EEL WITH BOTH EYES CLOUDY/WHITE PATCHES

[SALTY 75]

hello guys, so there is a bit of a story behind this the short and sweet version is basically I am moving and having someone else watch my tank at their house. It’s been a couple months and I have lost two fish already and now my eel has white patches on both his eyes. I will check the parameters and post more pictures tomorrow but if anyone knows what this probably is it would be great for some advice. I have had the eel for over a year and the tank has been set up for over four years.

 

[SALTY 75]

I know those aren’t great pictures but I will post more tomorrow.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes, it would help to have clear pictures taken under white light. The first issue is - are just the eyes cloudy, or is the whole fish cloudy, but you can only see the white on its eyes - that can go both ways....

Jay

 

[SALTY 75]

Yes, it would help to have clear pictures taken under white light. The first issue is - are just the eyes cloudy, or is the whole fish cloudy, but you can only see the white on its eyes - that can go both ways....

Jay

Ok so just his eyes are cloudy. His left eye is worse than his right and they don’t look as bad under white light

 

[SALTY 75]

Here are some more pictures of that. Any ideas what it could be? I will be testing parameters here in a second

 

[Jay Hemdal]

In these photos, it doesn’t look too bad; no swelling and the fish can probably still see ok. Is it still eating ? You said you lost 2 other fish, are there any other fish in the tank now? Do they have any symptoms?
Jay

 

[SALTY 75]

Ph 8.2-8.4

Nitrate 0ppm

Nitrite 0ppm

Ammonia 0ppm

salt is a little lower than it should be

Well that all seems to check out. I really don’t know what it could be. I was just told that in December a thermometer broke inside the tank, could it be heavy metals leaching slowly into the water? Do you think it could be from an incorrect diet like not enough vitamins and such?

 

[SALTY 75]

He seems to be acting normal and can still see. Idk what to make of this :/

 

[SALTY 75]

Ok so he is still eating, I only have one other fish in the tank and it is doing great seems totally normal. My other fish died and they said it’s eyes were cloudy before it died as well but that was a few months ago

 

[SALTY 75]

There is also a BUNCH of this algae in there. It’s been in there since before the eels time but there is more of it than normal. It’s a dark purple reddish idk if that could be toxic or something

 

[SALTY 75]

Here is that algae

 

[DaddyFish]

If it's heavy metal or similar contamination, you could run some carbon to scrub that out. I'd do that anyway. Eels are generally tough critters, so something must be going on.
My first instinct is that you have something "foreign" in the bottom or tucked away somewhere that the eel and the other fish that died are investigating. Perhaps a dead fish you haven't accounted for yet?
With better pictures Jay may be able to tell you if it's bacterial, I can't say. My strongest and best suggestion is go digging. Something substantial is afoul and you need to find it. Use someone as a spotter so the eel doesn't catch you offguard messing around in his territory.

 

[SALTY 75]

Ok I will search around. I only had four fish so no fish are left lying around rotting . I really don’t know, I’ll run some carbon asap.

 

[SALTY 75]

If it's heavy metal or similar contamination, you could run some carbon to scrub that out. I'd do that anyway. Eels are generally tough critters, so something must be going on.
My first instinct is that you have something "foreign" in the bottom or tucked away somewhere that the eel and the other fish that died are investigating. Perhaps a dead fish you haven't accounted for yet?
With better pictures Jay may be able to tell you if it's bacterial, I can't say. My strongest and best suggestion is go digging. Something substantial is afoul and you need to find it. Use someone as a spotter so the eel doesn't catch you offguard messing around in his territory.

Thanks for the advice, Is there a late night reefer club I can join lol

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There is also a BUNCH of this algae in there. It’s been in there since before the eels time but there is more of it than normal. It’s a dark purple reddish idk if that could be toxic or something

It probably isn't the algae. Not sure about the thermometer - most of them are just made with red alcohol, but depend on the brand I suppose.

Here is a link to an article I wrote on fish eye health. It probably won't answer your specific question, but it may give you some ideas: https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-fish-the-eyes-have-it-a-review-of-eye-health-in-aquarium-fishes/

Jay

 

[SALTY 75]

It probably isn't the algae. Not sure about the thermometer - most of them are just made with red alcohol, but depend on the brand I suppose.

Here is a link to an article I wrote on fish eye health. It probably won't answer your specific question, but it may give you some ideas: https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-fish-the-eyes-have-it-a-review-of-eye-health-in-aquarium-fishes/

Jay

Ok from what I can see it looks like he either scratched his eye or it’s some kind of a fungus cause the white spots look like they are not round but more of like lots of stripe looking things. Hard to explain sorry. Based on what I read it looks kinda like how you describe a fungus

 

[SALTY 75]

I followed your Diagnosis chart and it led me to cataracts or droop eye but he can still see well and his eyes are not poping out or anything

 

[SALTY 75]

Ok so after a closer look at his eyes and comparing them for awhile it is looking like his left eye (the one that is worse) is kind of protruding out more then the other eye

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It doesn't look like cataracts, and eels aren't really prone to flukes, so the next idea would be a bacterial infection. Erythromycin (Maracyn 1) but you really can't treat that in a display tank, so I don't know what options you might have...

Jay

 

[SALTY 75]

It doesn't look like cataracts, and eels aren't really prone to flukes, so the next idea would be a bacterial infection. Erythromycin (Maracyn 1) but you really can't treat that in a display tank, so I don't know what options you might have...

Jay

Dang it :/ that’s really sad. Is there a chance that it gets better on its own? And I only have snails and hermit crabs in the main so does that effect my options to medicate?