I purchased 5 blue gouramis Saturday from the LFS. I took them home and put them in my aquarium. Later that day I noticed one of then has a problem. The black part of the right eye is smaller than the left eye(which looks normal compared to the other fish). It is obviously different. I didn't notice this at the store when I got the fish. The fish is not as active as the others and seems to swim a little leaning to the left. He is eating with the others however. I called the store and told them. They said they didn't know of any disease that would cause this and I could bring in a water sample because it is most likely a water problem. I checked the PH and ammonia myself. PH is 7.5 and ammonia 0. The water temp. is 78. The tank also has 7 mickey mouse platies.This is a new 55 gal. aquarium. It was set up and running for 3 days before I added the fish. I treated the water with Tetra Aqua Safe and used wardley PH down to lower the tap water PH from 9.6 to 7.5.The other fish are all fine. I am puzzled. I think the fish may have been physically damaged either being netted or during transport. It's been almost 48 hours now and the fish shows no change(for better or worse) in condition. I am concerned I might loose the fish. If anyone can help I would really appreciate any feed back. I have been keeping fish for about 5 years. This is my first experience with gouramis.
blue gourami eye problem
- Thread starter mikebarg
- Start date
Well one of the commonest eye problems with fish is pop-eye:
Pop Eye is an infection that can have a few causes such as bacteria, Poor water quality, injury, poor nutrition, tumors, vitamin deficiently. The symptoms are quite clear.
Symptoms:Eye or eyes protrude from head, cloudy eyes from bacteria infection.
Treatment:Generally hard to treat, u may try a broad spectrum antibiotic.
However... from what you describe it doesn't sound like pop-eye. I reckon it could well be a genetic defect or as you mention the fish being damaged in transit. If its still eating thats a good sign and could well live a very active and healthy life, despite the damage to its eye. I'd buy a nitrite test for your tank, and how often do you to water changes with a gravel cleaner?
Just reread that this is a new tank, I don't know if you are an experienced keeper but watch out for the cycle, you've probably got a slightly high number of fish to do the cycle with in your tank, however buy a nitrIte test kit and test for it and ammonia every few days to make sure that the levels don't get above 1pp, and if they do then do a water change of approximately 25% which in a 55 gallon is quite a lot
This will avoid problems of fish dieing due to ammonia and nitrIte being toxic.
Alternatively you can use your LFS store for the testing but this will probably work out as a more expensive option.
Pop Eye is an infection that can have a few causes such as bacteria, Poor water quality, injury, poor nutrition, tumors, vitamin deficiently. The symptoms are quite clear.
Symptoms:Eye or eyes protrude from head, cloudy eyes from bacteria infection.
Treatment:Generally hard to treat, u may try a broad spectrum antibiotic.
However... from what you describe it doesn't sound like pop-eye. I reckon it could well be a genetic defect or as you mention the fish being damaged in transit. If its still eating thats a good sign and could well live a very active and healthy life, despite the damage to its eye. I'd buy a nitrite test for your tank, and how often do you to water changes with a gravel cleaner?
Just reread that this is a new tank, I don't know if you are an experienced keeper but watch out for the cycle, you've probably got a slightly high number of fish to do the cycle with in your tank, however buy a nitrIte test kit and test for it and ammonia every few days to make sure that the levels don't get above 1pp, and if they do then do a water change of approximately 25% which in a 55 gallon is quite a lot
This will avoid problems of fish dieing due to ammonia and nitrIte being toxic. Alternatively you can use your LFS store for the testing but this will probably work out as a more expensive option.
Hi and welcome mikebarg,
Not to sure how long the tank has been set-up - about 5 days???
As william says in this case the tank wont have cycled.
The platies are a hardy species and often used for cycling (was this your intention?) where as the gouramis arn't nearly as tolerent to a new set-up.
close monitoring of the water could give more clues - so getting your more tests could prove invaluable. A pH of 9.6 seems very high, where you from?
A bit more info could help us come up with some more ideas.
Not to sure how long the tank has been set-up - about 5 days???
As william says in this case the tank wont have cycled.
The platies are a hardy species and often used for cycling (was this your intention?) where as the gouramis arn't nearly as tolerent to a new set-up.
close monitoring of the water could give more clues - so getting your more tests could prove invaluable. A pH of 9.6 seems very high, where you from?
A bit more info could help us come up with some more ideas.
Chemicals aren't the answer either - I do not and will not ever believe that a tank can be affectively cycled using these products. I believe in fishless cycling using existing aquarium water/sludge from filter (lfs will give you some if asked) which already has beneficial bacteria present, added to a newly filled tank a day after initial setup (allows chlorine from tapwater to dissipate) and left for 3-4 weeks. Then test water every couple of days until you get consistant safe readings. Then add 2-3 fish every 1-2 weeks to allow filter bacteria to gradually cope with growing waste products, being careful not to overfeed, making sure you do tests regularly to check water quality. Do first water changes (10-20%) every 1-2 weeks after about 6-8 weeks of setting up tank (according to species kept).
I went back to the LFS and talked to one of the guys I know who is good with these types of things. He says a small pupil(sp?) in one eye is most likely a genetic defect and I could exchange the fish. He even gave me a new fish then, and said bring the other one in any time I could. I consider myself an intermediate level fish hobbiest. I have kept mollies,platies,danios, goldfish and bettas as well as some native species for about 5 years. This is my first experience with Gouramis. I am watching the ammonia and nitrite levels closely. I do 20% water changes 2 times a week using a gravel washer. I appreciate all of the good feed back. I am learning a lot via the internet. As for the tap water having a PH of 9.6. This is from the Austin Texas water supply. I was told that Austin and some other cities are now artificially raising the PH of the tap water to reduce the amount of disolved lead and copper in the water. Not very good for the aquarium hobbiest. I believe in the KISS principle. I don't like having to adjust the PH of the water before I use it. The simpler it is, the less likely I am to make a mistake.
What's the KISS principle? I am obviously uninitiated 
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