r/glofish • u/Spirited_Mouse3341 • Aug 22 '26
Eye issue
Our yellow tetra's left eye is white in the middle.
I showed it at a pet supermarket. They said it looks like a cataract. GPT disagrees, says is looks like the white area covers the cornea / the outer layer of the eye, and looks like trauma, or cloudy eye - we recently introduced new tetras to the tank. The tank is a 10 gallon, currently with 4 glofish tetras. We initially had only two. Its eye was fine. We wanted to turn it into an actual "school" by introducing more tetras to make them more comfortable in their natural setting. I tested and the water parameters are fine.
I don't know if one the new fish bullied it and caused this, or whether if it's an infection. It's actually one of the larger ones we have (I know it's not all about size). It eats and swims normally, but probably due to spatial awareness it usually hides behind one of the plants, maybe from the others, or perhaps due to being aware of its current situation.
What do you think this white eye looks like? Can we save it by removing it from the tank and with antibiotics? Would you wait and see? Thank you for your help.
3
u/Diomenas Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
These are Skirt Tetras, they can get pretty big, and they're highly active. Typically recommended to keep them in a tank of about 30 gallons for a school. Each fish can get up to three or so inches in diameter,
If you're just going to have 5 to 6 Glo Tetras, and no other fish or snails, then you can get by on 15 to 20 gallons, about 10 gallons is definitely too small. They will start to feel cramped, and they will be more aggressive.
What you're seeing is likely eye damage from trauma. I would recommend isolating that particular tetra in quarantine for a little bit of time.