Blind Texas Cichlid

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Knife_Punch

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2005
95
0
6
40
Texas
I've had a Texas Cichlid for some time now and he seems to have gone blind.. He has moved twice and is the soul survivor or a near highway car accident on the highway. Lately I have noticed he has been hiding in the back corning of my tank behind some driftwood under a halved clay pot.

So today I my weekly water change and took out the driftwood and the pot and added some large rocks and some new plastic plants. I was watching for awhile and started to notice that he was bumping into everything and staying very close to the gravel. After letting them sit and chill out from the water change I fed them and watched to see how he would act.. He faced the total opposite direction of the food and looked like he was sucking anything into his mouth to see if he could find the food.

I've come to the conclusion that he has gone blind, but Im not too sure how this could have happened. I tried to take a look at his eyes without pulling him out of the water and they're not cloudy or swollen. As far as I can tell the eyes look normal and I don't think it could have been caused by high levels of ammonia either.

Any ideas on what could have happened? Also, Im not sure what I can do... I feel a little bad about just letting him bump into things and only eat what he can find, but Im not sure what else I can do. :(

Thoughts?

Thank you,
KnifePunch
 
soft-type decorations is another option. if he was bumped on the head hard enough he may have experienced some brain damage, which might explain the blindness. Or maybe hes become "retarded" altogether, Id expect a blind fish to still find food through smell and hear the commotion of the feeding from others in the tank...
 
Agliata45 said:
maybe grab him his own tank and don't keep any decorations in it if you have the money for that
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Right now I only have 2 other 55 gal tanks and enough supplies to setup both, but the resource I'm lacking is space :(. Since it's only him and 3 smaller Black Belts I might just remove the rest of the driftwood and large rocks.
 
m1ste2tea said:
soft-type decorations is another option. if he was bumped on the head hard enough he may have experienced some brain damage, which might explain the blindness.
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I was thinking it might have been a result of the car accident and was maybe taking it's toll over time. I wouldn't think that it's fairly common for a fish to just become blind. I've switched to sinking food and I might see if I can find a softer kind that has a more distinct odor so he can find it easier.
 
you should give aquamojo a pm he had a midas " rocky" I think was his name that was blind lived over 15 yrs he could give you some good pointers on care for your fish.
 
That sucks for a fish to be blind completely. It has to be a result of an injury. Fish normally don't go blind for no reason. Good luck with fish!
 
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