two. I thought it was ich sometimes because I would see little Ã¢â‚¬Å“bubblesÃ¢â‚¬Â on the fish but not in every case with the cloudy eye. We later find out that the black sand we had was to deep and that could have had something to do with it. 
So it has been many months and are beautiful cichlid tank is no more. We cleaned it thoroughly and even let it dry up completely and just let it sit before we put more fish in it. Changed the sand to gravel and washed everything that could go in the dishwasher like that. We filled it and let it run for two weeks before we got fish. We ended up getting a few catfish a Ã¢â‚¬Å“sharkÃ¢â‚¬Â and two coi, slowly. Was all fine the first couple months then one catfish got the bubbles and cloud eye. We treated the tank with this stuff especially for ich that dyes the water bright blue. It did in fact go away. But then one of the coi and the shark got a cloudy eye but no sign of bubbles at all. We have been putting that medicine in the tank but I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t think its helping. Whats going on and how do I save my fish. This is getting expensive and I feel bad for all the fish IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m going through.


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

when you washed your equipment did you use soap? soap kills your fish


----------



## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Hi and welcome board.:wave:


> We cleaned it thoroughly and even let it dry up completely and just let it sit before we put more fish in it. Changed the sand to gravel and washed everything that could go in the dishwasher like that. We filled it and let it run for two weeks before we got fish. We ended up getting a few catfish a Ã¢â‚¬Å“sharkÃ¢â‚¬Â and two coi, slowly. Was all fine the first couple months then one catfish got the bubbles and cloud eye. We treated the tank with this stuff especially for ich that dyes the water bright blue. It did in fact go away. But then one of the coi and the shark got a cloudy eye but no sign of bubbles at all. We have been putting that medicine in the tank but I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t think its helping. Whats going on and how do I save my fish. This is getting expensive and I feel bad for all the fish IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m going through.


I'll clear this one. What you did was stripping down the tank which will always result to repeated cycles. This is a very common mistake among beginners. Cycling phases have very high level of ammonia and nitrites caused by fish wastes and lack of bacteria combined. Without the beneficial bacteria, the fish wastes cannot be converted from ammonia to nitrites and finally to the harmless nitrates. I'd try to start over this time. 

As for the fish, pls avoid the koi for a 55 gallons. Koi can grow to more than just 12 inches and are very big waste producers. You'll need to upgrade the tank in a few months to 300 gallons or rather place them in a very large pond.

What catfish and 'shark' do you have? Avoid bala sharks. They reach 14 inches and are shoalers. As shoalers, they need to be kept in a t least 6 in number and this will require you a 150-200 gallons to accommodate all of them. For catfish, most can reach more than 16 inches particularly the common plec. They are not worth it in a 55 gallons.

The med you were using is Methylene Blue. IMO, it is not worth treating the main tank with Methylene Blue. You have to do it in a quarantine tank. Methylene Blue harms the bacteria and will cause your tank to experience mini-cycles(detectable level of ammonia and nitrites). I would not treat your fish right now but do water changes instead and monitor all water parameters(ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph). Make sure ammonia and nitrites are zero.

I'd suggest leaving your fish with the cloudy eyes alone. Just maintain good water conditions by doing water changes(10-20%) and they will recover. It is not the right time for medications as your tank I presume will have ammonia and nitrite spikes already which will further endanger your fish aside from the stress and harm the medications will have cause. I am thinking you could be overdosing the tank with medications without preoper diagnosis.

Let us know your water parameters and we'll be more than glad to help you further.


----------



## j.c fishfan (Oct 3, 2006)

On the subject blue about methylene killing beneficial bacteria my mate has a colony of tropheus (african cichlids,lake tanganyika) and was about to change them from one tank to another and because they are easy to stress and are prone to getting bloat he decided to treat them with dimetronidazole as a precaution... 

In a few days his fish were breathing really heavily so he check the ammonia and it was off the chart!!This was all because of a so called good treatment..His fish got ammonia poisoning and nearly lost them he ended up loosing six of his beloved fish... 

This is just a warning to help you guys n gurls if you are to treat with dimetronidazole i would advise to either treat them in a 2ft tank or give them a bath in a small tub 2-3 times a day untill all signs disappear.. 

HTH 

Jamie


----------

