I've had this angel for about 3 weeks now, and it's been quite the bumpy ride.
He had this problem on one eye right off the bat, and I'd catch him scratching the eye. It looked almost like a crust on the actual lens, with a hole in the middle where the pupil is. Like, the crust wouldn't enclose the whole eye, just the lens up until the pupil.
I didn't have a QT set up at the time, so I gave him a freshwater dip and did a water change. I was so happy that a week later, just a slight haze was over the eye, and he was even MORE active than before! It really was a lot better.
But he also always had this 'crust' around both his eyes, even the non-cloudy one. Towards the front. It's white, but it doesnt look like ich, it looks almost like scabbing or scarring.
Two days ago, the film over the lens was back full force, and I'm not sure what to do. I have a bottle of melafix but I'm very hesitant to use it. My QT is set up, but it was an old biocube and currently has very high Nitrate levels. I've been adding Nitrate remover all day in hopes of getting it ready by tonight. I think I must not have cleaned out the bioballs in it well enough, and it's actually cycling, so I'm not sure what to do. It was a freshwater tank about a year ago and hasn't been in use since.
I did add a cleaner shrimp and I see them together at night, but still no big improvements. He isn't eating flake foods like he used to anymore, but he IS eating - I saw him grab a snail today and see him get stuff that the other fish miss, but he's not as active in getting food as he was while his eye was clearing up.
I've attached two pictures - one of the good eye, with the crust around it, and a lesser quality picture of the bad eye. In the bad eye picture you can see how the center is slightly darker, because the crust/film has stopped.
I also should note that when the eye cleared up, I had added pH up to the tank, because my pH has always been pretty low. I've noticed it's now low again, which I assume is at least a factor in his ability to fight this off. I've been struggling with pH forever, and just haven't been able to keep it up (Im now trying aiming a powerhead across the top of the tank, to try and grab oxygen, in addition to adding another powerhead with an air tube to add oxygen), and I do have baking soda here but am hesitant to use that as well. Thanks so much - this guy is my favorite and I really want to see him pull through.
He had this problem on one eye right off the bat, and I'd catch him scratching the eye. It looked almost like a crust on the actual lens, with a hole in the middle where the pupil is. Like, the crust wouldn't enclose the whole eye, just the lens up until the pupil.
I didn't have a QT set up at the time, so I gave him a freshwater dip and did a water change. I was so happy that a week later, just a slight haze was over the eye, and he was even MORE active than before! It really was a lot better.
But he also always had this 'crust' around both his eyes, even the non-cloudy one. Towards the front. It's white, but it doesnt look like ich, it looks almost like scabbing or scarring.
Two days ago, the film over the lens was back full force, and I'm not sure what to do. I have a bottle of melafix but I'm very hesitant to use it. My QT is set up, but it was an old biocube and currently has very high Nitrate levels. I've been adding Nitrate remover all day in hopes of getting it ready by tonight. I think I must not have cleaned out the bioballs in it well enough, and it's actually cycling, so I'm not sure what to do. It was a freshwater tank about a year ago and hasn't been in use since.
I did add a cleaner shrimp and I see them together at night, but still no big improvements. He isn't eating flake foods like he used to anymore, but he IS eating - I saw him grab a snail today and see him get stuff that the other fish miss, but he's not as active in getting food as he was while his eye was clearing up.
I've attached two pictures - one of the good eye, with the crust around it, and a lesser quality picture of the bad eye. In the bad eye picture you can see how the center is slightly darker, because the crust/film has stopped.
I also should note that when the eye cleared up, I had added pH up to the tank, because my pH has always been pretty low. I've noticed it's now low again, which I assume is at least a factor in his ability to fight this off. I've been struggling with pH forever, and just haven't been able to keep it up (Im now trying aiming a powerhead across the top of the tank, to try and grab oxygen, in addition to adding another powerhead with an air tube to add oxygen), and I do have baking soda here but am hesitant to use that as well. Thanks so much - this guy is my favorite and I really want to see him pull through.
