Blind African Cichlid

[Justfishin]

Hi everyone! Looking for some advice on what to with my cichlid. A out a month ago, I had a cichlid get bloat and was treating her (she eventually passed). A few days before she died one of my other cichlids was acting listless so I put him in the hospital tank to treat as well. He never developed any signs of bloat. I started to notice that he was swimming on the bottom of the hospital tank and couldn't find the food when I'd feed him. So after the round of metronidazole was done and the tank had been cleaned several times, I treated with doxycycline in case it was eye cloud or something. The fish seems to have done well and is able to find food on the bottom of the tank but I still think he's blind. I have a 55 gallon that has 6 other cichlids in it that he came from. Will he survive if I put him back in that tank? I can't keep him in my hospital tank forever because I need it if any other fish become ill. TIA for your help!

 

[V227]

If the Cichlid is truely blind, not a good idea to stick it back into the main tank, especially an African Cichlid tank. He likely would be torn to pieces.

 

[Justfishin]

If the Cichlid is truely blind, not a good idea to stick it back into the main tank, especially an African Cichlid tank. He likely would be torn to pieces.

He is without a doubt blind as a bat. I wasn't sure and put him in the tank to see if he could see another fish and that's a no. I put him in my community tank. The only enemy in there is an angelfish that I'm hoping will back off after awhile. He has lots of places to hide in this tank and as long as he stays at the bottom he will be left alone. Crossing my finger that he does ok. Poor guy has been through a lot.