Betta fish are one of the most common fish kept with bettas being a very popular option from beginner fish keepers all the way up to experienced fish keepers and everyone in between.
On top of this, a large number of people who do keep bettas will either keep a large number of single betta fish in different tanks or betta sorority tanks of multiple female bettas as a way to mix and match the rare colors and patterns on their bettas.
With the popularity of betta fish being so high, we constantly see a wide range of different questions from the community asking about how they are able to best case for their pet betta fish.
One common question that we have noticed people asking more and more over the last few months is how to care for a blind betta fish.
As there are a number of relatively common reasons that a betta fish may go blind as well as the number of people reaching out and asking about a blind betta fish care guide increasing we have decided to publish our own guide.
Our hope is that we will be able to help as many of our readers as possible who do have a blind betta fish or think that their betta fish may be going blind.
Can A Betta Fish Be Blind?
Betta fish can be blind due to a number of different reasons. Some of them are natural and unavoidable but occur rarely where as the more common reasons are usually easy to avoid with proper care helping to reduce the number of blind betta fish.
Unfortunately though, there is always a chance that you can do everything perfectly for your betta fish and it will end up going blind or at least develop issues that affect its sight.
This is very rare though, so rare in fact that it is usually not even worth factoring in provided you stick to the normally recommended tank parameters for your betta fish.
These include the normal water conditions with a regular cleaning schedule usually of once per week to keep bacteria that can cause eye issues to a minimum.
Male betta fish should usually be kept in their own aquarium as fishing can break out and result in damaged eyes while females should be kept in sorority tanks of at least 10 gallons and up although you can sometimes get away with a 5 gallon betta sorority.
How To Care For A Blind Betta Fish!
The best care for a blind betta fish usually involves keeping it in a solo tank away from other fish while manually feeding the fish as required.
Male betta fish should be kept alone anyway but a blind female betta fish should be removed from her sorority for her own protection if possible as she may accidentally swim into the territory of another betta and get attacked.
Depending on the exact cause of the blindness in your betta fish, you may actually be able to treat it with various bacterial and fungal problems being relatively easy to treat if you catch it early enough.
You can book a video call with a veterinarian to have them help you diagnose exactly whats wrong with your fish as it can be difficult to work it out yourself.
If you know that tour betta fish have been fighting and suspect that your bettas sight issues are due to popeye then our article on using melafix for popeye may be helpful, especially if you think a bacteria has set in on the wound from the fight.
There really are a large number of different causes of blindness in your bett fish though.
How To Feed A Blind Betta Fish!
Feeding a blind betta fish is often easier than most people initially think provided you use the correct food. Even a blind betta fish will be able to sense bloodwork in front of their mouth and be able to eat it but you do have to drop the bloodworm close to your betta.
Some people will also grind a tiny amount of garlic into a flake food to attract their blind betta to the fish too.
Using garlic for fish is underrated in our opinion as it can help to deal with internal parasites in your fish while also attract fish that are used to the smell to the food.
There really are a large number of ways that you are able to add garlic to your bettas food but Dr Tim’s Aquatics Bene-FISH-al Grinder is definitely the easiest.
It allows you to quickly and easily grind up fish safe dried garlic into your bettas food before feeding it. The retail price is usually around $10 and if you are only using it to add garlic to the food of a single blind betta fish it can easily last you for many years.
Why Is My Betta Fish Going Blind?
The most common reasons that a betta fish will go blind is due to poor water conditions or fights with other bettas but these are both easy to avoid.
Less common but harder to avoid causes of blindness in bettas include cataracts, old age, and genetic problems that can be common with some lines of betta fish.
Thankfully, the majority of betta fish breeders are reputable breeders and will try to implement selective breeding programs to prevent lines that have genetic eye disorders from reproducing reducing how common the issue is to most fish keepers.
This leaves the two most common causes of blindness as poor water conditions and fights with other bettas.
You are usually able to prevent male betta fish from fighting each other by keeping them in their own individual 5 gallon or 8 gallon aquariums.
Keeping on top of your water parameters is actually easier than the majority of beginner fish keepers ralise and a cheap water test kit contains everything that you need.
What Causes Betta Fish Cataracts?
The most common causes of cataracts and eventual blindness in betta fish is tramua from fighting other bettas, fungus, and bacteria. All three of these are easy to avoid but cataracts can occur naturally in older fish simply due to age.
Depending on the cause of the cataracts and the age of your betta fish, you may actually be able to treat the condition that is causing the problems in your fish and prevent the fish from actually going blind.
You really should be seeing advice from a vet on this though to help you better understand the potential paths forward if your betta fish does have cataracts.
The longer you wait to try and treat the cataracts on your betta, the harder it is to treat them and the more likely that your betta fish will end up with long term cloudy vision or end up going blind. This is why we recommend you act as soon as you see the cataracts forming on your fish.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over caring for a blind betta fish to an end. We hope that you are now in a better position to care for your blind betta fish now as well as be able to understand the common reasons betta fish end up blind. Even the more common causes of blindness in betta fish are rare though and are unlikely for the majority of our readers.
