wickedglass
Wed Mar 29, 2006, 11:29 PM
I have this male viejita, he's little, just over 1 inch long. He's got a problem, but he more than makes up for it in character. One of his eyes never developed properly, so he's blind on one side. I wonder whether this is a deficiency that came about as a developing fry, or if it's genetic? He does everything else normally! Actually, he does everything with more gusto than the other viejitas in the tank and he can also be cool as ice. He's so far the most coloured up of the lot, too, so I think he's going to be a very handsome male. Colour like that in a fish so small and young is not common in my experience. He's already doing lots of shimmying up to the juvenile females who don't want any part of it, he pose impressively in front of the other males, too. The other fish obviously seem to know there's something up with him, maybe they think he's "special", and they're quite gentle with him, instead of pursuing him, they nudge him away gently. When another fish comes up to try to impress he does his best to look bigger, and rarely swims away ... because half the time he can't see them and he's a feisty and tenacious little bugger.
When he's looking for food, he has a tendency to swim sideways, inspecting the gravel with his one good eye.
I'll try and post a picture of him when my partner gets back from NZ, she's got the camera with her. He's certainly the most interesting fish in the tank and funny and entertaining to boot. If his colouring up keeps going as well as it is, he might also be my most colourful. I'll try to breed him if he is, I just hope his gimpy eye isn't genetic and I end up with scores of one eyed jacks.
When he's looking for food, he has a tendency to swim sideways, inspecting the gravel with his one good eye.
I'll try and post a picture of him when my partner gets back from NZ, she's got the camera with her. He's certainly the most interesting fish in the tank and funny and entertaining to boot. If his colouring up keeps going as well as it is, he might also be my most colourful. I'll try to breed him if he is, I just hope his gimpy eye isn't genetic and I end up with scores of one eyed jacks.