Question on bala...

[Lonewolfblue]

My bala is about 5 1/2 inches. I woke up this morning and his left eye is puffed a little and is cloudy-white in color. Could this be from hitting the tank hood when he gets startled, or is it some kind of problem?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

He seems to be swimming around normally, and other than the eye, seems to be fine.

 

[Zagz]

I'd keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get worse as in infection or fungus. He could have banged it and it is a sort of fish black eye. Just keep a close eye on it.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I just got home from work, and no change. Not sure if I'd call it cloudy white, or bluish haze. But it's still the same, no change. Kind of a cloudy white with kind of a bluish haze to it, and can see his eye through it. It's mostly transparent. It's funny that it was just all of a sudden from overnight. Last night he was perfectly fine and feeding, and today woke up to a bad eye and acts normal, and feeds like normal. Wonder if he got into a conflict with the eels? They are about the only things really active at night. If it's a fungus, what would be the best treatment? Maybe start a light salt treatment like I did while cycling?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

He still seems to see ok too, especially when the cat is around. Goes bonkers, even when she is just on the couch. Doesn't get spooked so much when I walk around, but the first sight of her? Never seen a fish swim so fast and violently. Never used to do that til it got to be around 5 inches.

 

[rich311k]

I think it ran into something give it some time as see what happens. You do know Balas like to be in schools and they get more than a foot long.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yup.... Just waiting til it gets a little bigger, maybe another half inch, then my friend is taking it for his big tank. He just doesn't want it quite yet.

 

[talloulou]

Maybe the cat teases it when you aren't home 8O

 

[Lonewolfblue]

The cat's not in during the day, she stays out. She's only in after I get home from work.

 

[rich311k]

He is getting nervous. I think he is so skittish because he is getting crowded and has no company. I would ask your friend to take him now. I cannot believe a inch or so would matter that much.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

26 gal will be too small for a bala. He probably injured his eye by running into the glass.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Actually, when he get's startled, he hit's the hood of the tank. I think that's probably how he got it. That friend of mine has a 125G which is where he's going.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Actually, when he get's startled, he hit's the hood of the tank. I think that's probably how he got it.

Yeah, they are known jumpers.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I was thinking of lowering the water level an inch or so to see if it helps. But then the water would be below the trim on the top of the tank, which would drive me nuts, lol.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, it's getting uglier. The eye has swollen much bigger, and the film looks like it's peeling. It's still semi-transparent, and he still seems to swim fine and see with that eye. Will continue to watch...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I was doing some research and came across Cloudy Eye. Kind of ooks like that, but only one thing, one of the symptoms is lethargy, but there's no sign of that symptom.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Well, I went to the lfs here and talked to a guy there, at Petco. It's sounding more and more like popeye. What do you recommend for popeye? He was showing me tetracycline, but I want to do some research first. My only problem is no hospital tank. And I have 2 fire eels in the tank. I heard a lot on not using certain meds in a tank with scaleless fish, such as eels. What do you recommend?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Also, does popeye affect one eye as well as both, or is both eyes affected? If it's both, then it's probably not popeye as only one eye on my bala is affected. He's still eating just fine, and swims normally. Been trying to keep the cat away more as to lower any stress involved there. And did my regular 3 month maintenance today, removed all driftwood, and other ornaments from the tank, did a thorough bottom vacuuming, and replaced all the ornaments and driftwood, and then fresh treated water. My normal weekly is just doing spot vacs, and 20% water change, but do thorough vacs every 2-3 months. All's looking great, and the water parameters are excellent.

 

[Zagz]

I am not familiar specifically with eels but I do know that meds and scaleless fish can be disatrous! You could look into melafix or pimafix. Read the labels and see if they are appropriate for scaleless fish. Popeye is not contgious and can be caused by trauma to the eye. Some sites recommend medicated food for bacterial infection, others recommend doing nothing and often it will heal on it's own. Wish I could be more help.

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/compldiagnodisease/a/aa053001.htm
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article26.html

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I was thinking of maybe adding a little salt, but my question there is will it affect the java moss, or can I add a little aquarium salt without doing any damage to the java moss?