Can Fish Survive With Only One Eyeball?

[Xiautau]

Hello,
I noticed one of my tiger barbs today was swimming a bit funny. After watching him for a few minutes i noticed that someone ate one of his eyeballs. Will this fish survive or should I place him in water and in the freezer.

Xiautau

 

[rsz]

firstly, NEVER EVER EVER FREEZE A FISH!! it is cruel and puts the fish through unecessary pain . read this to find out how to safely dispose of a fish

i should think he will be ok with one eye, if it is not a mess. i bought a dwarf gourami which had one eye and he seemed perfectly healthy. however, i didn't like it - it looked a bit creepy to me and the was supposed to be my 'centre piece'!! i took him back to the lfs and exchanged him

 

[Xiautau]

I suppose i will put the fish in a bag and return him to the store. Petsmart has a 14 day guarantee and i purchased him yestarday. Dont know what they will do with him but he seems to not want to smim around too much anymore. Thanks for the help.

 

[rsz]

thats ok. maybe they'll swap him for you

 

[smb]

Fish can live perfectly fine with only 1 eyeball. No need to euthanize. I had a piranha, actually the first batch I got of them 17 years ago, that had his eye taken out by another and he lived 10 more years.

 

[Sea_Monster87]

He should be ok, you may want to add some salt to prevent infection. Do you have an adult golden algae eater? They change their diet from algae to other fishe's slime coats and eyeballs when full grown (no joke) so that may be why it lost an eye. It also could have been from a severe case of popeye because it can lead to eye loss.

 

[Xiautau]

He should be ok, you may want to add some salt to prevent infection. Do you have an adult golden algae eater? They change their diet from algae to other fishe's slime coats and eyeballs when full grown (no joke) so that may be why it lost an eye. It also could have been from a severe case of popeye because it can lead to eye loss.

i have a pleco that i got about 1 1/2 - 2 mos ago. I dont see him suck on anything but the tank bottom and the sides and the plants and the little hut in the tank. Never seen him suck on a fish yet. I think the other tiger barb in the tank that was causing trouble with my platys and blue gouramis and the one eyed tiger barb bit his eye out. The mean tiger barb got the 21 flush salute. Everything seems to be fine now and the one eyed fish seems to still be able to eat.

 

[smb]

The mean tiger barb got the 21 flush salute.

Why?

 

[Opcn]

you may wish to figure out what cause the loss of an eye ball before you decide to keep the fish. If another fish is going to be gnawing on it you dont need it.

Opcn

as far as the 21 flush salute there are worse ways for a healthy fish to die like from an infection after a fight. I personaly feel that the best way to get rid of an anoing fish is to feed it to a cat or the nieghbors BIG lion fish.

Opcn :kira:

 

[my_fallen_angel]

i think thats mean to flush the live fish down the loo.
There are so many other things you could have done.
Like take it back to the lfs and exchange him!!
There is always going to be a dominant fish in the tank!

 

[kev]

Did the fish die before you flushed it down the toilet? Or was it put down thier alive which is very very cruel. Thier is always another option you could have taken it back to the shop. and if the fish is injured and suffering then thier are ways to put it out of its missery PLEASE READ THIS

Even if it had died from an attack and not Diseases you still shouldn't flush it down the toilet. See the same post for details of disposal

 

[Losi]

I have a Harlequin with one eye and he is fine (actually he is the biggest of the shoal).
Your fish will be fine and there is NO need to kill him.

 

[Lateral Line]

If you only had 2 tiger barbs then one will hassle the other and often stress it to death. Tiger barbs should be kept in groups of 5-6 at least so there is some respite for the subordinate fish.

Now it would seem you have cruelly disposed of one perfectly healthy fish and have a half blinded one, neither of which were to blame.

 

[smb]

as far as the 21 flush salute there are worse ways for a healthy fish to die like from an infection after a fight.

So it's ok that you go around killing perfectly healthy fish as long as you don't use the worst way possible? Just because there was a more inhumane way to destroy a fish doesn't mean it's acceptable to do so when the fish was just doing what comes naturally to them.

This is a classic case of how you should do your homework before you buy your fish and understand the fish's needs.

 

[millym]

i dont want to have a go at you - but how could you kill a fish(flushing is vvvvvv cruel) just cos its behaving naturally? tiger barbs need to be in a school of at least 6 - stops them harassing other tank mates. we have 6 in a community tank & they NEVER bother anything else. please dont flush or freeze (just as bad) any more fish it upsets me just thinking about it.
sorry but i just had to say this.