The Puffer Forum

Hey I noticed my F8 has a slightly hazed / clouded eye.
Heres the infomation requested
1: PH 8.4
Ammonia 0.25 been that way forever and sadily will stay that way too no matter what I do. Tap tests well over 1.0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 5
Salt 1.005

After 25% water change
PH 8.0
Ammonia 0.25 if not a tiny higher
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 5

2: 20Gal 1 F8 Puffer 2 Bumble bee gobies couple ghost shrimp in the tank couple in a breeder in the tank also

3:Useally feed half a cube of frozen blood worms or brine shrimpEnought that he eats it all. This week has mainly been ghost shrimp & snails because I picked some up. water changes useally every week and a half to 2 weeks. I use prime but still am i bit worried going alot of changes beacause of ammonia in the tap. the 17th or so I started using Melafix because a BBG got his fin nipped off still hasn't grown back but he seems happy. Used 2 teaspoons a day what the bottle said for a week but missed a day or two. Also Thurs the 25th I added some live plants onion plant, bananna plant and a cryptocoryne. Someone took some bites out of them.

4: see above

5: Been set up since April 08 cycled fishless defantely cycled

Seems like he uses the other more for hunting food but I think he can sorta see out the other one. Not sure if i should add melafix again for not i just did a 25% water change as said before.

Typically cloudy eyes are a sign of stress or bacterial infection. Treat with Pimafix, rather than Melafix, and see if that helps.
You really need to consider something like Ammo Lock for the ammonia problem, or a permanent filter on your tap. It's definitely no good for your fish, but more importantly I can't imagine it's good for you either...

Prime and Amquel are dechlorinators that incorporate ammonia removal. I've used both, and I like them both.

@coldmachine: I get the same readings from my tap. The water company says it's safe. Of couse, I don't trust that water quality farther than I could throw their building. (There's a mysteriously high number of kidneystone problems in my town...)

The Prime obviously isn't working though, is it, if there are readings coming out of the tank params? This is why I suggested an alternative - Ammo Lock.

I don't think he was using Prime... Maybe I just missed it?

P.S. pH changes like that, .4 after a water change, aren't good...

Time to invest in an RO system....it would do you some good too!

Ya I use prime which supposely converts the ammonia. I thought that any product that dose so you will still get ammmonia reading even if its converted? I found out the goverment dosn't regualate ammonia in tap water. and the water pretty much blows me off about it. Water from are refregerater is like 0.25 ammonia but it would be inpractial because of the slow stream and you would probly have to replace $40 filters each time. Anyways about the fish after the water change his eye seems a bit better its hard to tell as wasn't super bad to began with but it looks like a improvement. I might do another water change tonight? It almost seemed like the melafix changed the water quality?

Yes, with Prime, the ammonia is neutralized, but it is still present in a non-toxic form, and consumed and converted by the nitrifying bacteria.

The government doesn't regulate ammonia in tap water because it's beneficial to humans. They use it as part of a compound that creates chloramines, which is like chlorine, but it lasts longer. Chlorine dissapates in twenty-four hours, but chloramines last about a week, until the water reaches destinations that are far away from the water company. In small abouts, ammonia is harmless to humans. ppm = parts per million, so one ppm means that there is only .00001% ammonia in your tap water. (A very nice chem professor at my school explained this to me when I freaked out over the ammonia in my tap.)

Our bodies are VERY efficient at removing ammonia. It's a principle nitrogenous wastes from protein metabolism, our bodies bind two ammonia molecules into a less active urea molecule, which is, you guessed it, where the term urine comes from, cause it's full of the stuff.

*applause* Nick can always give us the big-words explanation!

Well his eye seems all cleared up. Figured it would clear up fast since I caught fast. New minor problem though... My puffer seems to have little white spots or a fade on his back. Almost seems like someone took an eraser to him or something like that it's sorta like a scratch but I can't think of something that he could of got scratched on in the tank. Its not a slime or ick or anything like that. His colors are bright and swims and eats happy & acts normal. He's on the hunt right now for ghost shrimp just won't give up

Sounds sorta like a bacterial infection. Can you get us a picture? If you can't, maybe you could look for images of diseased fish and find something that looks like it.

Sorry it took so long to reply had to trick him into the the net for pics. He's camera shy.. Not easy for such a smart fish! Here are the pics.

those spots are his spines....