Could This Be The Beginning Of Something Nasty?

[koinukun]

I was watching my fish yesterday and I noticed that one of my harlequins had some wierd patches on it.
On a closer look they look like small faded blotches on his skin and there's also one in the middle of one of his eyes. Kinda looks like a small cateract.

He swins around like normal and keeps up with all the others and he eats well and isn't loosing any weight. He isn't scratching or flicking on the gravel or plants etc and no other fish have any symptoms. Could it be the begginings of ick or could it be from some fight that may have happened or something? Old age perhaps? Though I've only had them for about 4 months.

Thanks for any help you can give!

~koinukun

oops! I didn't mean to post this twice. Sorry!

 

[Colin_T]

Cloudy eyes and a greyish film over the body are often associated with poor water quality. Perhaps an ammonia or nitrite reading or extreme PH values.
If the water is good then the patching the body could be a skin parasite like chilodonella, costia or trichodina, however these don't normally cloud the eyes.
Sometimes it can look like the fish has a cataract if the light is shining on it from a certain angle. Have a look at the fish under normal tank lights and see if it is still there.

Check the water quality first and if that is ok try to post a pic for us to look at.

 

[LosC519]

I've had the same problem on some of my neons and I've had 4 casualties this week but not all showed signs of the skin problem. MY water is clean, pH is 7.2.

 

[koinukun]

Ok so I checked the water and all is in check, nitrates are at 10ppm but it's weekly water change day tomorrow.
pH is the same, 7.6

The condition hasn't worsened, It seems to look slightly better but I can't say for sure. He's still swimming around and is full of energy and appetite.

It's not the lights , there is definitely a small foggy spot on his eye. I'll TRY and get a pic but he's not still for long and it's not the best camera for closeups. >_<

 

[Colin_T]

if the water is ok then the cloudy eye could be the start of a bacterial infection. But don't treat it yet. Try doing a partial water change each day for a week and see if it improves. Make sure you gravel clean the tank as well and make sure the filter is running properly. Quite often a few water changes and gravel cleans will clear the problem up.
If it gets worse then add something along the lines of Waterlife Protozin
Don't use Protozin if you have shrimp in the tank.

 

[koinukun]

Coolies! Looking at him later this evening the patchyness on his body definitely looks like it's improving. The eye is still the same though. I'll do those partial water changes like you said.

Thanks for the great help! \(^o^)/

~koinukun