Banggai going blind?

[JasonVH]

One of the banggai seems to be gradually losing vision. Is this a known issue either with this species or in general?

Picked up a 6 line wrasse, a Midas blenny and two young juvenile banggais early last summer. Think the banggais are captive bred- they were approx inch and half-ish at time of purchase out of a tank with dozens of similarly sized banggais. All fish thrived and ate very well- extreme competition at every feeding time(once a day, with occasional day skipped). Mainly a mix of frozen foods. None of the fish showed anything unusual- spots, blemishes, "off feed" nor have any acted 'off'.

Over the last few months, this banggai started to seem a little off. Not rushing over to the side of tank at feeding time at first but it still gobbled up food that drifted over to where it was. Eventually it would miss out more and more on majority of the food as the other fish would intensely grab all of the food. It just seemed to notice the food less and less.

Earlier this month, decided to give away the 6 line as it started to actively hunt and kill the hermit crabs. Not long after the Midas jumped(tank not completely covered due to HOB filter.. my mistake), leaving those two as the only fish. It was when I noticed how poor that banggai's vision had gotten. It will rush out at feeding time but it frequently misses the target by over shooting, doesn't turn/react to food floating by its sides or behind unless it floats directly in front. All the while the other banggai is still super aggressively grabbing up the food, not giving this one much chance to collect enough food.

I'm wondering if this is a possible hint of some sort related to nutrition or water parameters or it may be genetics or..?

 

[vetteguy53081]

One of the banggai seems to be gradually losing vision. Is this a known issue either with this species or in general?

Picked up a 6 line wrasse, a Midas blenny and two young juvenile banggais early last summer. Think the banggais are captive bred- they were approx inch and half-ish at time of purchase out of a tank with dozens of similarly sized banggais. All fish thrived and ate very well- extreme competition at every feeding time(once a day, with occasional day skipped). Mainly a mix of frozen foods. None of the fish showed anything unusual- spots, blemishes, "off feed" nor have any acted 'off'.

Over the last few months, this banggai started to seem a little off. Not rushing over to the side of tank at feeding time at first but it still gobbled up food that drifted over to where it was. Eventually it would miss out more and more on majority of the food as the other fish would intensely grab all of the food. It just seemed to notice the food less and less.

Earlier this month, decided to give away the 6 line as it started to actively hunt and kill the hermit crabs. Not long after the Midas jumped(tank not completely covered due to HOB filter.. my mistake), leaving those two as the only fish. It was when I noticed how poor that banggai's vision had gotten. It will rush out at feeding time but it frequently misses the target by over shooting, doesn't turn/react to food floating by its sides or behind unless it floats directly in front. All the while the other banggai is still super aggressively grabbing up the food, not giving this one much chance to collect enough food.

I'm wondering if this is a possible hint of some sort related to nutrition or water parameters or it may be genetics or..?

Cant say its a norm but my 4 year did lose sight in the right eye but continues to function as normal

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

One of the banggai seems to be gradually losing vision. Is this a known issue either with this species or in general?

Picked up a 6 line wrasse, a Midas blenny and two young juvenile banggais early last summer. Think the banggais are captive bred- they were approx inch and half-ish at time of purchase out of a tank with dozens of similarly sized banggais. All fish thrived and ate very well- extreme competition at every feeding time(once a day, with occasional day skipped). Mainly a mix of frozen foods. None of the fish showed anything unusual- spots, blemishes, "off feed" nor have any acted 'off'.

Over the last few months, this banggai started to seem a little off. Not rushing over to the side of tank at feeding time at first but it still gobbled up food that drifted over to where it was. Eventually it would miss out more and more on majority of the food as the other fish would intensely grab all of the food. It just seemed to notice the food less and less.

Earlier this month, decided to give away the 6 line as it started to actively hunt and kill the hermit crabs. Not long after the Midas jumped(tank not completely covered due to HOB filter.. my mistake), leaving those two as the only fish. It was when I noticed how poor that banggai's vision had gotten. It will rush out at feeding time but it frequently misses the target by over shooting, doesn't turn/react to food floating by its sides or behind unless it floats directly in front. All the while the other banggai is still super aggressively grabbing up the food, not giving this one much chance to collect enough food.

I'm wondering if this is a possible hint of some sort related to nutrition or water parameters or it may be genetics or..?

I’ve not seen a trend for blindness in this species, but maybe?
Do you see any signs of cataracts?
You might be able to condition it to take food from a plastic pipette.
Jay

 

[threebuoys]

I have one banggi that voraciously attacks food and another one that I never see eating, even when food passes right across his nose.. Both are over two years old and both are fat and the same size. I don't know when the one eats or what but he seems to get along just fine. They occasionally spawn.

