# Rosy Barb Diseased. Please help!



## Smotta (Aug 10, 2006)

Hi everyone,

I just purchased 5 rosy red barbs for my 55. My best friend/roomate is a saltwater buff and was looking at the tank the other day and noticed that one of the babrs right eye is cloudy. IT does not appear to be a film but rather the eye itself. It seems to me mostly in the white (iris?) part of the eye and not the pupil itself. The fish is still eating and seems active. After close examination of the body there seems to be no wounds - infections - or discolorations. The fish also looks completely colorful.

Any ideas what is wrong with him - roomate suggested "cloudy eye" but did not know if freshwater had that and if it did how to treat.

Please help and let me know what i should do to help the poor guy out. For now he has been taken out of the community - hopefully he didn't already infect anyone else.
Thanks guys!
-Sean


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

You may have already answered your own question when you said it's the eye itself. Like humans, fish can be born with faulty parts like that and live a perfectly normal life.

You did the right thing by moving him out of the tank the other fish are in. As long as he seems so healthy and is eating well, I would just keep an eye on him to see if anything changes. There's no point medicating when there are no specific signs of illness other than the physical appearance of his eye.
If he does start getting worse, we can go from there if you post what symptoms he is displaying.

One other possibility is that he injured his eye somehow in his new surroundings, and it just needs time to heal.


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## Chris S (Feb 27, 2006)

There are countless fish in the market that may have only one eye or a clouded over eye like yours. I have a couple or actually a few of these fish. I have a synnodontis occellifer that has had a clouded over eye since I purchased him sveral years ago. Maybe 5 yrs or so.

Normal side: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/christophs/fish album/Catfish/synodontisocellifer.jpg

Blind Side:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/christophs/fish album/Catfish/synnooccelifer.jpg

This blind eye was probably from an injury somewhere along the line and you don't always catch these things at the store when u are ready to purchase a fish..
I also have a Neolamprolugus brichardi missing an eye from a lover's quarrel with it's mate.
My sister has a goldfish with one deformed eye that also got past her initial inspection at the store when she purchased him 
And my sister also has an African clawed frog with one eye that she adopted from the neighbours.
I dont think it is really all that common. But it is usually harmless and I beleive that the damage is already done and they can get by OK with one eye. They can still carry on a long regular life. My brichardi with one eye is still breeding regularly.
Also, rosy barbs are some of the toughest fish that i have ever kept. Keep good care of them and if it is possible his eye may clear up. But it sounds like just a blind eye to me.


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