White spots on eyes

[Dan White]

What's the best diagnosis for faint white spots on a fish's eye? I've got
some nice large and plump cardinal tetras, but about 2 of them have a very
faint white spot on the eye. What is the best cure for this? I'm concerned
that this will turn into something more serious. My ammonia/nitrites are 0
and ph at 7.0. Hardness is high but I haven't measured it. I know the tap
water is very hard but the heater has been precipitating out white solids
which I presume are calcium carbonate or similar. I do water changes but
not nearly at the rate others do here... probably once a month or 3 weeks,
and about 10% at a time (55 gal tank). My thought is to do larger and more
frequent changes, vacuuming the gravel, to reduce the population of any
parasites or bacteria that could be causing this. Is such an approach
enough to fix the problem, or are chemicals usually needed?

Thanks,
dwhite

[Margolis]

"Dan White" > wrote in message
. net...
> What's the best diagnosis for faint white spots on a fish's eye? I've got
> some nice large and plump cardinal tetras, but about 2 of them have a very
> faint white spot on the eye. What is the best cure for this? I'm
concerned
> that this will turn into something more serious. My ammonia/nitrites are
0
> and ph at 7.0. Hardness is high but I haven't measured it. I know the
tap
> water is very hard but the heater has been precipitating out white solids
> which I presume are calcium carbonate or similar. I do water changes but
> not nearly at the rate others do here... probably once a month or 3 weeks,
> and about 10% at a time (55 gal tank). My thought is to do larger and
more
> frequent changes, vacuuming the gravel, to reduce the population of any
> parasites or bacteria that could be causing this. Is such an approach
> enough to fix the problem, or are chemicals usually needed?
>
> Thanks,
> dwhite
>
>


not certain, but eyes tend to be a target for fungus a lot of times.. Can
you get a good look and really see if it could be fungus??

after reading more of your post now, I am leaning more towards fungus. Your
water changes need to be picked up. You need to be doing about 25-30% every
other week regularly to keep the tank halfway healthy. Your nitrates are
building up along with other waste products.


to fix the fish, you need to get the tank cleaned thoroughly and then you
will need to use some sort of anti fungal antibiotic that you can buy at
your local fish store.
--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Dan White]

"Margolis" > wrote in message
...
> "Dan White" > wrote in message
> . net...
> > What's the best diagnosis for faint white spots on a fish's eye? I've
got
> > some nice large and plump cardinal tetras, but about 2 of them have a
very
> > faint white spot on the eye. What is the best cure for this? I'm
> concerned
> > that this will turn into something more serious. My ammonia/nitrites
are
> 0
> > and ph at 7.0. Hardness is high but I haven't measured it. I know the
> tap
> > water is very hard but the heater has been precipitating out white
solids
> > which I presume are calcium carbonate or similar. I do water changes
but
> > not nearly at the rate others do here... probably once a month or 3
weeks,
> > and about 10% at a time (55 gal tank). My thought is to do larger and
> more
> > frequent changes, vacuuming the gravel, to reduce the population of any
> > parasites or bacteria that could be causing this. Is such an approach
> > enough to fix the problem, or are chemicals usually needed?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > dwhite
> >
>
> not certain, but eyes tend to be a target for fungus a lot of times.. Can
> you get a good look and really see if it could be fungus??

I can see the spots quite clearly when I take my time but I'm not really
sure what I am looking for. They are just faint whitish spots. I would
assume they are a fungus but then I don't know any better.

>
> after reading more of your post now, I am leaning more towards fungus.
Your
> water changes need to be picked up. You need to be doing about 25-30%
every
> other week regularly to keep the tank halfway healthy. Your nitrates are
> building up along with other waste products.

One of the things that concerned me is the pH swings. My tap water is quite
alkaline while the tank has worked its way down to a 7.0. I know more
frequent changes will raise the pH somewhat and make swings less noticeable,
but it still concerns me. It does have to be done though so I guess it is a
moot point.
>
>
> to fix the fish, you need to get the tank cleaned thoroughly and then you
> will need to use some sort of anti fungal antibiotic that you can buy at
> your local fish store.

