new tank, old fish.

Question
Hey,
I recently moved my current goldfish into a ten gallon tank.  He was in a five gallon tank and was doing fine, except the motor on the filter had gone out and I couldn't find a filter to replace it with.  It took me a while, but I was able to set up the new tank for it.  This brings me to my problem.  I kind of jumped the gun on moving my fish.  I know the wisdom is to let the new tank sit for a couple of days to get all the impurities and stuff out of the new gravel.  However, the old tank (which was already pretty nasty when I realized the filter wasn't working) was getting really bad.  I wanted to get my fish out of there and into clean water before he died.  I don't know if that's the reason he's having the problems he is, but it could be.  You see, the water in the tank has become cloudy and slightly yellow.  I read an answer by Chris Robbins here:  http://en.allexperts.com/q/Freshwater-Aquarium-3216/cloudy-fish-tank.htm and it seems to have answered that question.  But my fish has also developed what I can only describe as cloudy eyes.  He took a while to get acclimated to the extra space of the new tank, but he seemed to be doing just fine.  The eyes are mystifying me.  It's like two white membranes just covered his eyes.  It's starting to freak me out, because I don't want my fish to die after I've done all this work to make sure he stays alive.

Forrest

Answer
Hi Forrest

This is called "Cloudy Eye" usually caused by stress, malnutrition, old age, a hazy slime due to poisoning in bad water quality or irritation. You could try some antibiotics, but it will usually clear up on it's own with frequent water changes. If not taken care of, Cloudy Eye can cause blindness. Keep the water as clean as possible, and keep an eye on your parameters.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard