Blind fish?

[Aperper]

OK, this may sound silly but I'm trying to figure out if the newest fish in my tank (a red zebra? purchased in mid-feb.) is blind. Occasionally, he seems to be sighted and will go after food, but most often he just lets pellets drift past his head and then turns too late. He spends much of the day in a corner 'staring' out into space. and when he swims, he seems pretty cautious. There is no color in his eyes; they are as red-orange as his body. Most others i've seen have black eyes.

Don't know what I'll do if he is blind; buying him a cane is probably not a great idea.

Thanks,

 

[Korey Knieriem]

Umm I'm pretty sure that is not a red zebra. That looks like some sort of albino peacock of some variety. He is probably hanging out in a corner due to being harassed by your other fish, looks to be a little beat up in the pic

 

[chriscoli]

I'd say that if he's responding to things at all, he probably can see, at least to some degree. I had a fish go blind in both eyes due to an infection. He would swim in large circles until he bumped into things. He'd get excited when food was in the tank because I'm sure he could smell it but wasn't able to locate any to eat. The other fish quickly figured out that he couldn't see and relentlessly picked on him.

 

[Aperper]

Yeah, this fish was picked on when first introduced into the tank, but after a week it seemed to be accepted as one of the crew. as you can see, some of his fins are growing back (sans color). thanks for the replies.

 

[Aperper]

@Korey Knieriem And yeah, I agree it looks more like a peacock than a zebra.

 

[CSnyder00]

I had a mostly blind EBJD a while back. He could locate food, but not well. I think it was partial blindness. Fish can get it just like we can. Genetics are an interesting subject.