Cloudy Eyes - Running Out of Options

DeepArow

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2015
14
2
3
Canada
Good afternoon everyone,

TLDR; Woke up after moving my arowana to find two of them had cloudy eye that I can't seem to beat. I've tried nearly all the remedies I can think of and looking for more suggestions.

Long time lurker, first time poster. I recently got back into Arow's after about a 5 year hiatus. I got a deal that I really couldn't refuse and well the rest is history. I wish my first post had been under better circumstances but unfortunately I'm kind of being forced into this, luckily I think this is the right community to help me because the people here do seem to be legitimately knowledgeable in Arowana.

So heres the story: I buy this tank (300 gallon w/ 50 gallon sump), 3 arowana (2 silvers 24"+ and 1 jardini 18"). All three fish look to be in great shape, the odd little dent here and there from growing up but pretty much perfect. After getting the tanked moved and while setting up I find that one of the panels of the tank is leaking, so I drained it down and fix the leak. Unfortunately my arow's are still packed up in their 30x24 sytrofoam containers. To be on the safe side I poked holes in the tops and ran in air hoses just to try and make a bad situation a bit better while the silicon dried.

I get the tank fixed and within about 18-24 hours I have it filled with water and get the fish put in the tank. Everything looks great, pump is running, everything seems to be going really smooth - I watch the fish for 2-3 hours after to make sure they're all happy and healthy.

So I wake up the next morning to both silvers having pretty severe cloudy eye. The jardini seems 100% fine. I test the water, my pH is a bit higher than usual 7.6 v the usual 6.6-6.8. ammonia is 0 but 0 nitrate and 0 nitrite. Not sure if the time the sump wasn't running that maybe its re-entered a cycle. In the last week and a bit the water has stayed around this. The water they came from was running a pH around 6.6 but foolishly I never did a full check of the water prior to beginning the move.

Being that its cloudy eye, and generally related to poor water conditions I've done 15% daily water changes. Salted the water like nobodies business, increased the tank's temperature, even ran a dosing of a tetra product for cloudy eyes. So far nothing seems to be helping. Luckily my jardini still seems to be doing great. I'm going to order melafix since the LFS doesn't seem to carry it. Is there anything else I can do to try and fix this? Maybe even a plan B if melafix doesn't work?

I wish I could narrow down what caused it because then at least I could go after the root cause or avoid it in the future, however I realize it could be a number of factors from the change in water temperatures during the move, the change in the pH, even the way they were loaded may have been enough to do it, or the prolonged time spent in their transport containers. I'd even say bio-load could be an issue but really it showed up within 24 hours of the move so its not like the tank would have had time to be the main issue.

Thanks for anyone who might have some ideas, and sorry for the novel.
 

tlindsey

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2011
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I think it had to do with them being in the Styrofoam holding boxes, I think it will eventually clear up after they're in the clean, and stable parameters.
 

xraycer

Arapaima
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2013
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It appears your tank is not cycled. There should be some amounts of nitrate
 

DeepArow

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2015
14
2
3
Canada
Haha thanks!

I'm just a bit concerned cause Ive never seen arows with cloudy eye this bad. Its like someone put cotton balls in their eye sockets. I really didnt even want to start medicating but I dont want to see it get worst and eventually lead to permanent issues down the road.
 

DeepArow

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 10, 2015
14
2
3
Canada
It appears your tank is not cycled. There should be some amounts of nitrate
Yea I suspect the sump went into a re-cycle even though I tried really hard to keep that from happening. I still cant believe it would hit them that hard though =\
 

xraycer

Arapaima
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2013
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Yea I suspect the sump went into a re-cycle even though I tried really hard to keep that from happening. I still cant believe it would hit them that hard though =\
Since there's no ammonia or nitrite, its not the problem....at the moment. I'm guessing its just stressed that's lower their immune system leaving them vulnerable to infections they would normally be able to fight off.
 
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tlindsey

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2011
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Stop medicating it may delay your cycle , and kill the beneficial bacteria. I had two ornate bicher with cloudy eye just upped the wc's and kept a observation on my water parameters, cloudy eye cleared without meds.:)
 

xraycer

Arapaima
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2013
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You should right now do a big water change 50% iif possible to get rid of some of the meds and salt. Do this again tomorrow. Just give them with clean water and they should be able to fight off the infection(s) naturally. Keep the tank lights off for a few days as well to reduce stress.
 

xraycer

Arapaima
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2013
5,383
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Southern NH USA
I also strongly advise you to go pick up a couple of bottles of bb in a bottle such as Tetra Safe Start to quickly get the tank cycled again
 
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