African brown knife fish

Question
I was wondering if you knew any sicknesses for an african brown knife fish. My fish (zippy) has a strange thing over his eye I have pictures on photo bucket heres the sight...
http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn70/breezynjuli/?action=view¤t=fish005...

I hope its not too blurryy if you cant tell I would describe it as a bubble over his eyes hes had it over a year but i thought it would be fine im just wondering now what is it and is it hurting him?

Answer
Hi Briana, thanks for the picture!
Well it could be cloudy eye but I'm not 100% sure. Here's some pictures of fish with cloudy eye so maybe it would help you in diagnosing your fish-

This is a general explanation for cloudy eyes in fish from 'animal-world.com'

" Eye Problems   

Symptoms: Cloudy cornea, opaque lens, pop eye, swelling, blindness.

   * Cloudy cornea can result from a bacterial invasion. Antibiotics may help.
   * Opaqueness can result from poor nutrition or a metacercaria invasion (grubs). Try foods with added vitamins and changing the diet to include variety.
   * Pop eye (exophtalmia) can result from rough handling, gas embolism, tumors, bacterial infection, or vitamin A deficiency. Gas bubble or bacterial infection can be treated successfully with penicillin or amoxicillin.
   * Blindness can be caused by poor nutrition or excessive light. Lowering the light level and a change of diet to include lots of variety may help prevent it."

It never hurts if you can test your water quality in terms of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Make sure these levels are where they should be which is- Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 Nitrate 20 or less.

A couple of 30% water changes wouldn't hurt and think about maybe if his diet is lacking in something like extra vitamins especially vitamin C.

Does the eye look like it actually has a bubble over it or does the eye just have a haze? Its a bit difficult to tell without seeing the fish in person. With the pictures its hard because it looks like Zippy's eyes are reflecting in the cameras flash.

Best of luck!
Karen~