INJURED: Pleco has lost his EYE!

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andrej351

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Nov 30, 2008
15
0
31
australia
Hi guys,

I'm freaking out. My ~5 inch sailfin pleco has been living with my 8 inch oscar, 2-3 inch convict and 5 inch blue acara for about 6 months now.

When i got home from work just then i noticed him swimming around rather aimlessly and then noticed that where one of his eyes should be there is a big gaping hole! I'm not joking, he appears to have literally lost an eye. Hes back chilling in the corner like usual now. Its gross and i feel really, really bad for the little dude. What the hell should i do?

I've got one other tank with a blue ram and bristle nose cat in it. I'm thinking of putting him in there where he wont get bothered and i can watch him closely. My larger fish definately take priority over the little ones.

I've never seen anything like this before....i suspect he's going to die...Has anyone ever seen this happen?

He's not a bloody starfish so i honestly don't know whether he'll be able to recover from something like this....

Any advice would be a massive help,
Cheers.
 
I would move him to the tank where he won't get picked on anymore.

As for his eye, make sure that ammonia and nitrite in the tank he's getting moved to are zero, and the nitrate is below 20. If you don't have a heater in that tank, put one in set it to 78 or so. This is incredibly important. He needs his immune system to be in tip-top shape in order to fight any potential bacterial infections on his own, and water quality and steady temps are necessary.

He can live without an eye. It won't grow back, but he'll make it. I have one fish I adopted which has only one eye, and plenty of other members have one-eyed fish (is the nature of keeping monsters). He should be able to find the food quite well if you keep him in a tank with fish that aren't going to attack it as soon as it goes in. It might take a bit of tweaking, but he'll be fine.

Please keep us updated as to the condition of the wound. If it begins to look abnormal -- white, fluffy, swollen, red, etc. -- please post a pic. It's important to catch problems before they get too big.

Overall, I'd say that this guy is going to be fine, but you need to take some steps and extra care to make sure that he's okay. Fish are very strong critters, and you just need to make sure he's got everything he needs in order to heal on his own.

Good luck!
 
Thank you VERY much for the prompt reply.

I just moved him to the new tank. He's currently relaxing on a rock. He's about 10 times the size of the blue ram so i hope he'll be left alone for the most part. Im glad theres hope for him yet.

I'll do some frequent, little water changes over the next little while and try and keep his diet varied.

So far the wound looks clean to me, so i guess thats a good sign.

I'll keep you posted on his condition.

I'm not in the habit of naming my fish, but if this guy makes it i think i'll have to come up with something good to reflect his bravery in the face of adversity...something pirate related perhaps.

Again, justonemoretank, thanks for the help.
 
I have a common pleco that had lost both of his eyes before I got him. He does just fine in my African tank. Probably one of my favorites.
 
"Popeye" will be fine once the eye socket heals. They find most of their food with the sense of smell anyways. I suspect the convicts had something to do with this or if your oscar is an agressive one he may be the culprit.
 
Pharaoh;3711617; said:
I have a common pleco that had lost both of his eyes before I got him. He does just fine in my African tank. Probably one of my favorites.
Click to expand...
same here it was no big deal
 
Pharaoh;3711617; said:
I have a common pleco that had lost both of his eyes before I got him. He does just fine in my African tank. Probably one of my favorites.
Click to expand...

Plecos tend to seek food by smell.. and they will swif through gravel for it.. I think plecos are fish that will be ok if they lost their sight...

so sorry to hear ur pleco's injury... :(
 
i have a green severum with one eye-it lost it in a battle with the other sev. it took him a few days to figure out how to determine depth perception but he's just fine now and eating..

just keep your water clean and watch him.. he should heal up fine.
 
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