911~~~ Blind Fish!

[Michael_Lambert]

Guys.. I dont know what is going on.. I turned the lights on this morning on my tank .. To see my sailFin tang just swimming around Bumping into everything.. i mean i would swear he is Blind.. He goes Flying full speed up and down the length of the tank smashing into everything?

Any one have any ideas?

His pupils are all big and black.. and seems to have faded allot of his color.. the lights have been on now for about 20 Min's.. and nothing has changed?

anyone.. any ideas?

[bertcmg]

Try catching him and you will find out if he is blind or just in pain from another cause

I suggest you place him in a styrofiam container liner with some Slime guard added to it
( Available at Canadian Tire camping section at Canadian Tire


Also test your water and do water change, ( when in doubt do a water change )

Sorry can't be of more help

Bert

[ajx22]

Almost sounds like stray current/voltage in the tank.

I have seen this same thing occur when the above was the culprit.

[afss]

yes.. My money is on AJ. I was trying to place this all day and this is exactly where i have seen it before.

Scott

[Michael_Lambert]

I tested the water twice.. all parameters.. and the are fine.. I'm running a Titanium grounding probe, the one from ORG that does not plug in but connects to the outlet.. and i used my multimeter reader to take a reading on the water and nothing..

Now I'm watching him now and he appears to be fine? not bumping into things.. and good after food.. So i really don't know what happened.. I mean could he have just been asleep? and with the basement being in total darkness i turned the lights on and it just caught him off guard?

I mean the color seems to be back, he is no longer resting on the bottom of the tank, and is back to cruising the tank picking at the rocks ( eating ) ..

Bert as for trying to catch him.. Yea he was blinded.. I mean i was thinking of catching him and putting him into a QT tank and i used the net just to make sure.. and he did not even Flinch when i went up to him with the net..

[Red-Sea]

Stop abusing the poor fish, just give it to me I'll look after it well. :devilin:

[static416]

I'm not sure if there is a corelation, but my Powder Blue bumped into things like he was blind right after I FW dipped him, and consequently, right before he died.

It was probably a result of some extreme stress of some kind, I'm happy but surprised that he is ok afterward.

[Mckitrick]

Geeze. That's how they catch Kangaroos in Australia... Drive around at night with the headlights off and flash 1M candlepower lights in their eyes. They're so stunned they just whack 'em with a bat and it's over.

Since the pupils were fully dialated he was probably accustomed to the dark and when you slammed the lights on he was like Dammit Jim! Dammit Jim!

[Ocean Images]

To avoid the stress of blinding your fish with a sudden burst of aquarium lights, put a "moon light" on your tank. I use a simple night-light mounted above my tank so that the tank is not in total darkness at night. The fish can find their hiding places quickly when I either walk into the room or the first set of actinics come on. Set your light timers so that not all of the lights come on at once, the less stress you can inflict on fish the healthier your tank will be
:cheers2:

[Michael_Lambert]

Well usually its not an issue.. lol,

Usually I'm home.. working in my basement so the room lights come on.. still darkish in the tank.. but the room lights are on.. and the tank is Viewable.. just yesterday i started back to work.. and Came home and went down stairs and did not even think about .. Just flipped the lights on.. when they had just gone off like 4 hours ago.. Not sure what i was thinking!.. lol

[jtremblay]

You probably have too much coral 'n' stomatella snails 'n' other livestock pestering your poor tang.

Tell you what. Since I'm a nice guy at heart, I'll take some of your troublesome livestock off your hands, for free!

Otherwise, I like the suggestion of the moonlight. It's something like a $20 project -- less if you can find an old cell phone charger with the right voltage. Poking around NanoReef.com and RC should yield a lot of schematics.

[Dr. Tom]

You guys should set up a practice!

After several years in medical school and paediatric residency, all I would add is that if it was really light related, there is no way he would still be blinded after 20 minutes. While I'm not an expert on fish physiology, light didn't make sense.

I like the idea of stray current. The other posibility would be a toxidrome (if the tang was human). Possibilities in a tank ( a stab in the dak -- pun intended) would be:

envemomation/sting
heavy metal toxicity (will come back)
medication
drugs (any cocaine or pcp in your system?)
seizure disorder (do fish convulse?)

At least I got something out of med school other than a better golf swing!!! LOL :golf:

[Mckitrick]

You can get a better golf swing in Med School? It's back to school for me then!