Who Gives A Fish Forums

Hi, I'm hoping for some advice on my blue electric acara. I've had a tough time with fish keeping, and I'm worried about my blue guy. I used to keep him with my 2 convicts, but they were bullying him, not letting him eat. He got really skinny and developed a cloudy eye - I'm talking pretty bad. I thought it was a bacterial infection, so I treated the tank twice with different meds. I kept him in a mesh breeder to recover, but it didn't help. Then I tried salt baths and longer recovery times in the breeder, feeding him separately. Still didn't work. Now he's in a 5-gallon tank, and he's eating fine, but his eye's still cloudy. He acts blind - can't see food, has to guess. It's been 3 months, and I'm worried it's permanent. Please help me out. I know I don't have all the knowledge or money, but I've done my best for my 3 fish. I'd really appreciate any advice.

I'd be happy to help you help my poor blue acara. To start, I can try to take some pictures and videos of him, but I gotta figure out how to get them on YouTube first, lol. I'll make sure to hold my phone sideways so it doesn't look all weird.

As for the tank, it's a 5-gallon, and I'm not really sure the exact dimensions, but I can try to measure it if you need me to. It's been set up for a pretty long time, I think over a year now.

I do have a test kit, but I'm not really sure how to read it, so bear with me. The ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0, nitrate is around 10, and pH is 7.6. I have a hang-on-back filter, and I clean it every 2 weeks or so. I just take it apart and rinse it in some old tank water.

I try to do water changes every week, around 25-30% each time. I do gravel clean the substrate, but I'm not really sure if I'm doing it right. And yeah, I do dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank. I use those little tablets you can buy at the pet store.

As for food, I just feed them whatever flakes or pellets I can afford, usually once or twice a day. I know it's not the best, but like I said, I'm doing the best I can with what I have.

The eyeball itself may be damaged, I've seen that a few times before. The fish can live with it, though it's not ideal.

However, I have to say, keeping a fish in a 5-gallon tank when you're on a tight budget is a challenge. Ideally, it needs a much larger tank - at least 20 gallons would be more suitable for your acara.

One option could be to keep an eye out for free or cheap tanks in your community, like those given away on community billboards or even ones people throw away on garbage day. I used to run an aquariums-in-schools program and we'd often find tanks that were still in good condition, just needing a bit of TLC.

Another possibility is to see if a local pet store would be willing to take your convicts in exchange for a larger tank for your acara. It doesn't need tankmates, as you've already seen, but stores usually aren't interested in taking in injured fish.

I understand why you'd want all the tank details, but honestly, I'm just looking for your best guess on my blue acara's eye. I do take care of my convict tank, with weekly 50% water changes and gravel vacuuming - it's well established. As for the 5-gallon tank, I do daily spot cleaning and 25% weekly water changes. I know, I know, it's not ideal, but I'm just proud I got him out of that mesh breeder thing. Now, about his eye - is it permanently damaged or am I missing something? Should I try more meds or salt baths? It's been months, so I'm assuming it's just not getting better. He's basically blind now.

Thanks, gonna check it out now. I'm just not a fan of having all these tanks with one fish in them, it's kinda sad. I don't wanna keep this guy alone for the rest of his life, it's just depressing. Nobody else seems to have the same issues, all their tanks are filled with fish that magically get along. I even tried separating the convicts for a bit, but yeah, that didn't work out.

To be honest, it's really tough to give a solid guess on what's going on with your blue electric acara's eye without actually seeing it. I mean, think about it like going to a doctor and telling them you've got a sore on your leg, but you won't show it to them. They're gonna have a hard time figuring out what's wrong.

A picture of the fish itself, and how it swims, would be super helpful. And if you could get a shot of the main tank too, that'd be great. We might be able to get an idea of how it's set up and if there's anything that could be changed to make it safe for your acara to go back in. But if the fish is blind, it's probably not a good idea to put it back in with the convicts - they might pick on it too much.

On a different note, I'd advise against giving your fish salt baths. It's just too stressful for them, and every time you catch them, you're risking minor scratches and abrasions that could lead to infections. If you want to use salt, it's better to just add it to the tank and leave it there for a couple of weeks. The salt can help treat the fish and get rid of any infections in the water.

If you do decide to use salt, make sure you're using the right kind - rock salt, swimming pool salt, or non-iodised salt (sodium chloride) work well. Use about 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water, and if you don't see any improvement after 48 hours, you can double that dose. Just be sure to keep the salt level like that for 2 weeks, and if you don't see any improvement after a week, it's best to stop using salt.

The good thing about using salt is that it won't affect the beneficial filter bacteria, fish, plants, shrimp, or snails in your tank. When you're done using salt, just do a series of water changes to dilute it out of the tank slowly. Start with 10% changes every day for a week, then move up to 20% changes, and finally you can do bigger changes. Just make sure to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank, and add the salt slowly to avoid stressing the fish.