I'll look into that. It seems tetras, which I seem to have mostly right
now, are more sensitive to these chemicals.

thanks,
dwhite

[Margolis]

"Dan White" > wrote in message
. net...
>
> I can see the spots quite clearly when I take my time but I'm not really
> sure what I am looking for. They are just faint whitish spots. I would
> assume they are a fungus but then I don't know any better.
>



If they aren't little pinheads like ich, then more than likely it is fungus.


>
> One of the things that concerned me is the pH swings. My tap water is
quite
> alkaline while the tank has worked its way down to a 7.0. I know more
> frequent changes will raise the pH somewhat and make swings less
noticeable,
> but it still concerns me.


the ph dropping in the tank like that is an indication that you have huge
amounts of waste material decomposing in the gravel causing the ph to drop.
As long as the tank is clean, the ph will not drop.




> I'll look into that. It seems tetras, which I seem to have mostly right
> now, are more sensitive to these chemicals.
>


if it is a fungus, there is not much you can do other than treat them. I am
not really talking about "chemicals" but "medicine". Even though that is
really a fine line ;o) Anyway, right now the only options I see are to very
thoroughly clean the gravel and tank and get the water parameters right and
then use the medicine to get rid of the fungus. Another thing, what is your
temperature at? And does it vary much? tetra's like the cardinal like warm
water. I would suggest 80°f for a stable temp with those fish.



--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Dan White]

"Margolis" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> the ph dropping in the tank like that is an indication that you have huge
> amounts of waste material decomposing in the gravel causing the ph to
drop.
> As long as the tank is clean, the ph will not drop.

I suppose, but I can't see there being huge amounts of muck. The 55g tank
has only been running for a few months and I've vacuumed parts of it pretty
well, tho' not often I admit. I figured the pH drop had to do with "aging"
of the water from normal live plant debris, fish waste, etc. Of course your
definition of clean is probably different from what I've been thinking.

> > I'll look into that. It seems tetras, which I seem to have mostly right
> > now, are more sensitive to these chemicals.
> >
>
>
> if it is a fungus, there is not much you can do other than treat them. I
am
> not really talking about "chemicals" but "medicine". Even though that is
> really a fine line ;o) Anyway, right now the only options I see are to
very
> thoroughly clean the gravel and tank and get the water parameters right
and
> then use the medicine to get rid of the fungus. Another thing, what is
your
> temperature at? And does it vary much? tetra's like the cardinal like
warm
> water. I would suggest 80°f for a stable temp with those fish.
>

The temperature is very consistently at 77, sometimes dipping to 76 but
never to 75. I didn't know tetras like it so warm. I do have others like a
betta and plan on getting a couple of angels next week so I might have to
find a happy medium.

Thanks for the comments,
dwhite

[Margolis]

"Dan White" > wrote in message
. net...
>
>
>
> The temperature is very consistently at 77, sometimes dipping to 76 but
> never to 75. I didn't know tetras like it so warm. I do have others like
a
> betta and plan on getting a couple of angels next week so I might have to
> find a happy medium.
>
> Thanks for the comments,
> dwhite
>
>


I don't know about betta's, I have never kept them. But angels are very
happy with the temp at 80 also. 78-80 is the range I have always kept all
of my tropical fish and they seem to thrive in it. The tetras I have
always kept a little warmer since they get stressed so easily from cooler
temperatures.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Dan White]

"Margolis" > wrote in message
...

> I don't know about betta's, I have never kept them. But angels are very
> happy with the temp at 80 also. 78-80 is the range I have always kept
all
> of my tropical fish and they seem to thrive in it. The tetras I have
> always kept a little warmer since they get stressed so easily from cooler
> temperatures.
>

I wasn't aware tetras liked water warmer. Thanks for the tip.

dwhite