Cichlid Pop-Eye

[molotov256]

My dominant African Cichlid looks kinda gross right now... one of his eyes is all puffy and cloudy. I've done some reading on pop-eye, and most articles say it's caused by one of the following:

1- Poor Water Quality
2- Stress
3- Poor Nutrition or lack of vitamins

I had my water tested at the LFS, and they say the water is perfect (yea!). I haven't added any new fish or done a water change or rearranged the tank in the last few weeks, so I don't see why he'd be too stressed out. That makes me wonder about the whole vitamin deal.

I assume I can't feed my fish chewable multivitamins, although I'm sure my oscar would eat them up. Should I change their diets somehow? I want to make sure my fish eat better than I do

 

[astroguy]

oops! You say "I haven't added [...] done a water change [...] in the last few weeks"! That's the problem, you need to make regular, weekly water change 20-30%. Instead of asking the LFS, I strongly recommend that you buy your own ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate tests. This way you will be able to test it yourself, and trust it better. I recommend doing *daily* 10% water changes for a week. Start with 30%. And see how it goes on.

Btw, was your tank ever cycled?

 

[molotov256]

Yes, my tank finished doing the whole cycle deal a few months ago...

I'm surprised at the though of doing water changes so often. I always felt inclined to do them more than I do, but I've been told by numerous people that too many water changes can stress the fish out, and mess up the bacterial eco-system and what not. I thought that too many water changes would take out too much of the good bacteria. Interesting. I'll have to do a water changes ASAP, then.

 

[Allivymar]

Naw, fresh clean treated water is ALWAYS a good thing. And keep in mind the nitrifying bacteria colonise surfaces; there's very little in the water column. As long as you don't chase the fish around with the siphon *grin* or gravel vac every single time (assuming you do daily changes) they'll get used to it and it won't be such a freaky experience for em, although some will never be happy about it. Don't be surprised if you wind up with fish that adore it tho, trying to eat the bits of detritus they see zipping up the tube.

Keep a close eye on him tho (erm..no pun intended); if things don't start clearing up in 4-5 days, I'd suggest isolating him and treating with a broad spectrum antibiotic.

 

[molotov256]

Thankfully, his eye seems to be clearing up. Once I finish the full course of Mela-Fix treatment, I'll do a water change, and start doing them more often. Thanks for the heads up!

Although this particular cichlid acts very healthy, he has some other markings that I never could figure out. He has some small black specs on him towards his tail (bigger than ich spots, kinda like somebody was poking him with a ball point pen), and he also has a white patch on his head that seems more or less defined at different times. Are these markings something I should be alarmed about?

 

[Allivymar]

Dunno. Can you get us a pic so we can see what you are talking about?

 

[molotov256]

I would try to get a pic, but I don't have a digital camera, and the regular camera I do have takes horrible fish pictures. The ones that you can actually see the fish in aren't clear enough to see the spots I'm talking about. I'll try to borrow a friend's camera...

 

[molotov256]

I got some good pictures of his funny black spots... like I said, he seems healthy, but I was always curious about the little specks on him. I added the photos as an attatchment, I hope that was the right way to do it.

 

[Allivymar]

Darn. It didn't come up. Try again, and also add the pic to your gallery. One way or the other we'll be able to see it LOL

 

[Menagerie]

You may need these--Freshwater Diagnostic Charts:
http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm
http://www.clubjungle.com/fish_chart.pdf