# Yet another earth eater with cloudy eye....no rapid breathing yet...melafix or salt?



## Sherry (Apr 20, 2012)

I have lost one eartheater and I am pretty sure it is due to my water being on the high end of soft. I have another earth eater that has a cloudy eye (the one that died had it too). What is the best to remedy the cloudy eye? Salt or Melafix and if salt how much? Put peat in my filter to reduce hardness. How long does that take? May go buy bottled water for a quick fix.....


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Cloudy eye is really a problem of your water. Can you run another water testing and make sure you do it before a water change.
If you have a tds meter, let me know the reading as well.


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

cloudy eye can also be caused from loss of tank mates in some fish.
i had a fei feng get cloudy eye when his silver aro moved out.........
from rubbing his eye on the glass looking for his aro friend.


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## Sherry (Apr 20, 2012)

I do not know what a TDS meter is? All other readings are fine....high end of soft (120)...I am sure that is my problem.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

I would do a huge water change like 90 % sounds like you have water quality issues,


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## Sherry (Apr 20, 2012)

Yup.....pretty sure I do. But not sure if I should go bottled or stay with my own tap water which reads 120 as well....I do regular water changes every 2 weeks.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

even if its not as good as bottled i would still do a huge gravel/sand vac and replace 90 % and use seachem prime ,


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## Sherry (Apr 20, 2012)

Um...90%? Won't that be a little difficult? The water level would be sooooo low. Thank you for your help....I have prime but have been told to be careful with it.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i dunno i do massive water changes every once in a while , i drain it til the can swim comfortably but low, i dunno , and i just use the recomended dosing for prime , but i dont know how sensitive your fishies are, even a 50% is a good start but i would vac the stuffing out of your gravel


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## Sherry (Apr 20, 2012)

Would doing a 50% w.c. every 2 weeks be too much? And I do vac the gravel when I do w.c.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i do a 50% weekly


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## bcorchidguy (Jan 14, 2011)

Don't vacuum the gravel unless it's terribly dirty, you can run the vacuum over it about an inch above the gravel but leave that stuff alone...

There is a water filter called Tap Water purifier by aquarium pharmaceuticals, it's relatively cheap and it gives you better than RO water and if you're the least bit handy the resins can be recharged with bleach and muriatic acid and a bit of time. When I say relatively cheap it's around $50 and should do a ton of water for you.

I know some people will argue there is nothing better than RO, but RO units are available with a different number of stages, some start with a carbon block then the RO then a second membrane but the best always polish the water with a DE Ionizing filter, that's what the Tap Water Purifier is, RO removes about 90-95% of contaminants the De Ionizing filter removes 99.99% so it's used to polish the water. In the Central US the De Ionizing filter would plug up very very fast so the RO unit filters out a ton of the crap before the De Ionizer gets the water. Your water is still fairly soft so it's not going to put a terrible strain on the filter, PLUS the Tap Water Purifier has a carbon prefilter so it will help remove any polution etc.

To do a large water change you need preheated, pre treated water in clean containers, brandnew food safe garbage cans work well and are affordable.

Bottled water meaning RO water?.. mix that half and half with your tap water and you'll have nice soft water but it gets expensive fast. 

keep us updated

Douglas


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Sherry said:


> Would doing a 50% w.c. every 2 weeks be too much? And I do vac the gravel when I do w.c.


i do 50% every 3 days on my 250g.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i dont understand why you wouldnt want to vac out your gravel?
can you explain why keeping gunk in your gravel would be helpful?


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## Sherry (Apr 20, 2012)

Finally taked to my LF guy and he said to do the same...big water change and treat with prime. Thanks Macframalama....love your name....


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

good stuff, glad it helped... i hate the name its too long lol, but i wanted to get intricate when i created my account because i thought all simple stuff would be taken haha
anyways i hope your fishies get back on track


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Are you sure water that is too soft will cause cloudy eyes?
I think there is perhaps something harmful to the fish in your water or may be it is dirty but I am no expert. A TDS meter tests the total dissolved solid in your water.
HWat is your nitrate reading...you can use that reading as a reference to tell if you are changing your water frenquent enough.
Think the advise about not vacuuming your gravel might have something to do with preserving the biological filter...
Bottled water is sometimes just like tap water that has been ozonized, depends on what you are using. You still need to mineralize it, don't you? Your fish needs Ca, Mg and all that stuff in your water.


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