 

[JasonVH]

In the picture showing the both of them, it's the one on the bottom. Managed to get both sides and face on shots of the one having vision issues. Let me know if there's anything I may have missed about the eyes?

p.s. if it doesn't seem thin in the pictures, that's largely because I kind of make an effort to make sure it gets something. Too often it takes a bit of over feeding. It was having a good day about getting enough food also.

 

[JasonVH]

I’ve not seen a trend for blindness in this species, but maybe?
Do you see any signs of cataracts?
You might be able to condition it to take food from a plastic pipette.
Jay

Just uploaded pictures. That's a good idea, training to take from pipette. A few times when it was particularly bad about missing the food, I've added a bit too much food just so it could get something. Doing that worries me about 'overfeeding' the tank and the other one will get so engorged... so that may be a workable solution if it persists.

 

[JasonVH]

I have one banggi that voraciously attacks food and another one that I never see eating, even when food passes right across his nose.. Both are over two years old and both are fat and the same size. I don't know when the one eats or what but he seems to get along just fine. They occasionally spawn.

Very interesting. That almost describes the two here. The one is SO aggressive about food. The bad vision one tries to, though.. acts like it's excited about smelling food. Just can't easily find the items. Food can be floating an inch by its side yet it will shoot forward many inches for something directly in front yet miss it pretty often. It does start to look skinnier if it's been missing food particularly bad for a few days. That's when I sort of 'over feed' just so it would get something at least.

Previous to first noticing this, both were equally aggressive about food. So it's not a 'personality trait' or it's getting by mysteriously, somehow like that one of yours. Plus it doesn't stay fat for long without extra bit of helpings.

With more than one response it kind of seems this may be somewhat of an issue with this species..?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Just uploaded pictures. That's a good idea, training to take from pipette. A few times when it was particularly bad about missing the food, I've added a bit too much food just so it could get something. Doing that worries me about 'overfeeding' the tank and the other one will get so engorged... so that may be a workable solution if it persists.

I don’t see any cataracts - not sure what’s going on.
Jay

 

[JasonVH]

I don’t see any cataracts - not sure what’s going on.
Jay

Thanks and yeah it's a puzzle. it still looks and acts perky.

The two used to do a dance of sorts multiple times daily. Both getting super excited with one going in front of other and doing jerky motions. Similar to the spawning videos. Lately this one is not engaging so much.. the other still tries to get in front and tries to hype this one up with minimal reaction or only briefly before it stops usually.

 

[JasonVH]

Update: All of a sudden, it's showing cloudiness in one eye today. It wasn't present or at least not immediately noticeable yesterday.

Is this cataracts or something else going on? Physically it looks okay otherwise. It got (very)excited at feeding time today but unfortunately it appears he's virtually blind now. He got in hunting mode but couldn't even manage to catch one bit. He didn't even do the 'dart at food item but miss' today- something he would do daily, previously. Also snapped at 'empty water' a couple times plus swam into the glass once. It's not taking to target feeding either. darts away at the touch or 'no reaction' as if he doesn't even know the pipette is right in front of him.

Tagging @Jay Hemdal would love your opinion on the eye?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Update: All of a sudden, it's showing cloudiness in one eye today. It wasn't present or at least not immediately noticeable yesterday.

Is this cataracts or something else going on? Physically it looks okay otherwise. It got (very)excited at feeding time today but unfortunately it appears he's virtually blind now. He got in hunting mode but couldn't even manage to catch one bit. He didn't even do the 'dart at food item but miss' today- something he would do daily, previously. Also snapped at 'empty water' a couple times plus swam into the glass once. It's not taking to target feeding either. darts away at the touch or 'no reaction' as if he doesn't even know the pipette is right in front of him.

Tagging @Jay Hemdal would love your opinion on the eye?

Cataracts typically involve both eyes equally and show up as cloudy/hazy lenses with the sclera, outer eye clear. This single eye looks like damage. Perhaps with its sight damaged, it spooked and ran into something?

Have you tried feeding this fish bits of
Mysid shrimp on a wire or heavy fishing line?

Jay

 

[JasonVH]

Cataracts typically involve both eyes equally and show up as cloudy/hazy lenses with the sclera, outer eye clear. This single eye looks like damage. Perhaps with its sight damaged, it spooked and ran into something?

Have you tried feeding this fish bits of
Mysid shrimp on a wire or heavy fishing line?

Jay

Now that you mention it.. the female was plainly gravid to the max and had been making quite an effort to excite him into courtship dancing Monday to Wed. Sometimes it appeared she might have been getting a little frustrated during some sessions when he was seemingly not responding properly- not familiar with normal banggai courtship though. A couple times it looked like she did a 'hey, wake up!' quick little body slam or a hard nudge/poke. Yesterday there was a big egg mass on the sand so evidently it ended up as a failed spawning. Seems as your suggestion of physical injury, it could be the female was desperate to spawn and pushed him hard, particularly at egg release. And that's possibly how the injury happened..?

I'll try the wire and see how that goes, thanks for that idea.