# Tales of a blind betta



## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

So I already have one journal, but I wanted to make another specifically for my blind male CT, Bahari. He's certainly been a learning experience for me although I've only had him for a month. I've been adapting to his needs as he's been adapting to life being blind.

*The story: *when I got him, he was not blind. He was a small boy that I found in a dirty cup on a shelf at Earl May in a town 2 hours from home and he was GORGEOUS! He survived the two hour car ride home and I let him sit and calm down in his cup as I set up his very own five gallon tank, complete with two caves and four silk plants. He ate (snapping very aggressively at those pellets) for me as soon as I got him home while he was still in his cup, and flared at EVERYTHING! He calmed down with the flaring after a few days but was much more aggressive than my older VT has ever been. He was active and seemed to enjoy his new five gallon home  the first few weeks, he started to marble and lose the blue coloring in his caudal and anal fins until it completely disappeared, but he was still active and hungry as ever. (I will share pictures of his marbling process later.)

Anyways, around the time my VT got very sick with internal parasites, Bahari also started to act strangely. It took about a week to figure out what was wrong with my other guy, but Bahari's behavior was a total mystery.

He slowly stopped eating, although he would still play "peek-a-boo" with me and follow and jump at my fingers, it started to become harder to get him to eat. He ignored all the pellets I had and wouldn't even touch bloodworms. Then he started to become more lethargic... I couldn't figure it out. I posted several threads worrying about him and had a very nice conversation with Sakura, but to no avail. I was at a loss. Until one day, after very long and careful observation... I noticed he was no longer responsive to my fingers and he was running face first into his tank decorations... Which got me to thinking... What other explanation could there be? I then grabbed a wooden skewer I had been using to mix the conditioner into the new water and wet the end of it and stuck a pellet on it and put it right in front of his face.. He snapped a few times (he was light years away from actually reaching the pellets, LOL) but I continued to use the skewer to nudge the pellet in front if his face. FINALLY, he got it, and I could hear him chewing very intently, and I got him to eat a second one (in a row!) using the same method, after not being able to get him to eat for TWO WEEKS! Needless to say, I was ecstatic and was also 95% sure that he was blind and NOT terribly sick like I had thought. Ever since, I have been trying to experiment and research ways to make his life as good as I possibly can.



*Now:* feedings are getting easier as I figure out new ways to help him find his food (and he figures out ways to find it easier, as well). I've read multiple ideas on feeding blind fish, but the skewer has been working well for me. Now, I also get him to swim to the corner which makes feeding time even easier and faster than before. At times a pellet or two will sink before he finally gets one but I'm still trying my best to aid him with it.
As for him starting to recognize his tank decor... I haven't moved anything since the day I got him and am being extra careful, now. He still gets curious about the water siphon and even likes to play with the filter sometimes, but I can tell he is a bit more cautious. He slows down before reaching decorations instead of slamming head first into them, and he's starting to become a little more active. I've been trying to interact with him even without him being able to see.. Sometimes I will blow gently on the water surface and he will follow (he used to follow my finger around at the surface) and every time I open the lid, he quickly swims to the back to check out the condensation dripping into the tank. At least his curiosity hasn't been impaired! Haha. I am always trying to think of more new ways to interact and new things to try with him.

I've had some questions about caring for my now blind Betta. I'll try to keep this updated for anyone who is curious, has a blind Betta, or wants to have some ideas on blind Betta care if they ever happen to aquire a blind Betta. I love my little guy and I find him just as much fun now as I did before


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I wonder what Blinded him. I am a big Blind Betta fan.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Sakura suspected that it may be a high pH? My pH is about 8 and CTs are the most sensitive to pH but there isn't really any evidence behind pH causing blindness. OFL thinks its likely genetic. He's definitely not full grown and I have read somewhere that the opaque coloring is more prone to blindness. He has opaque tips on his rays.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

Could it be from the dirty cup that you found him in? I'm sure that had a very high ammonia content, could have started the process, and now he's completely blind.
I'm no fish medical expert, especially with blindness, but it sounds plausible to me.
Very nice thread! will definitely be helpful for anyone else that may end up with a blind betta.
I'd also really love to see a video of him at feeding time! It would be very interesting to see the interaction.


