Can anyone help? What is wrong with my fish?

Question

My eighteen month old Black Moore is poorly.

It had a bad eye on Saturday - all pus and blood inside it so i put the treatment in that I was recommended (i can't remember the name) but then a day later the eye had a white sort of fur on it and since then the eye seems to have 'fallen out' and all that is left is the eye socket.

I know it's an odd question but it is in pain and what can i do to help it.

My mother has suggested it may be kinder to 'put it out of its misery' but I don't know what to do.

Any suggestions?

Thanks everyone for your answers.

They were all very much appreciated however there were just so many good ones I thought it unfair to choose a best answer; hence the reason for putting it to vote.

Thank you all - the fish is fine now. I have treated the tank etc and it's swimming around quite happily.

Answer 1

If the treatment has stopped any further outbreaks and the fish looks better (if eyeless) then I would recommend keeping him. I've had 2 one-eyed fish that lived long and healthy lives after the loss.

Answer 2

When something loses an eye the nerve endings are normally severed. Your fish is probably no longer in pain. Lots of fish lose eyes. Other fish in the tank may just find them tasty.

Your main concern should be secondary bacterial infections. Do a 25% water change on your tank just to improve conditions for him. DO NOT remove more then 23% of the water. Keep an eye on his eye socket if you notice that fuzzy stuff again then you have a fungus problem.

I have a fish with no eyes at all. The staff at a petstore saved her for me because they knew I would take her. She lost her eyes so long ago that the sockets have completely healed over. Her name is Keller- ha ha.

Don't kill your fish because he looks funny- that is soooo not cool. If he is swimming around and eating then he is not suffering.

Before adding medications for fungus or a bacterial infection make sure they can be combined with what you already have added to the tank.

Answer 3

I can't belive people are telling you to flush it. The toilet is not a magical death machine, and the fish will still be alive and suffering even more in your sewer or septic tank before it finally dies. Sheesh. I linked some other methods below.

You can't save the eye, but these things happen to fish like Black Moors that have bulging eyes. It can live happily with just one eye, so don't worry about that.

You need to treat the fuzzy stuff, which is a fungus. Do a 20-30% water change (with dechlorinated water, of course), and get some MarOxy, Fungus Cure, or any other fungus medication. Just ask at the pet store if you can't find it.

Poor water conditions are what allow this fungus to be present in your tank, so you need to make sure that you have proper filtration, aeration, pH, do water changes, etc.

Answer 4

Does the fish now seem ok except for the missing eye? If so, it might end up being just fine. Now that the diseased eye is gone, it's possible that the fish can go about just being a fish again. My recommendation is that if the fish is otherwise alright and you want to keep him, then do so. If problems are ongoing, and nothing has helped, it might be best to let him go to "fish heaven". Fish are very easily killed or destroyed by disease, but once the disease is gone, they have an amazing ability to heal. One thing to remember, either way, is to very thoroughly clean the tank before getting another fish. Good luck.

Answer 5

it sounds like your fish had a condition called 'pop eye' where there is fluid feeling up behind the eye and if lefted then it will push the eye out. Where the eye is now missing, i think that it has become infected and that would explain the white, cotton like fluff around the eye, This is fungus. If the fish looks like its in distress then i would put it out of its misery and kill it. To do this i would recomment holding its tail and wacking its head, very hard on a side/table, but you must put a pin in its brain after to make sure its fully dead (dont ask me why, but i know you have to do that, as gross as its sounds)... sorry... Also i would advice about getting a second tank, a 'hospital tank' to put him in to seperate him from all the other fish incase they get the infection. Also this way you can medicate your sick fish without affecting the other fish in the tank.

Answer 6

DO NOT FLUSH IT DOWN THE LOO!

It is recommended that you retreat the tank to avoid the rest becoming ill. I have a one eyed fish in my pond, he was in a tank at first and he lost his eye in there. That was 5 years ago now. If you can get it well again he can survive with just the one eye.

Try to 'quarantine' the fish - YOU MUST USE WATER FROM THE TANK so you do not stress it further and keep the water aerated and out of the sun. The R & R will help.

Answer 7

The most humane way recommended by vets to put the fish down is to put it is a bag then hit it with a hammer. I know that I would NEVER do that though. Flushing it down the toilet is killing it slowly too. The dirt in the sewers will get into it's body and die. And I think that that it worse then keeping it alive to die.

If you take it to the vets, then they will give you enough information about what has happened and about what to do. I hope that helps.

Answer 8

The fish is a Black Moor (not a 'Moore")!

There is nothing you can do at this point about the lost eye. It's too late. Make sure you medicate the fish as prescribed on the package with a reputable antibiotic. This will prevent further infection.

A fish can live in an aquarium with one eye indefinitely with no adverse affect. Make sure he/she gets enough to eat and that any other fish you have with him/her aren't outcompeting him/her for food.

Answer 9

The best way to put a fish out of its misery is to put it in some water in the freezer. The fish will go into hibernation and eventually die. Just leave it in the freezer for at least a couple of days.

Answer 10

could be Septicemia, Pop eye or Cataracts

Cataracts is a fungal infection needs sorting out by eye fungex, but turn of ur air filter if it has a carbon filter as it will will draw the solution ofut of the water.

Pop eye - use Maracyn but alos have to treat to for septicemia also.

Septicemia - use Maracyn-Two, BUT you have to isolate the fish as can other fish can catch it, if not caught early it is fatal.

mostly this is all down to poor water conditions, you really do need to take better care or ur water.

Answer 11

Thats awful! In theory I agree with your mother about 'putting it out of its misery' but I don't know if I would be able to physically kill it if it were my fish! Are you sure it is in pain? It is unusual for something so serious to happen and the fish is still alive! So maybe it will be alright? I honestly don't know what to suggest, sorry.