# Blind Fish?



## ws812 (Apr 17, 2009)

Ok so we recently got an order in from a sponser of this site. The order included an albino eureka that is around 3" and he seems to be blind as far as I can tell. This is an obvious problem considering our tank is well stocked and no food ever really reaches the bottom of the tank. We also have a few females for him but they are in a different tank at the moment. Every time I've fed the fish he gets all excited and starts swimming sporadically running into glass, rocks, and other fish, but doesn't get any food. So the last couple of days I've been netting him with no problem and feeding him pretty much by hand. The question I have is it normal for albino fish to be blind? If so what could I do to keep him from dying without hand feeding him twice a day? He obviously made it to 3" so he must have been fed properly at the breeder. Also what do you guys think the chances of him being able to breed are? Can a blind fish breed? I just thought that this was a kinda weird situation and was wondering if anyone has been in the same boat as us.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

ws812 said:


> The question I have is it normal for albino fish to be blind? If so what could I do to keep him from dying without hand feeding him twice a day? He obviously made it to 3" so he must have been fed properly at the breeder.


 Does a common abnormality on an abnormal fish now become normal? :lol: 
No, it is not normal, though it is common for albino animals to have poorer eyesight.

Given that the fish grew to 3", I'd hazard a guess that there is more than one factor making this fish "blind". On an albino fish, cloudy eye can be harder to spot. Make sure the fishes eyes are clear looking at all angles.


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## BoilerFan (Jun 20, 2010)

I had a blind yo yo loach for 3 or 4 years. He always managed to find the food, but none of my loaches have ever spawned so I can't speak to whether he could have pulled that off. Of course he was a bottom feeder by nature so it's a little different, but then again your eureka is a sand sifter so he might do better than you think since there will be some food down there no matter what you do.


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## amakayov (Sep 2, 2010)

im no expert, but im pretty sure cichlids have an organ called a lateral line or something like that, and it helps the fish to find food. I have had multiple blind fish and have never had a problem with them. I do have 2 cichlids currently that are only half blind, but they spawn like any other cichlid in my tank does. I do have a blind albino red tail shark, and he does fine as well. I bought him and the other 2 fish how they are now. 
So, blindness should not make the fish unable to breed, granted it may be more difficult, but it is possible.


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## ws812 (Apr 17, 2009)

*amakayov* Thanks for the reassurance. Positive feedback is always appreciated. I know that peacocks have even finer senses than we could imagine. It just seemed sad that this guy seemed so eager to eat but wasn't coming up with anything. We just wanted to make sure he was in good health before breeding him. I'm gonna get him in with the females soon and see what happens.


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## amakayov (Sep 2, 2010)

Goodluck


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