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i've been wondering why my P. costatus has been so active recently. in the middle of the day with the lights on, he'll be searching for food! not like the shy nocturnal creature everyone else describes. he was very shy when i first got him though.
i've noticed that his eyes are very cloudy (water parameters fine), now i'm wondering whether he's gone blind (like old people do) as i did buy him 11 years ago at about 2 inches. now that makes him at least 13 or 14 years old!!

any thoughts???

I would think that a fishes eyes would go similar to a humans, not sure but I think that they are made of the same stuff??

Is the fish hungry?? That is the usuall reason that I have seen nocturnal fish come out during the day, either that or it is really comfortable in the tank,, which it should be after 10+years!!

I would also like to say congratulations on keeping your fish alive so long. I have some large characins that are in the 10-14 year range and they become a real part of the family!!

I reckon he's got cataracts! he gets plenty to eat though! my clown loach and congo tetras are getting to around the ten year mark too!!!

I have read that cloudiness of eyes in doradids is caused by excessively hard water but can't vouch for this.

In any case P. costatus tends to make more frequent appearances as it grows.

yup, you could be right, the water is hard as nails! i'll see what happens when i get my RO up and running.

This condition can also be caused by an eye fluke and a seperate bacterial infection. Age would have lowered the immune system of your P. costatus and now it's become more susceptible.

how big is your dora now?

about 7 inches now. i may have exaggerated slightly! his eyes aren't "very cloudy" as i said in the initial post, just got white/blue sheen to them. it doesn't appear to be an infection to me, i've had fish with bacterial eye infections before, they seem to show a dense white covering.