cyprichromis going blind from stress

Q&A About Lake Tanganyika Cichlids

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joe4cyp
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Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:44 pm

cyprichromis going blind from stress

Post by joe4cyp »

I have several fish going blind and did not know the cause. They show no other sign of injury or illness. One of them is a female cyprichromis leptosoma and the other 2 are male and female paracyprichromis nigripinnis. Their bodies turn quite dark in color and they hang vertically along the side of the tank. They do not react when approached which leads me to believe they have lost their eyesight. They also do not react to food even though they are gaunt from not having eaten in a long time.

I was searching on the web for any information and I came across the following (http://www.gbasonline.org/cyprichromis_ ... rticle.htm) short writeup about cyprichromis leptosoma going blind due to stress. I tried to contact the author but the email address is no longer valid.

Can fish go blind due to stress? Is the condition reversible? Both cyprichromis or paracyprichromis seem to be easily spooked. Could they have damaged themselves when they got spooked and banged their heads? How do I avoid this problem in the future?

Thanks for your help.
Pam Chin
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Re: cyprichromis going blind from stress

Post by Pam Chin »

Hi Joe,

Any time you have fish that appear darker, don't eat when offered foods, and hang one place in the tank you have to consider stress as the cause. Whether they are blind or not, I don't know? Usually when fish have lost their eye sight you can tell by looking at their eyes, and unfortunately the eyes are the only thing a fish can not grow back. Damaged eyes are not reversible, however it is not a reason to euthanize, as these fish can sometimes live a "normal" life. But this sounds like only one issue that you are experiencing. I would isolate the fish and see if you can't get them to eat.

Stress is caused from tankmates, water conditions, tank size, foods, lighting, etc., etc., so you are going to have play detective, and determine what the cause might be. You haven't said what size tanks they are in or whether they are housed together. For example I would never keep Cyprichromis with Paracyprichromis. Paracyprichromis is a cave dweller. Cyprichromis is very aggressive, especially in smaller tanks, and in small group or as individuals. They use their nose as their weapon, and so your eye issue could be from injuries. Their territories are huge and virtual.

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