Cloudy eye questions please help

[cassi]

Hi, I think one of mollies has cloudy eye. His eye looks a little hazy and glazed with a slight lilac tinge. What causes it, is it contagious, does it affect his eyesight and how do I treat it? Thanks

[liv2padl]

cloudy eyes in fish can have many causes including velvet, Ich, fish tuberculosis, corneal edema, cataracts, nutritional deficiency, bacterial infections, fungus, or on rare occasions digenetic flukes such as Diplostomum. trauma and hereditary factors can also be causative. in the vast majority of cases however, water quality is the issue.

because the potential causes are so varied, treatment is extremely difficult and rarely effective. i'd suggest leaving the fish alone as long as it's otherwise healthy. at worst it will see with one eye and be just fine.

[cassi]

thanks liv2padl. He is not the healthiest fish, sometimes being a bit lethargic and having rapid breathing. But i've put that down to the high nitrate levels in my tank, which i'm working on. You mentioned velvet, and he does have a sort of velvety appearance on his body. Although i'm not sure if that is just the way black mollies look. Any opinons on this anyone?

[sully]

lethargy and rapid gill movement/pronounced gill movement is sometimes a function of a bacterial problem.

How big is your tank, how long has it been set-up, what are ammonia, nitrite, nitrite and pH, what is temp, what other fish are in there, and how do you have tank decorated? How often do you do water changes (how much as well), do you perform gravel vacs concurrent with water changes? How long have you had theis "sickly" fish?

You mentioned high nitrates. Is your tap water high in nitrates as well?

[cassi]

tank size- 18 gallons
how long it has been set up- about 6-7 months
test results- i'll have to wait a day to do that cos i just did a water change
temp- 26-27 degrees
other fish- 3 other female mollies, and a lone fry in the breeder tank
decoration- one large bushy plant, 3 medium sized and two small ones (all fake) and a largish sandstone rock. The plants (and the rock) are at the back of the tank so there is open swimming space in the middle.
water changes- I used to do 505 water changes every two weeks, but recently I have found it easier and better to change about 4 gallons about every 4 days, a week at the most
gravel vacs- i always use a siphoner/ gravel vac, whatever you want to call it, when i do a water change
nitrates- yes, the water from my tank is high in nitrates, like 100, but I am using nitrasafe at the moment to reduce them (I don't pretreat the water, I just put a nitrasafe bag/ sack thing into the tank. One is not strong enough so i need to get another one when i can)
how long have i had these 'sickly' fish? Well, ever since i've had the aquarium really. But since then I hve become more knowledgeable of the right water requirements and there hasn't been a death in the tank for quite a while (not including the fry)

[PolarBear]

Cassi, I posted some pics of my year old Green Severum when I thought she had ick. http://aquariumboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=717

After a few days the spots on her face went away and the cloudy eye you mentioned set in. Most folks on more than one forum said they thought it was a fungus of some kind. I started treating the tank she was in for multiple fungus infections but saw no change. Last night I set up a new QT and got her into it (quite a battle I might add). This morning the cloudy eye is not as noticable. I did NOT put any meds in the QT tank as she was very stressed from the battle of getting her out of her main home. She still shows signs of stress (pale color, lack of an appetite) but her eyes seem to be better. I'll be watching her to see how this progresses without dosing the QT tank for as long as I can.
So maybe a QT tank would help in your case also. BTW, the water in my QT tank and the main tank are nearly exact with one noticable difference: the nitrate level in my main tank is about 30-40ppm (hard to tell on that color chart) and the nitrates in the QT tank are around 5ppm at the most. I too have been struggling with lowering nitrates in my 2 main tanks but they are slowly getting better.

[cassi]

the cloudy eye has disappeared now

[cassi]

though the 'slimy, velvelty' appearance on his body is still there. Plus i have noticed a kind of whitish fuzz kind of on the inside lips of his mouth. So, yes, you're right; it probaly is some kind of fungal infection. How should I treat it? Is it contagiuos, as none of the other fish in the tank have it?