Could this fish be blind?

[slimytadpole]

For the last 3 months or so, I've noticed that my false percula has been having difficulty eating. He would swim up to the food, but when he opened his mouth to suck it in, he would miss 50% of the time. I have had this fish since January, and he used to be my best eater, often attacking cubes of food before it even had a chance to thaw. About a month or so ago, I started a thread about the problem, and people suggested using a baster to put the food in front of him. But that doesn't seem to be the problem. He often swims up to the food and tries to eat, but misses. Even when the current is shut off.
Lately it's gotten worse. He can barely catch food at all, yet he does get excited just after the food enters the tank. It's to the point that I feed the tank twice a day to get any amount of food in him at all.
For the last t days, he has caught NOTHING. He's now swimming right past it as if it's not there. He's been wasting away for a while now, and he is getting very thin. The problem is that he seems to have his appetite and otherwise seems healthy, but can't eat. I think he is loosing his eyesight. I placed him in a large bowl with a lot of flake food. The bown is filled with tank water. He's been in this situation before, and always ate. Now, he's just swimming around, trying to eat the flake food, but he can['t seem to tell exactly where it is.
I'm fairly attached to this fish, as he's the first one I got, and he has a lot of personality, but I don't want to see it starve to death. Any advice? anyone been in a similar situation?

[Laura D]

I am really sorry to hear about your clown. That's really sad. I had something similar happen with my beloved finger dragonette. He just stopped being able to see the food. It got to the piont where I would put his favorite food right in front of him and it would bounce off his head. He eventually starved to death. It was not pretty.

I have no idea why this is happening in your fish. In my case I thought he may have had a dietary deficiency, not many people keep finger dragonettes, and perhaps I wasn't able to get him some vitamin he needed. But clowns are normally so hardy. It seemes that there is some other cause.

I hope he makes it.

[garbled]

In the most recent FAMA there is an article on tube feeding fish manually. Perhaps that is a way you can save him. It may be a good opportunity to practice and learn this technique for the future, even if you can't save this one fish.

I wonder if he really is blind though. How does he respond to scares? Like if he is in the bowl, and you attempt to startle him without touching the water, does it work? What about using an eyedropper to dispense food directly in front of his mouth? Maybe larger flakes, like really large ones he could hit easier and break off a piece?

[stevenc64]

I know this is an old post but I have a similar problem. I have had a picasso trigger for over a year and he has always been an aggresive eater but recently has had trouble eating. He appears hungry but misses food right in front of his mouth. Vision seems to be fine otherwise, eyes look fine. Anyone?

Thanks,
Steve

[mdrsailor]

I would suspect an intestinal/digestional system infection. I saw fish who wants to eat but can`t eat simply because their digestional system has failed. It might be a fungal or bacterial infection. Unfortunately they die almost 100%. I would try an aggressive antifungal, bacterial treatment.

[supernip]

mullberry, I know what you mean. I lost two fingered dragonettes to not eating. I would love some info on them if you can provide me with supposrt. My last one,oden, was my favorite fish. As for the post, it might be a bacterial infection. It's happened to me before but its just a guess:mad2:

[bmcelhinn]

My friend had a cowfish with the same prob. It got stuck to an intake and was blind in one eye. He did the same thing, he would swim up to the food but couldn't get it. I think some fish navigate differently than others, so if one is isn't working everything is out of whack and the veer off to the side. I hope you can help the little one.

[Laura D]

Originally posted by supernip
mullberry, I know what you mean. I lost two fingered dragonettes to not eating. I would love some info on them if you can provide me with supposrt. My last one,oden, was my favorite fish. As for the post, it might be a bacterial infection. It's happened to me before but its just a guess:mad2:

Well, the one we had was with us for about 9 months before he stopped eating. I had even had him trained to take food from a turkey baster, but one day he just stopped eating, and his eyes looked cloudy. I had noticed that his eyes were not as clear as they used to be for the few weeks leading up to him stopping eating, but thought I must just be paranoid.

He gradually lost weight and then died. It was really sad.

[supernip]

can I ask about your tank size, water parameters, feeding habits and all?

[K. Lee]

I had a malnourished hippo which behaved this way, and, btw, died. :sad1:

You might try switching foods and see if there is a change in behaviour or a more positive response. The fish may have some other problem then sight, and a change in food might help, or at least give an idea of what is going on.

HTH,

Lee

[Laura D]

Originally posted by supernip
can I ask about your tank size, water parameters, feeding habits and all?

155 gallon, three 175w metal halides on 10 photo period. Vho actinics on for 12hr.

SG 1.025, temp about 80. Nitrates undetectable. I never tested for phosphate or calcium, I only had softies for corals back then.

4 inch deep sand bed of southdown.

About five months into having the dragonette I added a small refugium.

I initiated a feeding response in him with live brine. I turned off the wavemaker and used a turkey baster to squirt the live brine down to where he was sitting. I tried to fortify it with selcon and/or phytoplankton for an hour or so before feeding, but often I was in a hurry and skipped this.

He took to the live brine pretty quick, it was like a light bulb went off in his head. "Oh, I can eat this!" After about a week of this he would eat frozen brine, again squirted near him with low flow. I gradually switched him to mysis, and he really loved raw table shrimp finely chopped.

I tried to feed him twice daily. Sometimes I would miss a feeding and add an extra bit the next day.

He began to recongnize the turkey baster as food pretty quick, unfortunatly so did my greedy sailfin tang, and feeding was always a battle. My technique was to flood his area with food and then chase the tang away, so he would be able to get enough.

I tried sneaking him food at night to avoid the tang, but the dragonette would never feed for me unless the lights were on.

[Zepplin]

I'm not certain, but I thought the kind of behavior described in this thread was indicitive of cyanide poisoning. When cyanide caught fish are first purchased they behave normally, but after awhile they regress into a disoriented state. I don't happen to know where to find more information-I suppose a search on RC for cyanide would help. However, if he was captive bred you can rule out the cyanide factor. Regardless, I am very sorry to here of your percula's condition, I hope you find a solution.

-Meg

[EdKruzel]

This doesn't sound as if the fish is blind. In nearly all cases of a sight disorder there is noticeable damage or discoloration to the eye.

There are many related problems that cause fish to become disoriented or unable to catch food.

Poor water quality.
Numerous diseases can cause this effect.
Malnutrition.
Toxins.

The last item I listed, "Toxins" is probably a larger group than the many diseases your fish could possibly have.

If your water quality is off there can be an over abundance of metals building up. If you keep corals, the build up of toxins can be of a protein base.
Other toxins may have been introduced before you purchased the fish such as the cyanide that was mentioned by Zeppelin.

Cyanide, although toxic acts by malnutrition. The chemical deteriorates/coats the inner lining of the intestinal tract. This keeps the specimen from receiving any nutrients no matter what or how much it eats.
Eventually the fish starves to death while the hobbyist is baffled by the cause often blaming themselves.

I wish I could give you a specific cause and cure; however this is such a generalized condition that all you can do is fall back to the basics and hope the clown pulls through.

Ensure there are no foreign substances in the tank or metallic substances in your rock.
Keep the water quality high, and offer only nutritious foods.
Soak the foods in selcon or any other vitamin complex.

Good Luck,
Ed