one eyed fish.

[achillesheel]

just wondering what the "consesus" is on this situation.

just had a soldierfish in my parents' office tank go through a horrible bout of popeye and has lost an eye because of it.

my question is this; what do i do now? do i just keep nursing him back? do i put him down?

i know fish can live quite long when missing an eye but i wonder how humane this really is. i hate to see him suffer but i am at a loss.

opinions?

thank you
shad

[DiViNeLeFT]

my kindergarten teacher had a one eyed goldfish in her classroom fish tank. it died shortly after i graduated so i doubt there are any long term problems with the loss of an eye considering that one probably died of old age.

[Samala]

I dont think it would be inhumane to allow him to live after the loss of an eye, so long as he is still reasonably healthy. Really its an ethical question. However.. just think if he were in the wild and had lost an eye to something else (perhaps a fight or similar) he would most likely be quickly picked off by a predator. At least in your tank he has a shot.

I would continue the treatment and evaluate the fish after he has been living with one eye for a few weeks. If he has trouble adapting, cannot find food, is being picked on by tankmates, or is otherwise failing to thrive, then consider putting him down humanely. That would be far better than allowing him to slowly starve, or be bullied to death.

>Sarah

[tropicalfishguy]

I know this isn't the same, but I have a red devil(freshwater) that lost 1 eye completly and part of the other one in a fight with another red devil. She was on the brink of death, but is healthy now, I have had her for around 3 yrs and she gets along very well, no problems eating, although, she is very gentle now, and seems rather sensitive to strong lighting. I say let him live.

[rickkott13]

If you really cant stand him suffer. Try flushing it down the tolits.hehe

[Jojoyojimbi]

Originally posted by rickkott13
If you really cant stand him suffer. Try flushing it down the tolits.hehe

that's not very humane, and could also potentially infect a local body of water with a foreign fish species.

if you're oging to euthanize alcohol or freezing is much more humane

[Samala]

Lets ignore the obvious trolling from rickkott. It will only lead this thread into an abyssal spiral into flames.

>Sarah

[JGoslee]

My six-line wrasse only has one eye and he is fine. I see no reason why you would have to put the fish down. The fish isn't going to suffer from the loss of an eye.

Here's a pic of my 6-line...Look how fat he is. He doe's fine with only one eye.

[trigger111]

I had a damsel lose an eye over three years ago and it still rules the tank. No big deal at all assuming it heals well and does not get an infection. Just let it be I am sure it will most likely be fine.

[Randall_James]

yea let him live, you could always get him an seeing eye dogfish

[adimal]

let him live!

[LoudProudNPunk]

my brother bought a eel with one eye. He is fine, seems happy and eats well.

[joekr]

I vote live as well. If he is otherwise healthy, why put him down?

[achillesheel]

this guy didn't make it. i let it go with meds and about the time he started looking better he died. thanks for all the input though.