Guppy Missing An Eye

[croggy]

Hi guys

just been staring at my fish and noticed one of my guppys was hidding away in the fake coral . Nothing unusual there as they often chill out in there when the light goes out . but then he turned around and i noticed he was missing an eye.

the thing is totally gone and it looks like it has been surgically removed .

i was woundering if this is a case of in fighting or maybe just an accident or maybe something more serious

in his tank theres

10 neon tetra
4 (unknown)tetra
4 guppies (including him)
pleco
knife fish
2 bamboo shrimps

please help

 

[KittyKat]

Quite likely fighting. Need to try to ID the unknown tetra, please describe or post a photo!

 

[GavinB]

my guess is the knife fish, I've been told they can be very aggressive towards any other type of fish?

Just looked it up:

"Although timid they are aggressive to their own kind but can be housed with other large peaceful fish such as Angelfish, Discus and Gourami"

Would depend on the strain/type of knife fish you have but some can be very nasty.

 

[croggy]

he is a black ghost knife fish ( i think the guy at the store just said knife fish so i went home and found out for my self )

when i researched them i could not find anything about them being aggressive and i spend alot of time watching this fish and have not noticed anything like aggression from him( mind you that doesn't mean he's not doing it when my back is turned)

i asked specifically at the store if he would be a good addition to a peacefull tetra tank and i was told "probably one of the best fish we have for community tanks" (exact words )

as for the other tetra a guy on hear said they are pristella tetra

seems like a good fit to me but the shop(unfortunately i bought these 4 from pets at home) they were just labelled tetra

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons or litres is the tank?
What are your water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Did you notice the eye bulging out before he lost it.
Hows the fish other eye.
The missing eye area does it look clean, and no sign of infections.
Any sharp objects in the tank.
Do your fish squabble or fight.

 

[croggy]

How many gallons or litres is the tank?67(think)
What are your water stats in ammonia,0 nitrite,not registering any noticable change of colour so eithe 0 or very low nitrate,not registering any noticable change of colour so eithe 0 or very low and ph.7.2

Did you notice the eye bulging out before he lost it.none
Hows the fish other eye.perfect
The missing eye area does it look clean, and no sign of infections.it looks very clean and like i said above surgically removed
Any sharp objects in the tank.plastic grass plants maybe?
Do your fish squabble or fight.nothing that i've ever noticed . occassional quick chase but nether anything more(that i've seen)

i'm really worried about infection so did a water test this morning ( results above) and then did a 20% change just to be safe

i was going to add some meds but then thought well which ones? i'm not a massive fan of just throwing in general tonics

also forgot to add i have started treating for fin rot as my pleco has had it from when i got her. and now that she seems very happy in her home and the rot has lessened massively i decided to start treating it. dunno if that stuff could cause it - prob not but best to be safe and mention it

 

[WILDER]

Is the tank 67 litres.

make sure there no sharp edges on the plastic plants that can cause injury to fish. Even ornaments and rocks.

I would just do some water changes for now. With having no signs of infection.

 

[croggy]

done the water change and trimmed the edges of the plastic grass(took ages) to make it more rounded of (some of the points really were as thin as needles)

the little guy seems to be doing o.k. now i just have to make sure he's looking the right way at feeding time

did try putting him into a seperate tank floated in the top to feed but this seemed to distress him so just let him back in with the others.

he seems good so long as he can see the food he goes for it so should be o.k

 

[WILDER]

Bless him.
He might tilt to onside now and then because he lost his eye.

Glad you have trimmed your grass.

Thanks for the update.
If any changes get back to the board.

Good Luck.