help with blind lion

[marine buoy]

hi guys.

i have a volitans that ive had for 8 months, bought from small and now currently 8" my lion has begun,over the last few days to hug the contours of the rocks as if he is loosing his sight ??, he is also yawning as if clearing his throat.

i have been feeding him a diet mostly of fresh cockles and mussels .(knowing variety is best but he does love the above two and now wont accept anything else!)

my main concern is his current behavior of swimming into the
sides of the tank...gently,......thankfully!

would this confirm my worst fears of him having lost his sight and if so what can i do to remedy this?

any help,much appreiciated.???

 

[Creamhorses]

I read yor message because I have a young Purple Tang that can't seem to find the food in front of him.....almost like he can't see.

Anyway, I have a thought for you.....if hand feed your Lion, see if you can direct his movement with his favotite food @ the end of a stick or whatever you feed with. Make him turn and approach a rock or something that he has to see to stop for. You've got the idea, I'm sure.

Good luck

Dave

 

[marine buoy]

thanx for your advice. i have tried similar approaches over the last few days, im pretty much sure its his eyesight ,.he ate 2 mussells last night . but they were each on the end of a clear feeding stick,and placed so that the food was actually touching his mouth. thanx ,is this curable ?

 

[Creamhorses]

It's clear that something has changed the behaviour of your fish. Is it blind?.....I don't know.
What's the next step.....the sensible thing to do is keep him happy and watch for any signs that he may display as to progress toward a good or bad end to this dilemma.

Is this fish alone in the tank, if not is/are there other predatory fish or nems that could have stung him?

Dave

 

[marine buoy]

thanx. he is not alone in the tank.(list on bottom of my initial question)but has been left well alone by all other tank mates.i guess i will have to sit back and play the waiting game, im concerned that my trigger and wrasse may pick up on this and start to annoy and attack him.it would be great to know if his blindness is reversable maybe with vitamins and a more varied diet or do i take him from the tank?.....this is doin my head in!!

 

[Recty]

What are your water parameters? Is everything good?

Bad water quality can lead to all types of problems, including what seems like blindness.

Whenever a fish starts acting funny, I almost immediately do a big water change, to the tune of 20-25%. It is amazing how many problems you can cure with that alone. If you are only changing out water once a month, you might want to consider doing multiple smaller water changes, like weekly 10% water changes.

Even if your other fish arent acting blind or weird, it could just be something that is affecting the lion only.

I'd try a water change first, also if you dont do it already, soak your food at least weekly in a product like Selcon.

Some apparent blindness cases are reversible by excellect water quality and vitamin additions like Selcon. Some are not, but you might as well give it your best shot.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I was going to say the same thing--seeming blind can be a sign of nitrite poisoning.

 

[marine buoy]

thanx. am preparing 25% change as we speak. coinciding with more variety in diet and a vitamin addative to hopefully help.also rather than doing 25% changes,monthly. will start 10% weekly to keep on top of things. fingers crossed!! thanx all...again