# Tips on Feeding a Weak Fish



## Red Fern (Apr 29, 2010)

When I got my neon tetras, one of them was missing an eye. We named the fish One-Eyed Willie. He swims tilted toward the side where he is missing an eye. Among all my fish, Willie is skinniest and the most malnourished. Currently, He is in a 20 gallon tall tank with 9 other tetras, 2 zebra danios, and 3 ghost shrimps. He could not compete with the other fish when it comes to feeding time. The flake food is soaked and release just under water, allowing it to sink. I try not to overfeed but in an attempt to get some food to Willie, I give more food than I should. Now, every fish is nice and meaty with the exception of Willie. 

While Willie is physically weak, I think he is pretty determine to stay alive. After coming back from a business trip today, my bro informed me that Willie is MIA. After counting 9 tetras in the tank, I started looking for a dead fish in the tank. When I couldn't find him in the tank, I figure perhaps his corpse got suck into the filter. When I open the power filter, expecting to find a wrangled/decomposed fish, instead I found Willie swimming in a tiny 2"x2" space. 

I realize in nature Willie would die due to natural selection, but since he is in a control environment now I would like to keep him fed. Should I take him out to feed him separately? would the induce stress from being alone or being out for feeding make it worst for the fish? Any tips on ensuring survival of the weakest? out:


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

He may be suffering from a bacterial infection which slowly kills a fish. They get very skinny and weak and refuse to eat. Is your neon tetra very skinny or show signs of fin rot (teared fins)? If so I would buy medication for bacterial infections.


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

You could try a hang in QT tank or a floaty guppie breeder at least till ol' willie fattens up a bit.  
I've got a one eyed Neon Tetra also... (he got a bit too close to some red claw crabs I had in the tank at one time.. one got a lucky shot) 
I got a little plastic floating breeder tank for $5, stuck him in there for a week or so, this made it much simpler to make sure he actually got to eat.
that tetra has been in the tank for almost 8 months now, and doing just fine.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

I wouldn't baby him really. As long as your aquarium is really a controlled environment (ie you're going regular water changes and haven't put in any incompatable fish) ol Willie should be fine. 
If you're concerned about getting enough food, feed the tank more often or with better food. Remember that feeding more frequently means more water changes, but it's worth it, IMO. Better food would mean live foods or frozen. No more flakes.

As for medicating a tank, please don't. Bacteria strains are becoming more and more resilient to our meds and medicating without any real need is not a good idea. For one, it is very very stressful on the fish plus without a QT tank you'll be medicating healthy fish. Then, once medicated, we just dump all those chemicals down the drain. Anyways, do what you want but medicating isn't going to help the situation you're describing. FYI.

GL!


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## loj04 (Aug 17, 2003)

Red Fern said:


> When I got my neon tetras, one of them was missing an eye. We named the fish One-Eyed Willie. He swims tilted toward the side where he is missing an eye. Among all my fish, Willie is skinniest and the most malnourished. Currently, He is in a 20 gallon tall tank with 9 other tetras, 2 zebra danios, and 3 ghost shrimps. He could not compete with the other fish when it comes to feeding time. The flake food is soaked and release just under water, allowing it to sink. I try not to overfeed but in an attempt to get some food to Willie, I give more food than I should. Now, every fish is nice and meaty with the exception of Willie.
> 
> While Willie is physically weak, I think he is pretty determine to stay alive. After coming back from a business trip today, my bro informed me that Willie is MIA. After counting 9 tetras in the tank, I started looking for a dead fish in the tank. When I couldn't find him in the tank, I figure perhaps his corpse got suck into the filter. When I open the power filter, expecting to find a wrangled/decomposed fish, instead I found Willie swimming in a tiny 2"x2" space.
> 
> I realize in nature Willie would die due to natural selection, but since he is in a control environment now I would like to keep him fed. Should I take him out to feed him separately? would the induce stress from being alone or being out for feeding make it worst for the fish? Any tips on ensuring survival of the weakest? out:


I wouldn't necessarily feed your tank more food (maybe you might still want to do that), but what you might consider is crushing up the flakes into smaller pieces so that it is harder for the more aggressive fish to get all the food, so little Willie will be able to get a few scraps. More will probably sink to the bottom as well, so he'll probably be able to forage as well to supplement his diet.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I would rotate more foods, and add garlic flavor to the foods. Perhaps perk up his appetite. You can crush a clove of garlic and soak the dry foods, or defrost some frozen food in just a little bit of water, and add the crushed garlic to that. 

The more you do to help this one fish the fatter the others may become. 

If Willie is OK with a breeding net then it might be OK to keep him in there to have some extra food, or richer food. Add some plants to the net, especially over the top so he feels he is in a safe place, not exposed to carnivores by being so close to the light. You can see if he can learn that food is coming, and to come get some. Tap on the top of the water a few times, gentle splashes, then drop in his food. 

Feed the other fish at the other end of the tank so they do not bother him while he eats.


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## Red Fern (Apr 29, 2010)

Thanks for the sea of information. 
Yesterday, Willie spent the rest of day in his “corner” of the tank, as far from the filter head as possible. He went to the top of the tank when I was feeding this morning. Even though I was releasing the food directly above Willie, he only managed to get 2 bites. Willie is aggressively seeking food but his effort was in vain as the other fish found the food faster. Nevertheless, I am happy to see Willie chasing after the fishes that snatched food right in front of him. Willie seem to be good shape despite the trip into the filter. 

@ Knotty Bitz Willie does look like a hobo among his tank mates; missing scales (from his trip into the power filter), skinny, and chases other fish when they get into his “corner” of the tank. But he does not appear to have a bacterial infection or a lost of appetite. His fins look good. 

@ Big_Fish I can do that! I can pbb convert a little clear container as a temporary suite for Willie. Since he is a loner, I do not think he will miss the other tetra much. That neon tetra of yours is lucky to tell the tale after his “crab battle.”

@Six Hey, I just moved from Columbus. Go Bucks! I do not intent to baby Willie his entire life. I would hope he gets strong enough to eventually to compete for his share of food. I will consider better food in the future or until the next payday. Right now I will stick with flake food. 

@loj04 I will definitely try that. 

@Diana K I never know adding garlic to fish food! If needed, I am going to scramble some materials to build a breeding net. 

\\/


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

I have an angel who went blind as a result of a bad case of pop-eye awhile back... unfortunately I can't offer much advice in terms of feeding your fish, because all of my angels are trained to hand feed... I can just stick a cube of frozen/freeze-dried food in his face and he eats it.  Still a little thinner than my other angels, but he stays alive...

You might try feeding on a very regular schedule and in the same place every day... after a little Pavlovian conditioning, Willie can figure out that snacktime is around, say, 8AM and know to head to the top of the water in the right corner (just as an example) then and nibble at the surface till he gets the food. The other fish will learn to do the same, but in some ways that may help Willie figure out that there's food over there in the beginning... no guarantees that it'll work, but it might help some.


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

From all foods it looks like Blood Worms make the fish the strongest. 

--Nikolay


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