I have two Oscars in a 55 gallon tank. Overnight these growths appeared on their eyes. Can anyone tell me what it is and how to treat it?

its not a great pic so if you could post another a bit closer up would be good. But to hazerd a guess I would say worm cateract,or fungus. can you try to discribe it. for instance is the eye cloudy and swollen or dose it look more like cotton wool growing on the eye,also is it in both fish and both eyes,

The fact you have this problem dose indicate there may be a a water condition problem too. please test your water and post the reading results. this will also help use in finding the problem. lastly your tank is just not big enough for 2 oscars this is surely to add to water condition problems, if you can tell us your fish size, types, and filter in use we could give you more advice to provent any other problems later on.

I agree with Marcus, there's a strong possibility that water conditions are responsible for your fishes condition. The fact that all fish are showing these signs indicates that water conditions could be an issue. There is a possibility that your fish have developed a bacterial infection of the eye. I just checked my health book and you can use a couple of medications to treat this condition. Methylene blue, and Acriflavin. You must bear in mind that methylene blue can damage your biological filter so it's always best to treat the fish in a separate tank when using this method.

I would suggest that you test the water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. It will be interesting to see what the readings are. If it is a bacterial infection, you are going to need to treat the fish. However, keeping the water in good condition will certainly help.

The medications I have mentioned are readily available so just do a google search.

I just want to add that I am not a professional veterinarian. It may be a good idea to take the information we have given you and just run it by somebody who is professionally trained.

I'm sorry to report that the water tests are not good. Ammonia +8, Nitrate 80, Nitrite 0, Alkalinity 0, pH -6.2 I have 2 Albino Oscars about 8 - 9 inches each. I use a Fulval 405 filter. What is on their eyes looks like cloudy backwards contact lens. I know that sounds strange, but that's what it looks like. Both fish and both eyes on each have this condition.

I've added more info

Am I reading correctly, your pH is 8? I'm surprised the fish are still alive if this is the case. However, because your pH is less than 7.0, the ammonia will be less toxic. You really need to get on top of your water conditions, carry out a 50% water change us as soon as possible. Could you also give us a few details about tank maintenance, have you been cleaning your filter at all? There must be some reason why your conditions are so bad. How long has it been set up for? How big is the aquarium?

I clean the filter once a month. Partial water changes every 1 to 2 weeks. It's been almost a year now that the tank has been setup. The tank is 55 gallons.

Unfortunately your tank isn't big enough for two Oscars.. You say your tank has been set up for one year, it should be well and truly cycled by now. Like I have said already, there must be a reason why your water is in such appalling condition.. With the fish you have got in the size of tank, you would need to be carrying out either quite a large water changed once a week, or two water changes. The filtration you have got it is not too bad. How often do you feed your fish? Also, when you clean your filtration, how exactly do you do it, in detail please. How long to leave them turned off for?

I think OFL misread your ammonia. Its 8 yes. that's top of the scale and very very bad. I would change more than 50% of your water. doing a 50% change will still leave it very high. I know some people don't like to change more than 50% but I think your case is extreme.and your fish are about to die. make sure you heat new water and treat for chlorine. I think you have lost your cycle by cleaning(over cleaning filter) so have a very high ammonia reading. keep doing at least 50% changes every day for 3 days. then test for ammonia. you will need to keep testing daily and changing water when needed. I would stop feeding for a few days and then give very small amount say 3 pellets each fish. I think the main thing here is getting your fish some decent water to live in and then treat the eye problem. Please read through ofl's post and supply as much info as poss on your cleaning of filter.

Ok, I think I figured out why the water condition is so bad. I went in for a heavy duty tank vacuuming and discovered there was way too much gravel which was trapping loads of rotten crap. I pulled out most of the gravel, vacuumed, 50% water change and cleaned out the filter. I put all new media and rinsed out everything else in the filter. Then I added ammonia lock and a bacteria supplement to the water. What can I do to treat my fishes eyes?

This is why I use sand in my tanks, I don't like gravel for the very reason you have described. With sand, nothing actually gets embedded underneath, it floats on top so the filters can remove it, or you can read me the easily when cleaning.

Please don't tell me you have changed all of the media in the filter, just the mechanical filtration?

Ammo lock will certainly help your situation if lots of ammonia is present. Just remember that you will still get a reading of ammonia when you test the water.

If the Oscars eyes don't improve then I would suggest some kind of bacterial medication, I have already suggested two. Just remember that methylene blue can damage your biological filter so I would avoid treating the fish with this type of medication unless you are going to isolate it.

Alternatively, go to your fish store and see what medications they have got that will treat you fishes condition. You might want to feed your fish are a very good quality food, preferably pellets with all the added vitamins they need. Hikari & Tetra produce these type of food

from what you have writen I am getting the same impression that you have cleaned the whole filter. If this is correct you will be back to squre one cos your ammonia will sore high again. Your filter needs the "dirt" cos its bactria in the filter that converts the fish wast and brakes the wast down. If you can answer about your filter cleaning we can advise on what to do next. As for treatment, met blue will be good but you will need to get your water under control cos you maybe changing more water daily. this will mess up any med you add anless you replace meds with the right amounts, to the water you remove. If your waters crap the med is a wast of time cos the problem is still present. the main qesgtion here is do you understand the filter cycle process and the way a filter brakes down and converts wast.A lot of people make the same mistakes here and its very important to fish keeping.