I've had a mated pair of ocellaris clowns for close to 10 years. They've grown with me from a 13 gallon to a 65g to a 180g, where they've resided for the past 3 years. Always gotten along great, had themselves a clutch of eggs together just last week. But this Monday I came to give the the tank a last look before lights out and found the male absolutely torn to shreds resting on the bottom of the tank. I got him into a hospital tank and after seeing a very distinct bite radius on his fin and tail, his mate is really the only fish in the tank that could be the culprit.
I've been dosing the hospital tank with Stress Guard and his fins are healing very well. He's got great energy now after a few days of rest and he's up and swimming around the tank looking almost back to his normal self. But I noticed that while very excited that he can smell food when I try to feed him, he can not seem to find it. He now appears to be totally blind. I can reach in and grab him with my bare hand, he has no reaction to lights on or off, and cannot be spooked at all. His eyes do not look cloudy or damaged, but it is very obvious that he cannot see out of either of them.
I'm not sure if the sudden blindness is what caused his mate to reject him after so long or if the blindness was caused by head trauma from her roughing him up but my main question is, is it possible to get this little guy to eat? Can I save a blind clownfish? I've yet to be successful with any attempt to spot feed him. Aside from the blindness, he seems to be very comfortable and full of life and I will happily take care of him with his new special needs if there's a way to get him to eat. Anyone had success caring for a blind clownfish?
I've been dosing the hospital tank with Stress Guard and his fins are healing very well. He's got great energy now after a few days of rest and he's up and swimming around the tank looking almost back to his normal self. But I noticed that while very excited that he can smell food when I try to feed him, he can not seem to find it. He now appears to be totally blind. I can reach in and grab him with my bare hand, he has no reaction to lights on or off, and cannot be spooked at all. His eyes do not look cloudy or damaged, but it is very obvious that he cannot see out of either of them.
I'm not sure if the sudden blindness is what caused his mate to reject him after so long or if the blindness was caused by head trauma from her roughing him up but my main question is, is it possible to get this little guy to eat? Can I save a blind clownfish? I've yet to be successful with any attempt to spot feed him. Aside from the blindness, he seems to be very comfortable and full of life and I will happily take care of him with his new special needs if there's a way to get him to eat. Anyone had success caring for a blind clownfish?