I just got home and I know this sounds strange but my lionheads eyes seem to be sinking into his head- I don't know how else to describe it. He was fine this afternoon - I fed him his Pro-Gold and went out for a few hours and now he looks like this! I don't know what is happening. His scales look fine, his fins are not clamped - water params fine. Can anyone help?


Christine

Photo?

Ok - I am working on getting one now. Will post back in a few minutes.

Hi Koko,

I am having a really had time getting any good shots as he keeps hiding behind plants. Our camera is also not the greatest but we will keep trying.

His eyes are really sunken - and I am not 100% sure but when he came out of hiding it almost looked like there was a darker circle around the eyes - not sure if it would be blood? I am completely confused and very worried.

Christine

Ok- doesn't look like blood around eyes now that I looked carefully but Pezcuale is not doing well at all. He is either hiding, hovering at the bottom and when he swims he lacks control.

My husband just mentioned that this afternoon he saw Pezcuale pooping what looked like a hair. Because we have many cats it is quite common for hair to get into the tank but he mentioned this was quite long and as thin as a human hair. Parasites? Here are the best shots I could get of him right now.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a199/Aic...ua/5dc8a91a.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a199/Aic...ua/49ce3775.jpg

Hi Christine,Sorry to hear about your fish. It's very important to try an answer as many questions as you can in the red section above,so that we have an idea of what may be going on in your tank. For me,the pics were really hard to see. Does it really look like the eyes are sinking in,or is it possible that the skin around them is swelling up? I'm wondering if it may be Popeye. Popeye kind of looks like the fish has donut rings around their eyes.Post back soon with as much info as you can.

He looks kinda thin to me, have you noticed him losing weight as well? How long have you had him?

I agree with Sandy - he looks like he's wasting away... and parasites have a nasty habit of causing this. Have you added any new fish or plants recently?

So please post back soon

Very thin indeed, and how big the head is compared to the rest of the body. Was that always like that?

Hes either got a really bad internal parasite infection or he has the beginnings of tb, what does anyone else think?

Hi there,

Pezcuale passed away during the night. He really looked bad before I went to sleep - just hovering in a corner.

There were no new plants or fish - he was the last of a group of 4 that I rescued about 7 months ago (the story is somewhere in one of my posts). He was actually in the worst shape out of the 4 when I got them, and he ended up living the longest.

I think all the fish were originally bought in Walmart - which could explain why they didn't last.

It is very possible that his head was more swollen - not his eyes sinking in. He has always been on the smaller side - I just thought he was younger than the others and was still growing. It all just seemed to happen so fast. He has always been rather shy but still active. He was all by himself in a 29 gallon tank that had 2 biowheel filters. He also looks a lot thinner in these pics because his eyes are sunken - it shocked me as well but his head, I thought was in ok proportion before.

As I mentioned before, my husband did see him pooping what he thought was a hair yesterday so I am assuming this has to do with parasites? What is TB?

Thanks guys.

I'm so sorry Christine

Tuberculosis is an internal infection that will attack almost all organs and the most obvious sign is severe wasting away

I agree with Sandy and think it may have been internal parasites also....

little guy

Sorry for your loss

Thanks Jen. He was a real trooper - great little guy.

Not sure if I have the backbone to try this again - it has been heartbreaking.

So I am now with an empty tank. I guess I have to start from scratch again? I assume if there were parasites I will have to clean the tank before getting anymore fish and start a new cycle?

Christine

My computer wasn't up to par last nite.It took forever to download the first pic,and I never did get to see the second.I saw that pic today,and the poor little guy was awful thin.... What a little trooper though ,that he was the worst of the four and the last to go. I'm really sorry.

Oh, I am so sorry that you lost the little guy, Christine. No matter where he came from, I bet he had the best life he could possibly have in your care.

Thank you everyone

We washed out the tank last night - so sad to see it empty.

I know I did the best I could but I really feel awful that everyone noticed right away that he was too thin - and it never occurred to me that it was a problem. I really thought that he was just smaller and would eventually grow. I know hindsight is 20-20 but I really would have been able to treat him had I known.

Anyway, we are going away for a few weeks and I am hoping when we get back I'll have the nerve again to get the tank going with some new fish.

Thanks again to everyone for their support and Happy Holidays to you and your fine finned ones!

Christine

So sorry to hear he is gone!
Do you plan to get another one?

Merry Christmas!!!