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## Perry the platypus (Aug 20, 2012)

Can you post pics?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

The Betta Tolerance on Average is 6.0-8.0 PH. I think Genetics. Bettas these Days are highly inbred.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Aemaki, its possible, I guess. The only thing I really don't understand was that it was a progressive thing. He wasn't blind when I got him, but its hard to tell if he was in the beginning stages already or not. Now that he's in a clean, proper home, he's gone blind... It just doesn't make sense. And the water wasn't super cloudy or brown colored or anything but there were strange black things in the bottom that he'd attempt to eat. They were flaky, definitely not poo or anything and they didn't look like any flake food I've ever seen before.

I will post pictures in a sec - I'm gonna steal the same ones off another thread and post a picture of his eye. It glows red. I'm really not sure if that's normal or not.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Shock might be a cause.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Here a pictures of his marbling process. The first picture is the first day I got him home when he was still in his cup.










This one is not a great quality picture but you can see the way that his eyes glow red in certain lighting. Still, I'm not sure if this is normal or if it has something to do with him being blind... He has no cloudiness or anything in his eyes. No physical signs that he's blind... Just behavioral. Also, the black part in the middle of his eye is much smaller than that of my VTs, but again, I'm not sure if that's normal.










Here's him being a ballerina  he "twirls" a lot!

Edit: I don't have a video of him eating yet but I will try to get one... It'll be difficult to hold the camera and get the food in front of him at the same time (I have to get it right on top of his mouth so he can eat it). I'll see if I can get someone to assist me with that. I also have a few before and after videos... Some videos of him before following my finger around and then a video the day I realized he was blind being completely oblivious to the fact that my finger was right in front of his face.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I think the red eyes is a clue.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I haven't found a whole lot of info on glowing red eyes. I have heard that dragonscales will often go blind as they get older because their scales will grow over their eyes.
And I also was careful acclimating him. It took me at least two hours to do so. But I would think that shock would be more sudden? It definitely wasn't sudden.

I just checked on him and he was in his cave resting his tail on the gravel in a strange position. o_o Maybe he was sleeping? I figure he would sleep even with the lights on, lol. Before he went blind I had no idea where he slept because even if it was pitch dark he saw me coming, haha.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I have been told its rare for Dragonscales to go blind.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

HOLY CRAP! I was just feeding Bahari and just about had a heart attack. I was feeding him with the skewer and he latched on to it which made me jump and kind of pull the skewer away and he was STILL LATCHED ON TO THE SKEWER. He fell off onto the top of DaBaDees tank then promptly flipped back into his tank.

I can feel my heart just jumping out of my chest right now. I may need to find a different way to feed him (or just be less jumpy).

I would think that would get him stressed out but he still seems fine right now. I need a breather.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

That is actually kind of Funny.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Kind of, haha, besides the fact that I almost had a heart attack when I saw him laying on top of DaBaDees tank! They look so unnatural out of water! Hopefully I won't have to experience that again. He seems totally unphased, haha. I think it shook me up more than it did him!

For a second I thought I was going to have to scoop him up back into his tank but it took him less than a second to flip back into his tank. It seemed like such a short amount of time for that many things to go through my head! It's weird that my blind fish knew exactly how to get back into his tank lol.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I have seen many Bettas out of water. They seem so calm. Like its a routine. It happens to them every 2 days.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Every two days? Lol.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I know they should do daily.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm glad he's ok! I dropped one on the floor and he was fine.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I have heard of them being on the floor for hours.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I'm so glad he's okay and he immediately flipped back into his tank. I was fully prepared to chuck the skewer across the room and catch him with my bare hands before he flipped onto the floor. But nope... Back into the water he went and acted like nothing happened at all, LOL.

Meanwhile, my heart is jumping out of my chest while I'm blankly staring at the water droplets on top of DaBaDees tank he left in the spot where he was laying, thinking "did that seriously just happen?" Then after I came out of that daze I yelled at my boyfriend across the room "DID YOU JUST SEE THAT!?" then I looked at him for the next 60 seconds to make sure I didn't see any strange behavior or stress stripes or pale coloring... Nothing. He's just swimming around like he was before I fed him... And then after I immediately posted here, ha.

