My Oscar fish's eye is foggy after Ich. How to prevent blindness?

Maintain pristine water quality and stable chemistry. If the fish is not a scaleless fish, you can use plain aquarium salt as a general tonic. It will reduce stress, increase gill function, treat minor infection and aid in recovery. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of plain aquarium salt (NOT table or Epsom salt) per 5 gallons of water in a cup or two of tank water and gently pour it into the tank. Treat for 10-14 days then reassess the condition of the injured fish. Partial water changes can be performed afterwards to reduce salinity. Use only aged or conditioned water that is temperature matched to prevent stress or shock.

Thanks for reaching out. Not sure how when the lights were turned on, the fish responded when it had no eyes. Could the corneas be cloudy? This could be due to trauma from an aggressive fish, parasitic infestations, or infections. A veterinary visit would be recommended. If the one has no eyes, it needs to be humanly euthanized as can not find food and will starve to death or succumb to infection. Continue to test water quality and correct any problems. Good luck.

Thanks for reaching out about your Oscar and including photos, but difficult to see the HLLE lesions due to too dark. The eye looks terrible and systemic antibiotics are recommended at the least. A veterinary visit is highly recommended to clean the wound and provide other possible treatments. The water quality must be kept pristine (pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates) to assist recovery. Antibiotics added to the water do not penetrate into the body, nor do fresh water fish drink, since osmotically water enters over mucous membranes (gills, mouth, skin) and antibiotics do not cross this barrier. HLLE causes can be multi-factorial including water quality, bacteria, parasites, carbon particles in activated charcoal (filters), low vitamin C, etc. Check and correct water quality, replace existing food if older than two months (vitamin C degrades quickly), see a veterinarian with fish experience. Good luck.

Make sure the charcoal/carbon is removed from the filter/tank for the duration of treatment or it will remove/absorb the medication. Try using metronidazole and kanamycin. There is metronidazole in the Parasite Guard but it may not be an adequate dose. Monitor water quality and keep nitrates below 20ppm if possible. Use only aged/conditioned water that is temperature an pH matched to reduce or prevent stress. Raise the water temp to the upper limit for Oscars and add a multivitamin. You can soak pellets prior to feeding. If you can find it, use VitaChem (by Boyds). Make sure Tiger is eating a biologically appropriate diet.

In this case you need a quite radical approach. Begin by submitting a water sample for quality testing. Most pet stores will do this for free or a nominal fee. Clinical examination should always include a water quality check, even if you have done so already. Water testing should be performed with a quality test kit, measuring NH4, NO2 and NO3. High ammonia levels, PH imbalances may be responsible for these signs. Oxygen concentration and quality of the filters should be determined as well. If water quality is good and there are no major imbalances, your fish should get examined to look for any sign of bacterial/fungal infection and eventually water should be treated. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Even though a picture of it would help to determine underlying cause more precisely, ich can only be killed in its free swimming stage. After it feeds off the fish, it drops into the substrate where it forms cysts and multiplies. Then the new ich parasites swim out of the gravel and find new fish hosts and start the cycle all over again. That is why it is important after all white spots have disappeared to continue treatment, you should continue treating for an additional 2 weeks after all symptoms are gone. After the spots disappear off the fish, I would vacuum the gravel to suck up any cysts. If you increase the temperature the life cycle of the ich becomes faster. All new fish should be placed in a quarantine tank for at least 2-3 weeks to make sure they are eating, free of disease, and are able to recuperate in a stress-free environment.

Hi there. Poor Tango! Sorry you are having this issue. With injuries such as this, myxazin is often added to the water as you already have. Water changes are usually recommended as well to keep opportunistic bacteria at bay-which you have also done. The only thing I will recommend to my clients that have done the former two is added aquarium salt at about 1 teaspoon per five gallons of water in your tank. Otherwise-you are doing everything you can in this scenario. I really hope Tango feels better soon.