Blindness Overnight?

[natedawg124]

Hi has anyone ever had a fish or Blue Ram go blind overnight. I have a beautiful adult male blue ram that went blind overnight. I purchased a three females for him and watched for three days to see which female became dominant. I then removed the two subordinate females and a day later I observed the two cleaning a spot to lay eggs. Two days after that the females ovipositor came down and it looked like the egg laying would start soon. I turned the light on this morning and after watching the fish for about a half hour I realized that the male was blind. The female would brush up against the male and he would dart away and run into the plastic plants. He is also laying on the bottom. I am thinking that he is dying of old age and maybe his organs are starting to fail. I am pretty sure he was a wild ram because of the coloring. I got him when he was about 2 inches long and now he is about 3 1/2. Also do dying fish display different coloring than normal? I also noticed that the female is aware of the males plight and that the ovipositor is retracting with no eggs lain. I assume that this is du to the male failing?

 

[Neil]

natedawg124,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

I am not quite sure if your fish is truely blind or sick in some other way. You may want to post is the Health forum to see if someone more experienced than I at diagnosis can help.

he is about 3 1/2

Boy, that is a huge ram!

Also do dying fish display different coloring than normal?

You bet! Some of the nicest colors show up on fish when they are distressed.

I also noticed that the female is aware of the males plight and that the ovipositor is retracting with no eggs lain. I assume that this is du to the male failing?

Very likely. if there is no-one who is willing to breed, she may retract it.

Sorry that I dn't have any more helpful info for you. Good luck.
Neil

 

[aspen]

if you mean blind as in 'cloudy eye', this is due to a bacterial infection, usually due to not changing enough water. imo, a fish will not go blind overnight from old age, as this would be due to cataracts, which take quite a long time to completely grow over the eye.

if it were me, i would increase water changes, 90% 2 x per day is not too much, but do at least 50% per day, and see if this has the desired effect. also, i would add an antibiotic, if things are not back to normal or seeming to be better in 2 days or so.

if you have had this beautiful ram for so long it would bea shame to lose it from something so easy to cure.

rick