Then I told my boyfriends little brother about it and he was like "you literally just went fishing with your own fish." True, lol.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

That's crazy!! Ive actually dropped one on the floor before too, I was terrified of ripping his fins when I scooped him back up so it took me a couple minutes to figure out how to do it, luckily bettas breathe air so they won't suffocate, their only danger is their skin drying out.
Thankfully he figured it out before you had to scoop him up.
And I think you should stick with the skewer since he's already become accustomed to it, you'll just have to get used to the idea he might latch onto it occasionally haha


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Is it possible that he could get cold if he were out for too long then shocked when he went back into the water? It didn't happen, but the temperature of the tank and the room are more than 10 degrees different.

I was thinking about trying a shrimp but I don't think so anymore lol.


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

I use tweezers to feed Red. I've never had him latch on to them before but Red is pretty laid back. He's a CT that went blind in stages as well so I would link that to being hereditary after seeing a few post on here with similar details.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

I feel Carter has bad vision. It takes him a while to locate food.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Okay, I'll try tweezers, lol. My skewer was working until this happened, haha.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Making vibrations where you feed may help.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I already do that. I tap the side of the tank and wriggle the skewer around in the water.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

It takes my blind betta a couple of tries to eat the pellet, but he always manages. I found that even if the pellet sinks, Tiersias would find it, probably through his sense of smell XD  when I got him his eyes were completely hidden behind thick dragonscales.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah, I've notices he finds some pellets that sink but not all. I think that is one reason that he spends so much time near the bottom in that corner... Because I feed him in that corner and most of the pellets sink in that area. It worries me how lethargic he can be though.

Today during the water change he was definitely checking out the gravel vacuum, lol. I left it sitting in the water for a second while I dumped the vase I siphon the water out into and when I came back he was face first into the tube checking it out, haha! It was cute.

I also fed him a FD bloodworm today. I don't feed them often but they are so much easier to feed to him than the pellets because they are long and its easier to get them directly in front of his mouth. He'll pretty much eat anything. I've never had a problem with him not eating any of the kinds of food I have besides when he first went blind and I didn't know, yet.


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## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

Just wanted to say that I have been really enjoying reading your thread hun ;-)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Thanks!  I've really enjoyed caring for my blind guy. I never thought I would have a "special needs" fish, haha  he can be challenging to read, though. I still worry a lot about him. He's lethargic often, like he is bored and understimulated... But I'm afraid that someday he might be lethargic for a different reason and I won't be able to tell the difference.


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## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

How big is his tank? Do you have decor of different textures (smooth glass, rough fo-coral, soft plants...)? Maybe substrates of different textures seporated with a divider so they wont mix? Tankmates like shrimp that can give him something new to explore as well as clean up his messes? Live plants with tall grasslike qualities? Decor at different levels (betta hamock, floating thingy that that woman made, plants...)? Something that appeals to other senses he still has (floating ball that jingles, air stone, a sinking toy coated in something that smells yummy to encourage him to bump it and a cleared "lane" on the substrate so he can go Betta Bowling)? Certain enrichments would have to be removed after an hour of play to keep them from loosing their novility, but you get the idea. I think something from my list will spark an idea for you ;-)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

Also, if you upgrade him to a larger tank, take note of where everything is in his old one and put it in relatively the same place in the new one. Like if you have him in a 5 and upgrade him to a 10, decorate half the tank like his old tank and new decor in the "new" area. Keep corner items in corners (unless you have something in all 4 corners now and then just have 2 corner items in corners and 2 mid wall in the new tank) and wall items on walls. Like I said, "relatively" the same. It will help him feel less stressed and lost that way.

If you want to go all out, go crazy! Find a good sand and buy yourself some Cory Cats! They are a very active little fish that wizz all over the place and 4 (maybe 5 if they are smaller ones like False Juliis and you stay on top of pwc) could live just fine in a 10 gallon with him and some shrimp. Gus and Todo use to play all over my tank before I lost poor Todo (Tetra I bought for friend's Christmas present killed him)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I was thinking about adding a shrimp but the tank isnt cycled yet and I'm almost positive he would kill it if he found it... He's pretty aggressive. And I don't have a good enough hood for live plants but he has two caves of different textures and silk plants. I might try maybe a ping-pong ball. He likes to follow drops of water at the surface and when I blow on the surface..
I also have a plastic cup I could float in their on its side as a cave or a place to rest near the surface... At first I was sort of against mixing decor around and adding decor, but I do think it may be good for him..

