Blindcave Fish?

[robyngunston]

Hi there....

What is normal behaviour for them? I have recently moved into a new flat and the owner left me his fish tank which includes three blindcave fish? I have never kept or seen them before? I am aware they have no eyes....but do not know how to tell whether they are male or female....whether they are getting enough food (as the other tetra seem to eat everything before it reaches the bottom)....one of them just swims around aimlessly and opens his mouth quite wide...he also seems to have become quite round belly....I took him up to the pet shop over the weekend so that they could have a look at him but they said he looked fine.....is this normal?

 

[millym]

hi
i dont know anything about these fish but if you do a search in this forum put 'blind cave' in the keyword space & theres a few replies there about your fish theres also a couple of peoples names there that have kept these fish so you could try pm'ing them for more info.
sorry i cant work out how to do a link for you.( useless i know)

 

[Mad Duff]

That sounds pretty much normal, I have two in a 70 gallon tank and they never seem to get food as the other fish are straight in and the foods gone while the blindcaves are off at the other end of the tank. They must get plenty of food as they are growing and looking healthy.

The males tend to be slimmer than females so you could well have a pair, If they look healthy and seem happy I wouldnt worry about them.

Mark

 

[acetennis2002]

How big do these fish get i have seen them at my LFS but have never asked how big they get

 

[robyngunston]

Thanks for the advice

They just seem to just float around the tank bumping into things....how do they see? I noticed as well that all the other fish seem to be scared of them, do you know why this could be?

 

[annka5]

V odd that they bump into things - they manage OK in teh wild after all...! They sense objects in the water with the lateral line (I think) so should be perfectly capable of finding food and not crashing into stuff.
I wouldn't worry too much, just keep an eye on them.