Blind fish tips?

[aquafrogg]

Hello, so I just got 6 Java loaches for my 20 gallon tall about 2-3 weeks ago and I’ve noticed that one of them is blind. Or, at least, he looks blind to me. And he also doesn’t seem to react when I get super close to the tank, whereas the other loaches get nervous and go back into hiding still. He seems smaller and skinnier than the rest of the loaches, and overall I question his quality of life. I was wondering how I should go about making everything easier for him, especially during feeding time? Here’s some pictures of his eyes (and one of him going lol)




And here is his tank in case I need to make changes

 

[BottomDweller]

He is super cute! You could try feeding him with a syringe, turkey baster or tweezers. His tank is gorgeous

 

[NotSoAggressiveAquatics]

he’s really cute. I would just put the food right in front of him and he will “smell” it. Just curious if he sticks with the group? It would be cool to know how he would if he does

 

[BigManAquatics]

Last time i was at Petco, the aquatics dude pointed me towards a feeding tube....it is like a turkey baster, but a lot longer and skinnier, so you could get way down to the blind guy if you really needed to! He said he got it from amazon.
Edit: i am going to order one for myself so i can get food to my bottom feeders, hopefully past the barbs when i get that tank.

Edit: they are called "coral feeders" on amazon, here what they look like.

 

[aquafrogg]

He is super cute! You could try feeding him with a syringe, turkey baster or tweezers. His tank is gorgeous

Thank you so much!! The issue is, I don’t always see him all the time. They’re just now starting to come out more during the day and every now and then I’ll see him chilling on the sand in a position similar to what Ariel does on that rock on the little mermaid. It’s really cute. He will wiggle around every now and then but he doesn’t seem to move very much, you can tell he is very unsure of his surroundings. I know he is at least eating SOMETHING because he isn’t dead, but it’s for sure not enough. The issue is that my danios are absolute pigs so I can’t put all of the food in one spot or they will devour it all (I’m trying to rehome them). Once the danios are gone it’ll be much easier to feed them I’m sure. I’ll try the turkey baster technique when I see him next

he’s really cute. I would just put the food right in front of him and he will “smell” it. Just curious if he sticks with the group? It would be cool to know how he would if he does

I’ve tried that before and he gets nervous from all the movement he can sense around him (the food dropping in) and swims off. But like I said he has got to be finding scraps around because he isn’t dead yet. I feel so bad for him And I’ve noticed my loaches don’t seem to stick together very much. They all kind of spread around the tank lol but if he feels another loach touch him he seems to get excited and swim in the direction they’re going. It’s really cute.

Last time i was at Petco, the aquatics dude pointed me towards a feeding tube....it is like a turkey baster, but a lot longer and skinnier, so you could get way down to the blind guy if you really needed to! He said he got it from amazon.
Edit: i am going to order one for myself so i can get food to my bottom feeders, hopefully past the barbs when i get that tank.

Edit: they are called "coral feeders" on amazon, here what they look like.
View attachment 750688

This is genius!! For sure going to try this one, I could hold it closer to him so he can smell it and won’t get nervous from the movement of all the food dropping on him

 

[BigManAquatics]

Thank you so much!! The issue is, I don’t always see him all the time. They’re just now starting to come out more during the day and every now and then I’ll see him chilling on the sand in a position similar to what Ariel does on that rock on the little mermaid. It’s really cute. He will wiggle around every now and then but he doesn’t seem to move very much, you can tell he is very unsure of his surroundings. I know he is at least eating SOMETHING because he isn’t dead, but it’s for sure not enough. The issue is that my danios are absolute pigs so I can’t put all of the food in one spot or they will devour it all (I’m trying to rehome them). Once the danios are gone it’ll be much easier to feed them I’m sure. I’ll try the turkey baster technique when I see him next


I’ve tried that before and he gets nervous from all the movement he can sense around him (the food dropping in) and swims off. But like I said he has got to be finding scraps around because he isn’t dead yet. I feel so bad for him And I’ve noticed my loaches don’t seem to stick together very much. They all kind of spread around the tank lol but if he feels another loach touch him he seems to get excited and swim in the direction they’re going. It’s really cute.


This is genius!! For sure going to try this one, I could hold it closer to him so he can smell it and won’t get nervous from the movement of all the food dropping on him

My petco guy showed it to me because i was asking him about those long tweezer/tong plant tools then he showed me that thing. Said he ordered it to use at the store. We trade information a lot about various places to go for good deals on fish stuff.

 

[Demeter]

Keep in mind he/she is a loach, they find their food mainly by smell anyways so even if it is blind it will be just fine. Just keep placing the food in the same spot at the same time every day, maybe gently tap the glass as a signal too before feeding and I'm sure all the fish will take to the new schedule after a while.

 

[aquafrogg]

Guess who I saw rummaging through the leaf litter this morning? My little blind guy! What a sweet baby. He actually swam confidently through the water column too! And he found an algae wafer plus some leftover brine shrimp. I was very impressed! Huge smile on my face after seeing him

 

[DoubleDutch]

No extra care needed. It will perfectly be able to find its food. Thry depend on their smell and other senses (barbells) more than on their eyes.

 

[phnx314]

Since I have six angels that absolutely obliterate any food in the tank I put wafers right outside on the logs that my loaches hide under so they can reach it easy.