Cloudy Eye

[2fishy]

A friend has a goldfish that has a cloudy eye, its in apond, has been for 4 years, the other fish are fine. said fish is still eating and acting normal. how do u treat this? does fish need to be separated?

[Caryl]

It is possible it has damaged the eye on something and it may improve without intervention. If the water quality in the pond is good I would be inclined to leave it alone while it is acting and eating normally. Often the stress of separating them is enough to trigger more problems :-?

If it worsens, or the fish's behaviour changes, I would remove it and consider an internal infection to be the cause. As it is one eye on one fish which is otherwise happy, I would be more inclined to think it an injury, rather than infection, at this point.

[Jennifer]

Great advice Caryl, I am inclined to agree, treatments do pose a significant risk.

However, 2fishy if you are interested in finding out the cause of the problem, so that you can treat it, I would advise that you look at the following flowchart. It is a very good place to start in lieu of contacting a veterinarian who treats fish: http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_diseases/eyes.html

If you need help understanding the structures of the eye to determine what areas that are affected I am happy to help if needed, of I am sure there are abundant resources online.

Whatever you choose, good luck!

**edit - typo :oops:

[Caryl]

Good link Jenniferh thanks.