Betta blindness?

[mursey]

Anyone know anything about betta blindness - as in a fish that was normal, in a cycled stable aquarium,(heavily planted), 0 ammonia . . no weird happenings lately and no signs of disease but seems not to be able to see his food right in front of his face?

Alejandro is my favorite sweet betta and I think he went blind. I don't want to treat if there is no obvious reason. I don't know if there is anything I can do for him except patiently feed pellets right near his mouth until he gets some in.

(5.5 gallon cycled planted heated to 82 degrees, filtered obviously, lighted obviously, no tankmates, 0 ammonia, only driftwood and plants, rocks, some Amazonia soil) Tank has been cycled and stable for months. Has a little Indian Almond Leaf homemade "betta spa" on all my water that I add or change.

[ChoclateBetta]

Bettas have a great sense of smell so he should be okay. I think Carter cannot smell.

[callistra]

My betta acts blind if I try to feed him too early in the morning or too late at night. Also if there's not enough light in the room and sometimes he's paying such close attention to me and the tub of food he misses that I've put some in. If he's truely blind and it's not an infection (like pop eye or cloudy eye) then I don't think there's much you can do but be patient with him. NLS pellets have garlic and a strong smell that may be helpful for locating them.

[ChoclateBetta]

Carter seems to need my help eating he also uses his eyes alot.

[SuperNoob]

Cheese told me to always feed him in the same corner of the aquarium so he will learn where to go for food.

[ChoclateBetta]

Soak the food in Garlic juice so he can find it.

[mursey]

Ok, thanks people. I will try the garlic suggestions. There is definitely no pop-eye or cloudy eye, his eyes still move but . .. . well it's hard to explain but if you saw it you'd think he's blind too. Doesn't swim around any more, stays in one spot all day staring at nothing, doesn't seem to know when I am at his tank and he used to be a VERY responsive, friendly betta. He still leaps for food but totally misses a very very high percentage of them so I have to dump extra pellets until he gets one. I think he just senses the splashes of the pellets.

Hopefully the garlic juice or if I find garlic flavored/scented food will help, thanks all.

[ChoclateBetta]

Could be temp lethargy?

[mursey]

I read something that said people sometimes blind their bettas with too much light when they try to grow plants. Unfortunately, I think it could be my own fault I blinded my favorite little guy. I wish when people write about how you should up your lighting to grow plants faster they'd have mentioned this little down side. :(

[MSG]

• This is why I always provide hiding areas for the fish.
  
• Dried hardwood leaves are the best because they block light, add tannins, & create microbes for them to snack on.
  
• If a fish gets annoyed with too much light, they have the option to use the leaves/caves as shelter. If your fish hides all the time, they have anxiety issues.

When I dumped in a giant handful of clean well soaked leaves, the bettas would dive into the leaves & some of them take naps in there.

Keep in mind, if your betta is blind, it may not be your fault. It could be a genetic defect from poor breeding.

Some of my halfmoons have coloring that's starting to coat their eyes, but that's totally genetic & nothing that I created.