Blindness in albino guppies

[NetBelleAnie]

Awhile back I bought 3 trios of Albino Blue guppies, and even though I was feeding heavily at the time, they never seemed to eat and they all ended up dying.  (every other fish in the tank was healthy except for those guppies in particular)  I'm thinking of trying again, but I'm worried that the same thing will happen.  Are albino guppies blind/have poor eyesight, or could it have been from the strain not being as hardy as other guppies?

[Fonske]

In my experience, albino guppies are definitely less robust. Not blind, but a lot more sensitive to poor conditions and changes in their environment. I had better success with albino strains when I bought heavily pregnant females as close to giving birth as possible and let them drop in the tank I wanted to keep them. The moms, sadly, often didn't make it, but the babies survived and did quite well. When I tried to do grow albinos in a fry grow-up tank and then transfer to their permanent tank, the results were a lot worse. So yes, albinos require more care and carry higher risks compared to normal strains. 

[lefty o]

albinos tend to be weaker in every species. beyond that, its possible your fish came sick, with parasites or something else wrong with them.

[Gestaltgal]

I had no idea that they could be less robust, but from a genetic perspective, that makes a LOT of sense.

I have 1 albino koi guppy who seems to be 2nd in command of a guppy tank with 20 or so guppies. She's always right at the feeding ring in the morning and has no problem birthing. None of the males are albino, and she hasn't dropped any albino fry. She also is happy to chase the smaller guppies, so I must have the weird one!