Blind blue throat trigger.

[TacoKing]

I have a male blue throat that appears to be blind. I just got back from vacation 2 days ago. He looked like he was skinny when I first saw him. My roommate who fead the tank said he didn't take the silverside when he fed the fish. I fed the tank yesterday and he didn't take any thing I put in, just hid in the corner.

Now today I noticed he was swimming around, but he was running into everything. He's ran into 3 of my corals, fragging them, always running into the walls of the tank and then turning around. He's also not responsive to me being near him.

Other than the odd behavior, and being skinny he "looks" fine. I can't see he'll live long in this state though.

Anyone have any ideas?

-TK

 

[TerryB]

With extreme duress fish can become lethargic and appear to be blind. In some cases they are blind while in others they are not actually blind, but unresponsive. I would try a large water change using well aged and aerated saltwater first. If the fish does not get better then move it to quarantine. It may be starving to death and very weak. Do NOT remove it from the water durng transfer to quarantine. Move the fish in a plastic bag or specimen container with water and lower it into the Qtank. Use a much lower than normal salinity to help the fish conserve metabolic energy. Make sure to have good aeration in the water. Then I would try adding some vitamins to the water. I use Zoe. SW fish can adsorb vitamins from the water. Keep the lights low with plenty of PVC pipe for hiding. If the fish is in the last stages of starvation its immune function will be poor. You may need to use a good antibiotic. If you use Maracyn-Two then use the saltwater formula because it contains vitamins that help with digestion. Then try getting it to eat some live food such as glass shrimp or even feeder goldfish. Goldfish are not good food for SW fish, but we are just trying to restore feeding behaviors right now. You can try some mysis, krill and Pacifica plankton.

Terry B