If only one eye is white it is typically a minor bacterial eye infection caused by the fish scrapping its eye or from an attack by another fish. If both eyes are white it is coming from a more serious bacterial infection inside the fish and will kill the fish rapidly.
This is most often gram-negative bacteria (columnaris, aeromonas, etc.). It should be treated with broad spectrum antibiotics (Thomas Labs Fish Mox, Midland Vet Service Aqua-Mox, VetDepot Amoxicillin, Fishbiotic Ampicillin, Mardel Maracyn 2, SeaChem KanaPlex, Thomas Labs Fish Min, API Fin And Body Cure and Thomas Labs Fish Doxy).
Bacterial infections are most effectively treated with antibiotics in the food. Many believe (and the instructions on the antibiotics say!) that antibiotics need to be added to the water. They are simply incorrect. This controversial topic is covered in the following link:
12.5. Fish Don’t Drink
It is easy to make medicated food. Heat 1/4 cup water (two ounces or 58 milliliters, not a lot) in the microwave. Then blend seven grams of plain animal derived gelatin (Knox gelatin, one packet) into the hot solution with vigorous stirring. Take two tablespoons of dry commercial fish food (pellets or flake) and mix it with just a little of the hot water/ gelatin mixture. Add hot water/gelatin until you get a paste like consistency. If it gets too watery just add more food. To get gel food to float simply mix in a little whipped cream at this point.
Then add just a “smidgen” (roughly 1/16 teaspoon, a 1% to 2% addition) of medication to the mud. If you are using more than one medication mix the medications together, then use just a “smidgen” of the mixture. If you are using a packet of medication, take just a “smidgen” of the packet contents. Mix and mash the whole mass thoroughly. Spread it out into a pancake about 1/8th inch (3 mm) thick on a plastic film or a plate. Then put in the refrigerator. If you plan on keeping it for more than two weeks put it in a small plastic bag and freeze.
All the fish in the aquarium should be fed a steady diet of the antibiotic laced food for at least ten days. Note that the exact amount of medication which goes into the food is not very important. Antibiotics can be overdosed pretty much with abandon as they are only toxic in large doses over a period of months. Note antibiotics in the food do not affect the filters so they can be left in place and operating.
If you can’t resist the urge to treat the water, remove the biofiltration media (including sponge and/or foam) in the filters and put it in an open container for the duration of the treatment. Sometimes antibiotics kill the beneficial bacteria and sometimes they don’t. In any case the filter media will denature the antibiotics. Monitor the ammonia and would do a 50% water change if it spikes above 1 ppm. Reduce the amount of food fed by 2/3 rds.
Note that if antibiotics are not available, it is quite easy to take a pill or capsule of human antibiotic and use it for fish. If it is a pill just grind it up. Just be aware that the human antibiotics are about ten times more potent than the aquarium antibiotics, so just a “smidgen” in the food is more than enough. This is a very good option for the folks in Europe or Canada, where fish antibiotics are illegal.
Note that the going myth about white eye is that it is due to water quality issues. The water quality would have to be so bad that the water would literally be burning the surface of the eye for this to be true. The only time this happens is if a fish got dosed with a heavy dose of chlorine.
The entire topic of bacterial infections in tropical aquarium fish is covered in more detail in this link:
10.3.11. Treating Bacteria
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Return to Diseases Menu
Return to Bacterial Menu
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Dave says
In reply to Pepper …. You can have a LOT of different things going on. I ‘ve written many articles on various possibilities throughout the website. They include:
1, Cleaning the filter too thoroughly and/or too often.
2, Inadequate aeration. One needs a large area of “choppy waves” at the surface or a moderate sized air pump and air stone to properly aerate the water.
3, Over feeding. Only feed the amount of one eyeball per day in volume of dry fish food (six fish equals six fish eyeballs). Vacation babysitters and kids often do this by literally dumping food into the aquarium because “The fish looked hungry!”
4, Not having enough biofiltration. Hang on backs are not good biofilters. But they can be improved considerably if one watches the Aquarium Co-op video on it. UV also helps. Just be sure to leave it on 24/7.
5, Not having good biomedia in the filter. Foam, K1 and plastic pot scrubbers are good media. Ceramic rings, Matrix, Biohome and lava rock are poor filter media. This was confirmed by testing
6, Too large of a substrate (over 1/8th inch), allowing food to get trapped where fish cannot get to it.
I have devoted several articles to determining filtration capacity. I recommend 100 square feet of filter surface area per pound of fish.
Pepper says
Hi Dave 🙂
I’ve been struggling. I have 7 tanks and randomly battle what I expect is columnaris every few months. I haven’t lost many fish thanks to your excellent advice, and I feed kanamycin in food whenever I begin to see symptoms.
I’ve added a UV light to most of my filters, and I’ve tried to overfilter, but I suspect it’s not quite enough. Is there a filtration rate I should aim for? And how do I determine the filtration capacity of sponge filters? Most of my tanks have an HOB or canister in conjunction with a few sponge filters, but I don’t think that’s cutting it. My other struggle is the flow on the canisters being a bit too high for some of my fish. Any advice is appreciated.
Dave says
In reply to Brad …. Yes, it is still good. If it is in dry form it will be effective for centuries.
Brad says
I have Amoxicillin that expired 03/23, will it still be effective?
Dave says
In reply to Brad ….. No good advice. Sometimes we get a strain of bacteria that just doesn’t respond to medication. You’re doing everything right but its not working, which is very frustrating. You might want to try other antibiotics or even some human antibiotics.
Brad says
Hi Dave, I’m constantly battling “white eye” in my 125 hap/peacock tank. There is about 30 in there and seems about once every few months I see a fish with one white eye. I mix up med food of “Fin and Body Cure or Maracyn 2” and feed that to all fish. I end up mixing up meds in a pipette and med the infected fish because they don’t eat. I have enough k1 fluidized for 9 lbs of fish, UV and 50% WC weekly. I have never had a fish recover. They always die on their own or I put them down.
How beneficial would pond mud be for this?
How contagious is white eye?
Have you seen fish with white eye clear up?
Any advice? This is very frustrating.
Thanks