Missing eye

[cindamae41]

Hi. I just noticed yesterday that my danio's left eye is completely gone. I have 2 other fish in the 10 gallon aquarium with him. One is a dwarf gourami and the other one is a rosy barb. Neither seem aggressive towards the danio and I keep the tank clean. I don't know what to think of this. I'm knew at having an aquarium and tried to do all the right things. Help! Also, the empty socket had a little bit of red in it at first but it seems to be fading a little now. Can anyone help me understand this problem? Thanks. Cindy

 

[Menagerie]

[center:b288619bfd] Welcome to AA, Cindy!! [/center:b288619bfd]

Add some Melafix and a bit of aquarium salt to the tank to decrease the changes of infection. The Melafix will not harm the other fish or the bacteria in the filter.
Gouramis and barbs can get nasty, but usually fin pieces go missing, not entire eyes.
What type of decor is in the tank?
What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temp)?

The barb and danio would perfer to be in groups of their own (3+). That's tough in a 10 gal, but if you go up in tank sizes, consider getting them some more friends

 

[cindamae41]

Thank you so much for your advice. I will try it. As far as the decor, I have artificial plants (2 large)(1 small). I have 2 decorative pieces (a small fake shark and a small 4" fake rock w/a hole in the middle). I do not have a test kit (but I will purchase one) to test the water. As far as the gourami and barb having friends, do you think they will be ok the way they are or do I definately need to get a bigger tank? I noticed the gourami swimming after the danio a little bit but not that aggressively. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again. Cindy

 

[JohnPaul]

Keep the gourami alone for the time being, they are more than happy alone and if you end up with two male gouramis you might have a real war on your hands. A male and a female would be okay, however, if they actually breed then you may see a marked increase in aggression from the male as he defends the bubble nest.

As a rule, both danios and barbs prefer tankmates of their own kind. Ideally, you would want 6+ of each, but there is no way that many would fit in a 10 gal. Rosy barbs can grow to 3" and danios to about 2"...so to have schools of 6 each, you would probably be talking roughly a 30 gal aquarium. Any chance you could afford to upgrade to a bigger tank?

If that is an impossibility, then I would look to add another 2 danios and 2 barbs. That would give you 3 each; not exactly a school, but at least some friends.

However, you didn't mention whether this is an established tank or brand new. If it is brand new the tank still needs to cycle--and until it does, no more fish should be added. If that's the case, getting a water test kit and monitoring water conditions is a must.

EDIT: just went back and did my math. Even 3 each of zebras and barbs is still going to be way overstocked for your 10. If I had to choose, I would at least get a couple more barbs, as they can be nippy towards other fish, but that decreases when they have mmore of their own. But getting a bigger tank seems to be almost a "must" if you can possibly do it.

 

[cindamae41]

Thanks again. Today I bought some melafix and aquarium salt and also some test strips for the water. I added the melafix and salt and when I tested the water, the nitrate and nitrites were good but the hardness, alkalinity and ph did not match at all. I have had this tank since Christmas. I didn't add the first fish until it had been set up for two weeks. Then I added the other 2 fish after another 2 weeks. I keep the temperature around 78-80 degrees. I'm really not sure what to do about the hardness, alkalinity and ph. The test strip box does not tell me what the colors on my strip mean. My test strip shows a rusty brown color for hardness instead of the pea green color that is ideal. For alkilinity my test strip color is blue instead of yellow and for ph my test strip color is a red instead of the gold color recommended. Does this mean I need to increase or decrease the ones that don't match? I'm sorry to be so "undereducated" about all this. I really want my fish to have a safe and thriving environment. Once again, if you can help me, I certainly do appreciate it! Cindy Oh, I will look into getting a bigger tank. I just bought a stand for a 10 gallon aquarium but I will probably need to buy a bigger stand if I go to a 30 right? Until I can get a new tank, I think I will take your advice and purchase 2 more barbs to keep the lonely one in the tank company. (After I get the water conditions right!!). Looking forward to hearing from you....