Albinism and Discus

[kgoerg]

I found a very bizarre behavior with my albino turquoise. In humans there is often a correlation between albinism and weak, sensitive eyes and poor eyesight. This is due to the reduction of pigmentation of the retina, which is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye (ocular albinism). I know about this because I played in a band for many years that had an albino lead vocalist.
Enough rhetoric, back to discus. My albino turquoise has a difficult time feeding. He/she (too young to tell yet, we'll use he) can see the food at a distance, but when he gets to it he misses it quite a few times. Finally sucks it in, but very often he is stripped of food by a faster discus in the tank who gets there and grabs it. It is a real concern since he is the only fish that isn't pleasantly plump.
Anyone else notice any similar issues or other issues with albino strains?

[Willie]

I don't know if the weakness you noted is necessarily related to albinism. I've been surprised how robust albino discus are.

I've bred albino angelfish and eyesight is clearly related to how the fry are raised. For best quality fish, albino angelfish fry are raised in subdued light. I have to put a towel over the tank even with just overhead room lighting. Bright light can actually blind them.

Whether albino discus have the same issues, I don't know.

Willie

[Johnny95132]

Yeah, I can confirm with much certainty that albinos have poorer eyesight than regular discus. Out of the 32 discus I've raised, 6 were albinos. Three out of six of those said albinos had poor eyesight and had difficulty locating food. They would swoop in for pellets, only to miss by a few millimeters, by which then the food had already been eaten by the others. As a result, these discus never grew to their full size and were always emancipated looking. In contrast, all the other non-albino discus had normal eyesight and fed easily.

[Johnny95132]

As to your albino turk, I would sell it if your not satisfied with runts as mostly that discus won't grow to full size. I would purchase another albino that has regular eyesight.