Edit: its a 5 gallon tank.


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## Bluewind (Oct 24, 2012)

AyalaCookiejar said:


> I was thinking about adding a shrimp but the tank isnt cycled yet and I'm almost positive he would kill it if he found it... He's pretty aggressive. And I don't have a good enough hood for live plants but he has two caves of different textures and silk plants. I might try maybe a ping-pong ball. He likes to follow drops of water at the surface and when I blow on the surface..
> I also have a plastic cup I could float in their on its side as a cave or a place to rest near the surface... At first I was sort of against mixing decor around and adding decor, but I do think it may be good for him..
> 
> Edit: its a 5 gallon tank.


That's a good size! And he has to be agressive. I would be too if I were in his shoes. A little blind fish that could get eaten. Wouldn't you be scared too!?! And if he eats the shrimp, then yea protien! :lol:

So what kind of lights do you have? Built in or can you change them? And does it get sunlight?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Bluewind said:


> That's a good size! And he has to be agressive. I would be too if I were in his shoes. A little blind fish that could get eaten. Wouldn't you be scared too!?! And if he eats the shrimp, then yea protien! :lol:
> 
> So what kind of lights do you have? Built in or can you change them? And does it get sunlight?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Well he was really aggressive before he went blind... When I first got him, he flared at anything and everything. The tank lights are these tiny LED things and the hood is cheap. It doesn't have anywhere to screw in bulbs... Its just a little plastic attachment on the hood where the light thing attaches to.

I have my tank lights all set on the same timer and they went out before I got home tonight but I went around and checked on everyone.. Noticed that Bahari was floating at a 45 degree angle at the top of his tank.. So I checked him out with this tiny flashlight I have because I didn't want to wake up the others by turning all the lights on and he is super bloated and has some buoyancy issues. I'm thinking he found some of the pellets that sank onto his plants... I usually don't attempt to feed him again if the pellets sink because he usually finds them in the gravel but I've never seen him find any on the plants, but the few pellets that were on the plants have disappeared.. I need to start siphoning right after feedings >_< but sometimes I don't have the time and I really like being able to see him get the pellets rather than seeing them sink and giving up.

I added a small amount of pre-dissolved epsoms. I also haven't noticed any poo at the bottom of the tank lately, so hopefully the bloat is just constipation. I also checked for raised scales.

His poo has always been curled up balls that kind of look like snails. It's normal colored, though, but I haven't seen any in awhile. I probably should have fasted him since I haven't seen any poo but he is just a joy to feed. He also gets slightly bloated at times but it's never been this bad. I know CTs have more bloat issues. Hopefully the epsoms will help and he'll be able to swim normally by morning, but I'm going to fast him for a few days and siphon the gravel to make sure there isn't any more sunken food.

:/ I had the same bloating a buoyancy issues with my VT when he had internal parasites but the bloating wasn't this severe, so I am hoping it is just constipation. I'll wait and check on him in the morning, since everyone else has gone to bed.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

The bloating did go down by morning, and I found poo floating at the top of the tank, but haven't seen more since... Two nights ago he got bloated again and I added Epsoms again, and it went down by morning again but this time I am not finding poo anywhere. Ugh.

I need to get him a ping pong ball or something interactive. He always seems so bored and depressed (or maybe just sleeping) when I'm not playing with him. I also think I need to feed him a lot less (like, one pellet a day with a fast day a week) because of his activity level. I really wish there was something I could do to bring back his eyesight... I just think he would be happier.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Oh my god. Bahari looks like he's going to EXPLODE. His gills are moving rapidly and are wide open and he is swimming around strangely and rapidly. I added more Epsom salt but I can't stand to watch him. He's floating and can't stay upright! 

This bloating issue has been ongoing... I fast him often and only feed him one pellet a day when I do feed him. I'm afraid he's going to blow up!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

OMG. I hope he gets better.


