Moral Dilemma with Blind Lionfish

[Mark Jordan]

My Lionfish has gone blind. It doesn't respond to anything in front of it, doesn't see food and runs into things in the tank. I have tried putting food right up to his face and nothing. He hasn't eaten in a couple weeks and nothing has seemed to work. He hasn't eaten live food in some time and I thought he might just be upset about that. I put some live fish in and they swam right by him and he did nothing.

I feel like he is going to just wither away and die. That seems like a horrible way to go. What else can I do?

 

[suta4242]

Sorry to hear. May I ask how long you’ve had him and whether there have been any possible disease related issues that may have caused this? Was it a very sudden thing?

 

[Katrina71]

@MombasaLionfish or @ReefQueen any ideas?

 

[Hot2na]

I had a clownfish that went blind a few yrs ago..It was late summer and the water temps here on the eastern shore were 77-79 degrees...took it out on my boat on one of my 20 mile wreck trips ..and released it back into the ocean..It swam away after staying near the boat for a while...I couldn't bring myself to just "flush" it...

 

[juanrmattos]

Gut wrenching after the way we tend to get so attached to them... I honestly wouldn't know what to tell you but I know is not fair for him to live this way (I mean, is not something you can handle to be helped or at the very least be made comfortable) ;Sorry

 

[mort]

When you have explored every avenue disease wise and are sure it's just the natural ending of its life, then it's far better to stop it suffering and let it go. You can use clove oil in a separate container as it's the most humane way to euthanise a fish most of us have at our disposal. They just slowly lose conscientiousness and stop breathing.

I would wait for the lionfish experts to give their advice as to whether you are at that point first however.

 

[juanrmattos]

I would wait for the lionfish experts to give their advice as to whether you are at that point first however.

+1

 

[Ike]

I had a clownfish that went blind a few yrs ago..It was late summer and the water temps here on the eastern shore were 77-79 degrees...took it out on my boat on one of my 20 mile wreck trips ..and released it back into the ocean..It swam away after staying near the boat for a while...I couldn't bring myself to just "flush" it...

Please don't do this... Once you have something in your aquarium don't put it back in the ocean. You could potentially transfer disease or introduce an invasive species.

Another vote for clove oil. It hasn't eaten in a couple weeks, it will starve to death otherwise.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Please don't do this... Once you have something in your aquarium don't put it back in the ocean. You could potentially transfer disease or introduce an invasive species.

Another vote for clove oil. It hasn't eaten in a couple weeks, it will starve to death otherwise.

Especially since we’re talking about a lionfish. I’m sorry about your situation, OP.

 

[lion king]

Fish do go blind more than you think, most times they retreat, stop eating, then die; and many times we don't attribute it to blindness. I have had blind fish that I have been able to stick feed for quite a while. As @mort shared, if you've exhausted all to get him to eat, Lionfish can go on hunger strikes for 2-3 weeks so make sure it is blindness, as you stared him bumping into things, I would not be surprised. Lions from systems run with copper or previously treated with copper may have a higher incidence of blindness. it would be most human to do the clove oil bath. It is a horrible way to go to starve, it could be as long as a couple of months.

 

[Sako338]

Gut wrenching after the way we tend to get so attached to them... I honestly wouldn't know what to tell you but I know is not fair for him to live this way (I mean, is not something you can handle to be helped or at the very least be made comfortable) ;Sorry

I had a Labrador retriever, who got such bad arthritis in her hind hips, she was in such pain, even with with the meds. Sometimes we have to do things because we do care for our pets. It don’t make it any easier though.

 

[LadyMac]

Hard thing to watch. I had a macrostoma go off feed for awhile. I treated him with flubendasole and got some nice stinky beef heart(fresh from the market, not the cubed) and chopped it up for him. After a couple treatments of the flubendazole he slowly gained his appetite back. He stayed with me a couple more years but finally went back on hunger strike and never recovered. After a month I had to let him go. Clove oil to knock him out and then the freezer for half a day to be sure. Buried him in the garden.