black moor eye problem

Question
QUESTION: I have noticed today a white spot (pimple-like) on the INSIDE of my black moor's eye. at the same time it looks like the eye lost some of it's shape (deflated a little).  I am totally new to fishkeeping and have no idea where to start looking for a cause or treatment of something like it.  Most information i found is about fluke, pop-eye and cloudy eyes. It does not look anything like the symptoms for the above diseases.  The growth is from inside of the eye (not a portion of it is outside)  - otherwise the eye appears clear.  Please help.

ANSWER: Hi Barbara,
Diagnosing eye problems is very tricky and extremely difficult to do. A picture would definitely help if at all possible.

I don't like to advise medication usage right away unless we are for certain what we are treating. Sometimes growths that appear on fish will go away on their own with a natural healing process.

The best thing I can recommend at this point is to keep the water very clean by doing frequent water changes of around 30-50% at least every other day for a while. Make sure all replacement water is treated with a water conditioner and the temperature is equal to or just a tad bit warmer than the tank's temp. Clean water is vital for the healing process and keeping their immune system up -- especially important during a time like this. Feeding a high-quality vitamin enriched diet is also vital. You can even find special fish vitamins you can soak their food in before feeding for that extra immune system boost.

Keep a watch on the eye and let me know if anything changes and if the black moor looks listless or otherwise sickly.

I hope all is well!
Karen~

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


fish eye   QUESTION: Good morning,
Here is a little update on the eye (I included a picture, the white spot is in the lower part of the eye and I am talking about the fish on the left). A day after I sent my question I came back from work and went to see if anything changed. I saw the white stuff still there, the next moment a ryunkin that shares this tank with the 2 moors and i chocolate oranda, came, sucked this stuff out and swallowed it. It was gone until the following evening. Since then it appears and disappears -the picture shows it as it appeared this morning after 2 days absence.  Meanwhile white stripes appeared on the upper fin of my second moor. I wonder if that has to do with water.  I recently (3 weeks ago) moved these fish to a new tank and have problems with ammonia (jumping up to 8!)and pH jumping from 6.6 to 7 within 24 hrs and then dropping to 6.2 the next 24 hrs. I've been doing partial water changes daily -to - every other day, and currently my ammonia is stable at 0.5 - by stable i mean that it did not change from yesterday -before I had jumps from lets say 1 in the evening (after water change) to 2 or 4 the next morning.
Another thing I noticed is that at the same time the moors were making long thing white poop. Because of that I put them on Jungle's Anti-bacterial medicated food (today is the fifth day) - the poop is changing but the stuff on the eye is still there, so I guess it does not help for that. I bought vitamins and minerals pyramid that dissolves in water but do not know if should ad it to the tank if I am giving medicated food. please advise. In general I do not know if I should continue with that medicated food for the poop or the poop (I read on the interned that the color and length means that the fish has bacterial infection)could have been a result of decrease in feeding which I did when I discovered high levels of ammonia. Please advise because i am totally lost.
Thank you for all  your help.
Barbara

Answer
Hi there!

Thank you for the picture!

Ammonia issues can cause health issues and long-term damage to fish. I wonder if the white spot is a fungal infection or even some kind of drainage from an infection or injury? White streaks may be a color change due to stress or a fungal infection.

White poop is a common sign of stress. Bacterial infections causing the white poo symptom are usually accompanied by poor appetite, listless behavior, and red patches on the fish.
Diagnosing this problem is especially difficult.

I think the ammonia issue has a lot to do with the strange things you have been seeing in your fish. I would keep them on a very strict water change schedule for a while. You might want to use a water conditioner that neutralizes ammonia like Prime or Amquel+

I do know that Jungle brand anti-bacterial medicated food can be combined with Jungle fungus clear and you might want to consider using this medication as well to further battle bacterial/fungal infections. I've had very good experience with it.

The vitamins and minerals pyramid probably wont do its job very well and I don't think I'd add it to the aquarium. A better option is soaking their food in liquid fish vitamins which you should be able to find at your petstore and online.

Continue with water changes, keep ammonia at bay, and try the two medications and see how that works for several days.

I do hope all is well and best of luck!
Karen~