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## Hershey (Sep 28, 2012)

Maybe you should not feed him at all. they can go up to 2 weeks without food.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I feed him every time the bloating goes down. He bloats very easily. I already feed him very little.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Bahari's bloated/floating problems are nonexistent today and I fed him today. I started soaking his pellets in metro so that must have done the trick - I hope, lol.

I also think he has problems with his smell along with his site. I have to get the food to literally touch his mouth for him to find it. It can be a hair away from his mouth and he won't find it. He also sometimes misses when he snaps at it even if I do get it to touch his mouth, and I'm very nervous to feed him with a skewer ever since that time he latched on to it, ha.


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## rebeccaodell (Feb 11, 2013)

beautiful, I just started with betta myself but I will have to agree from what I have read so far dirty water couldn't have helped


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

With his blindness? I am just assuming that was genetic. I keep up on water changes religiously.

Good news, though. I got home today and he was sitting on the bottom of the tank taking a big poo (TMI? Lol.) I know he wasn't sick, he just isn't as active since he's blind. He swam to the top when I opened the lid as he always does but he had to get around his plants lol.

This is exciting because he's had such bad buoyancy issues that he usually can't swim downwards and he also gets bloated easily and doesn't poo as often as he should (and its usually HUGE). Hopefully the metro and Kanaplex soaked pellets are what's helping this.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Wow, I fed him two pellets today around 3pm and by 6ish he wasn't floating. I consider this a miracle. I've also started to just drop the food right above his mouth - I usually drop in a few so that he'll find at least one, and I keep the turkey bastor right by so I can suck up any pellets before they sink. This seems to be working better than the skewer, since I'm still afraid to use it since he latched onto it that one time. He's got algae growing in his tank, which I am assuming is from excess nutrients caused by the fallen food, so I'm being careful not to let any fall at all if I can help it.

He's also got pretty torn and tattered fins with quite a few rips. I'm not sure if he's fin biting from boredom or if he's getting injured running into things. He's still very lethargic and doesn't move much on his own besides when he is snapping at bubbles on the surface.

Hopefully this stays this way with him not having the buoyancy issues for 24+ hours after he eats. I'm going to start soaking all his pellets in VitaChem and its also added to the water which I hope will help his fins. I don't see any signs of rot.

This may just be a case if very bad genetics, especially with his blindness and chronic SBD issues. I wish I could do more for him. I honestly don't know how long he is going to live, but I'll give him the best hope I can until his time comes. He's a lucky blind Betta in his own 5 gallon tank  I plan to maybe remove his caves and place more silk plants in his tank so he has more places to rest near the surface because he often just settles for the substrate.

I might be turning off his light more to combat the algae issue. He's blind anyways so I don't know that it will matter. Hopefully I will see more improvement in his SBD issues and I'm really hoping that he will maybe become more active. At least he hasn't come down with any more serious diseases, yet, which makes me glad because I don't think his immune system is probably very strong.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Before I fed him today he was floating again, and now he is not, again. He had a water change today and he wasn't swimming around to check stuff out like usual. I also removed and cleaned the decor that was growing algae and I ended up not putting the rainbow cave back in the tank. I want to remove the coral cave as well when my live plants for my ten gallon grow in and I can transfer some silk plants to his tank. He seems to rest on the bottom a lot so I'd like more tall silk plants so it would be easier to find places near the surface.

He's just getting more lethargic. He's definitely not very old but I don't really expect him to reach the average life span. He's just super sensitive to everything. I keep seeing pet store bettas that I really want to take home, but his bad genetics have really put me off pet store bettas completely. I love him, but I know that he won't ever have a normal life. I wonder if this is what it's like to have a mentally handicapped child (okay, I know fish and children aren't near the same but I don't ever plan on actual kids so my bettas, cats, and my dog are like my children, and he's the most worrisome of all).

It just kind of sucks that he's one of the lucky ones and he can't really enjoy it to its fullest. (Lucky meaning he actually has a five gallon tank to himself, a heater, good quality food, access to meds, VitaChem, blah, blah...) At least he didn't go home with a clueless/careless owner who would give him a 1/2 gallon tank and never observe him closely enough to find out the reason he wasn't eating was because he was blind.. It even took me two weeks to figure that out. I'm almost sure many others would let him starve to death just thinking that he was a stupid picky eater.

/rant


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