How to Correct Arowana Drop-Eye

1 How to Correct Arowana Drop-Eye

How to correct arowana drop-eye

Congenital drop-eye is generally determined by bloodline. This type is very difficult to fully correct and tends to recur even after adjustment. Therefore, when choosing an arowana, avoid selecting such fish.

For acquired drop-eye, try the following correction methods:

1. Avoid animals or objects shorter than the tank moving nearby. To admire the arowana’s impressive form, transparent tanks are usually used. But this has drawbacks: the arowana’s attention is easily drawn to moving things outside, especially pets or children near the tank. Long-term, it forms a habitual downward gaze and drop-eye. So generally avoid letting children or animals play around the tank.

2. Avoid overfeeding high-protein food. Many keepers eager to raise a well-built arowana overfeed high-protein, high-fat food, which the fish cannot fully absorb or digest, leading to excess nutrition and fat accumulation behind the eyes, causing drop-eye. Control the amount of such food to avoid problems from fast growth.

3. Minimize sinking food. In the wild, arowana excel at jumping out to catch insect prey. In a tank they can only eat what is fed, but most food sinks quickly, forcing the arowana to look down and dive for it, eventually causing drop-eye. To minimize this, use higher-buoyancy food or feed in small, frequent amounts so the fish eats immediately before food sinks.

4. Adjust the water level to a suitable position. Water that is too high reduces the arowana’s viewing angle, causing habitual downward looking and, long-term, drop-eye.

5. Keep the light distribution and intensity inside and outside the tank reasonable. Moderate, even light effectively reduces the impact of strong or uneven light on the arowana’s eyes that leads to drop-eye.

6. Place a clean ping-pong ball or a plastic bottle with favorite food on the water surface to attract the arowana to look up and prevent drop-eye. However, this is not a long-term solution, as the fish loses interest over time.

Our veterinarian’s sharing on correcting arowana drop-eye ends here, hoping it helps you.