# Neon Tetra has 1 eyeball missing?!?



## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

i just noticed that one of my five neons has an empty eyeball socket! they have all been in the tank for a month. he also swims kind of slanted. did he get popeye disease or what? should i flush him to prevent contamination? none of the other four seem to have any problems


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## Trapper (Dec 9, 2004)

fusQer said:


> i just noticed that one of my five neons has an empty eyeball socket! they have all been in the tank for a month. he also swims kind of slanted. did he get popeye disease or what? should i flush him to prevent contamination? none of the other four seem to have any problems


1.) Contamination.
Any contamination that can occur has probably already occurred. Accordingly, disposal or other movement of this fish for reasons of prevention is probably useless.

Further, you probably acquired all those neons from the same source, right? They were likely contaminated (or not contaminated) before the fact of your purchase.

2.) Flushing.
Never flush a living fish. Ever. Cruel. Not a good way for the fish to go. The only time you should flush a fish is if it is already dead.

In order to kill a small fish like a neon tetra, you should consider:
* dropping into boiling water (FOR SMALL SMALL FISH ONLY)
* smashing to smithereens with a hammer (one blow, squish the head)
* decapitation.
* flash freezing in liquid nitrogen

Each of these methods will kill the fish instantly. These methods may be a little unattractive, but their unattractiveness is of trifling importance compared to making the fish's last moment stress-free, painless, and abrupt.

There are some who advocate plopping the fish into ice water. I am not one of them. Death is not instantaneous, and therefore we cannot be sure that the fish is/isn't suffering as it freezes. Analogies to human death by hypothermia are inapposite as rebuttals to this.


3.) Should you kill this fish?
That's a judgment call only you can make. You're the one observing that fish's behavior. Slanted swimming aside, is it acting normally? Eating? Does the fish's eyesocket seem to be healing?

It may well be that the fish is not in very much distress, and will fully recover.

Then again, it may be having a hellish time, wishing it had a little fishie revolver with which to blow its fishie brains out.

You have to decide whether you think the prospect of the fish's ultimate recovery to a pain-free and normal life is worth putting the fish through whatever discomfort it now endures.

If I were in your situation, I would err on the side of caution and smash the fish to smithereens.

Your call.

Trapper


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

thank you very much  so am i now in need of a UV sterilizer or?? the tetra with no eye seems fine- he is eating, swimming around with the school, etc. if all the damage has been done i guess i will leave him in there. but i have other fish that i dont want infected. how do i do damage control now?


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## snafu (Oct 9, 2004)

are you certain you didn't purchase the fish in said condition? most likely it was a genetic defect, physical injury, etc (i.e., non-contagious condition) and will live out a normal, albeit one-eyed, life. 

lately, there have been lots of talk of UV sterilizers? what gives?

i wish i had some of that liquid nitrogen too... 
-snafu


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## Trapper (Dec 9, 2004)

fusQer said:


> thank you very much  so am i now in need of a UV sterilizer or?? the tetra with no eye seems fine- he is eating, swimming around with the school, etc. if all the damage has been done i guess i will leave him in there. but i have other fish that i dont want infected. how do i do damage control now?


In my opinion, damage control here should be what we all normally do with pet shop fish: keep them at the right temperature, feed them a varied diet including live foods, and, of course keep that water in tip top shape. Quarantine appropriately.

Determination of the orthodox water and diet for neons is left as an exercise for the reader. Fortunately plantedtank.net has oodles of search goodness.

As far as the UVS goes, knock yourself out. Just don't think that because you run a UVS you can let any other aspect of maintenance slide. There are also some concerns - the merit of which I leave as a matter for your scientific judgment - about UVS effect on iron.

A side note about quarantining and neons: I picked up a school of 20 or so neons about 8 months ago. These I kept quarantined for maybe 2 months, during which time every fish was vigorous and healthy. Thereafter the neons were moved into my planted community tank, and, over ensuing months, succumbed, all but one, to neon tetra disease. A few glowlight tetras (H. erythrozonus) succumbed, too. There is no known treatment for NTD. Thus my side note amounts to this: two months should be considered insufficient quarantine time for neons.


--Trapper

p.s. Cardinal tetras are said to be immune to NTD. _See, e.g._ http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/neondisease.htm (Last visited Feb. 12, 2006)


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## triple red (May 27, 2005)

are there any other fish in the tank? could this be because of another agressive fish? are you sure it didnt come this way?
pop eye usually doesnt mean that the entire eye falls out, it will bulge out and it is a sympotom of either poor water quality , bacterial infection, or some kinda parasite....
ive seen fish with one eye like quite normally...
do a waterchange, check your water parameters, and watch the fish closely


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

triple red said:


> are there any other fish in the tank? could this be because of another agressive fish? are you sure it didnt come this way?
> pop eye usually doesnt mean that the entire eye falls out, it will bulge out and it is a sympotom of either poor water quality , bacterial infection, or some kinda parasite....
> ive seen fish with one eye like quite normally...
> do a waterchange, check your water parameters, and watch the fish closely


i cant be 100% sure that it did not come like that from the LFS. there are other fish in teh tank, and i my neons quarrel amongst each other. im just gonna leave it in there, it seems to be doing fine, eating, and keeping up with the rest of the pack. its just kind of slanted...


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## sarahbobarah (May 20, 2005)

I have a collection of one-eyed fish. They are all doing fine without the missing eyeball. Kind of endearing, actually.


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

--Trapper

p.s. Cardinal tetras are said to be immune to NTD. _See, e.g._ http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/neondisease.htm (Last visited Feb. 12, 2006)[/QUOTE]

are you a lawyer?  your footnote is so proper, although in the latest (18th) edition of hte bluebook R.18.2.2 there is no more "last visited" entry


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

Update- 1 eyed fish started not being able to swim and was doing loop-d-loops, he was euthanized, as was another exhibiting the same symptoms, but had both his eyes. im never buying neons again, only cardinals!


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## GreenerSideofLIfe (Dec 24, 2005)

Ive seen neons exibiting the same issues over the years. I remember seeing an article on line about it... but for the life of me I cant remember much about the article other than the 'ohhh so thats what I should have done' realization. Hope your other fishies are ok! Sorry about the two you lost.


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## panboy (Jan 27, 2006)

i have a rummynose that has his right eye missing, and part of his face.
It looks awefully painful, but he has been like this for almost a year, and he is bright red and looks and acts great. He still shoals with the others, but sometimes if they turn right you can tell he doesnt notice for a second a too, until he is alone. its sad but funny


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## Trapper (Dec 9, 2004)

fusQer said:


> --Trapper
> 
> p.s. Cardinal tetras are said to be immune to NTD. _See_, _e.g._ http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/neondisease.htm (Last visited Feb. 12, 2006)


are you a lawyer?  your footnote is so proper, although in the latest (18th) edition of hte bluebook R.18.2.2 there is no more "last visited" entry [/QUOTE]

Yikes! You caught me using the 17th edition! Poorly, at that. I'm not even close to R. 18.2.2.


Trapper


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