It’s a pity that your fish turn blind. If you can’t just quit your lovely pet, keep it. Your biggest concern is: how to feed a blind fish?
You will need special tools for this task. However, we believe your unlucky pet can still survive and live well with your love.
Now, let’s check our guide for details!
How To Feed A Blind Fish?
Blind fish have no chance of seeking food in nature. Finally, they starve to death. However, you can help your pets eat food and live happily.
How do blind fish eat? Such animals consume food the same as normal ones. Yet, feeding will require some labor on your side.
Here are some tried-and-true techniques for feeding blind fish.
Add garlic
You may boost the food smell by adding garlic. Then, blind fish can have a higher chance of locating it because they can still smell it.
Use dog/cat doser
Because you can place the food directly by their face, feeding your blind pets with a dog or cat doser is an excellent idea.
As you place food in front of their mouths, the fish are more likely to consume it.
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Insert feeders that stick to the glass
You can stick some feeders to the glass, but remember to keep them in a fixed position. Then, your fish knows where they can get food.
Make a dropper
You may effectively spoon-feed your fish using a plastic eyedropper. This tool allows you to feed your pets with frozen/thawed bloodworms and brine shrimp.
If your pet is an omnivore, any food that comes with the pipette will do. For your comfort, train your pet to only eat from one spot.
To accomplish this goal, catch your fish in a floating ring at the exact location every day. Ultimately, the fish knows it can feed from that site.
An eyedropper can help
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Place the food where your pet rests.
You can also place the food where you are sure that your pet rests. He can smell the food precisely where it is when he lies down there and starts to eat it.
This method only works if the food can sink and remain still long enough for your pet to notice it.
Choose the right food.
Due to their inability to distinguish between food and non-food particles, feeding a blind fish is tricky.
Furthermore, if they unintentionally eat big-sized chunks, they will choke.
The best solution is to give your pet the food that he used to eat before becoming blind. It has been familiar with the flavor, size, and smell of such food, reducing the mistakes.
You can also provide your pet with frozen or live food, such as black worms, blood worms, or copepods. They taste good and are easy to consume.
Try to choose small pieces to feed your pet
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How Can You Tell If Your Fish Is Blind?
There are several methods to determine whether your fish has gone blind.
Check the eyes
You should first check the fish’s eyes for any indications of blindness.
The likelihood of his being blind is very high if he is missing an eye or has his scales obscuring the eyes.
Check for illnesses
You must then check for disease. You’ll see that if a fish has popeye, his eyes practically protrude from his skull.
As you can expect, as the fish has hazy eyes, they will have started to become cloudy. Your pet can’t see things clearly, and everything will turn dark quickly.
This video recommends tips for treating popeye. Please check to heal your pet quickly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7nn8U5TjPc
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Test your fish’s reaction
Last but not least, you might want to try dipping your finger in the aquarium (make sure it’s clean and free of any chemicals).
The only thing is to wait and watch whether your fish reacts and investigates.
If not, try carefully pushing your finger in his direction. If he still doesn’t bother or recognize it, he might be blind.
Perform three tests to tell if your pet is blind
How Do You Treat Blind Fish?
There are cases when you can do nothing, and your pet ends up either being blind completely or becoming blind partially.
Here are some suggestions for how to take care of him.
Remove sharp decorations
The first thing you must do is clear the aquarium of any sharp ornaments or other anything that can injure your fish.
If you still need decorations, you should change them to silk and live plants. Plants have the same effect of decoration without hurting the inhabitants.
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Isolate the infected fish
If your pet lives in a communal tank, you should transfer him to a separate tank.
He can end up the target of bullying if he is blind. Even if he doesn’t, swimming near other fish will probably make him nervous.
Also, your fish may not be born blind or encounter accidents that turn him blind.
Sometimes, illnesses can be the cause of blindness. If this is your case, isolating infected fish will be the right way to protect others.
Use sand instead of gravel.
Think about using sand as a base rather than gravel. Although your fish is unlikely to access the substrate, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
However, you might not need to bother with this method if your pet never approaches your substrate.
Give your unlucky pet more care
Conclusion
Blind fish are sensitive because they can’t see things. However, if you spend time researching feeding methods and food, you can save a life.
Hopefully, your pet can live happily despite the blindness. For any further information, please feel free to ask. Thank you for reading!
