# Thin white film on the eye?



## Hydro23 (Nov 30, 2007)

Hey, first time poster here. I've wanted piranha's for a long time and took the plunge yesterday with 1 red belly. I picked up a cariba and 2 more red bellies today. All my fish are doing fine thankfully but one of my red bellies has a thin white film on his eye. I can see the black of his eye pretty clearly and some red aswell. It just looks wierd. I tried a search but pulled up nothing so I thought you guys could help.


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## jmax611 (Aug 6, 2006)

could be amonia burn id up the temp to around 80-82 deg and put some AQUARIUM salt in there and keep an eye on it for a few days

if it gets worse you may need to get some meds


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

Yeah i agree with J, sounds like amonia burn if its a white film, if not that get some anti ich treatment incase it might be a little bit of a fungal infection


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## Prez44203 (Oct 10, 2007)

Just wondering, what size tank are you using? And was it cycled beforehand?


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## Dezboy (Apr 2, 2006)

prez has a very good point, what tank, filtration, etcetc


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

Yes, since you just bought/added these fish, did you properly cycle the tank? Normally, a white film over the eye is a sign of NH4 burn. As Jmax stated, if you raise the temp and add a bit of salt that film will dispear within a week. Also, I would test the water to see where your parameters are at.


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## Hydro23 (Nov 30, 2007)

I'll test the parameters tonight. Its a 55G, moving to a 75g when they get a little bigger. I raised the temp to about 82 this morning and I'll grab some salt when I get off work.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Could be ammonia burn.

Having too high of a nitrate level can do the same thing too.


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## Prez44203 (Oct 10, 2007)

Well, it doesn't seem TOO crowded. Certainly a bit, but not totally unreasonable.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

Piranha_man said:


> Could be ammonia burn.
> 
> Having too high of a nitrate level can do the same thing too.


Ammonia burn doesn't go away right?


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## Hydro23 (Nov 30, 2007)

Ammonia was a bit high, I added some aquariam salt anyways and I will be carrying out a 25% water change tomorrow.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

notaverage said:


> Ammonia burn doesn't go away right?


Wrong :laugh:

I doubt very much that it is an ammonia problem since the fish are in the tank for 2 days. It can be that the water you have them in has alot lower pH than they were used to and has acid burn, or most likely the cause is an injury from either another fish or from decor.

Also check the eye real closely for worms. If the white film gets worse you may want to isolate and treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic


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## Hydro23 (Nov 30, 2007)

Another thing I noticed is that my fish like hanging out in their own part of the tank. They swim around but most of the time they're just kinda hanging out in a corner or something. Is this normal since they're still getting used to the tank?

Edit: They're usually all together when they're just "staying still" in the tank.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Hydro23 said:


> Another thing I noticed is that my fish like hanging out in their own part of the tank. They swim around but most of the time they're just kinda hanging out in a corner or something. Is this normal since they're still getting used to the tank?
> 
> Edit: They're usually all together when they're just "staying still" in the tank.


They usually are all together either if a human is near the tank or you are doing water changes. Otherwise they usually find there own spot and protect it. After water changes they tend like to swim together as if in a parade.


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## Hydro23 (Nov 30, 2007)

When I first got my largest RB(1 day beforethe rest of the P's), he was swimming around alot. But since I've added the other fish they all seem to like just hanging out, either together or in their own part of the tank. Anything to be worried about?


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Hydro- your fish hiding are fine

i have notticed after they reach 6"= the start to become less skiddish
also i bought a sanchezi about 6 months ago and during the first months all it did was hide and i didnt even see it eat for months (chunks taken out of the food though) but now every night its is swimming around alot


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

I still think it's nitrates.

Water changes will correct it.


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## Hydro23 (Nov 30, 2007)

Piranha_man said:


> I still think it's nitrates.
> 
> Water changes will correct it.


I'll need to pick up a nitrate testing kit then. My ammonia levels are too high though so I'm sure that is a large part of the problem.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Hydro23 said:


> I still think it's nitrates.
> 
> Water changes will correct it.


I'll need to pick up a nitrate testing kit then. My ammonia levels are too high though so I'm sure that is a large part of the problem.
[/quote]

if ammonia is high nitrates are probably too
just do some water changes (siphone the gravel too and possibly clean the filters) and your fine


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## Hydro23 (Nov 30, 2007)

sean-820 said:


> I still think it's nitrates.
> 
> Water changes will correct it.


I'll need to pick up a nitrate testing kit then. My ammonia levels are too high though so I'm sure that is a large part of the problem.
[/quote]

if ammonia is high nitrates are probably too
just do some water changes (siphone the gravel too and possibly clean the filters) and your fine
[/quote]
I did about a 25% water change and it didn't make a difference. My tank just wasn't properly cycled. My P's have seemed to have adapted to it though since they are very active and they are eating. I'm going to grab a bottle of bio-spira when possible and see if that'll speed up the cycling process.


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