Thoughts on buying disable goldfish!?

[Embrace 19]

Hi all,

It's been a while . Hope you are all ok. Popped into my local pet store on the way home to buy some supplies and (obviously!!) looked in the tanks. I fell in love with the ranchu tanks, one fish in particular. The tank wasn't on a very good way. For a start, a few of the fish looked a bit bloated and pineconed. Secondly there were some loaches (thin and whitish colour?) in the tank. The ranchu I fell for was gorgeous and not bloated or pineconed and was swimming around happily, but when it turned around, it only had one eye . This had obviously been sucked out by the loach as when I was watching, it was going up and trying to suck some of the fish.

My question is, what problems would one-eyed fish cause for the others? I would QT the fish for 2 weeks and keep an eye (pun intended ) before putting in the main tank but do you guys think it's a big no no?

Just an update about my tank to help with the decision!:

120(ish) litres

2 x Small Goldfish (only 1 is mine, the other I'm looking after for a month or so while my friend moves house!)

Thanks guys

Elise

[kaylaj2355 464]

I have a one-eyed jack named Patchy the Pirate He lives fine with my others, and he's even my smallest as well. I do hand-feed all four of my goldies, though, which I can't imagine not doing now that I have Patchy. I can't picture him finding food with the others around. They feed in order from largest to smallest

He does swim like a bit of a goober, and I think it's because of where his eye is positioned...he swims leaned to one side, so that his eye is pointed toward the bottom of the tank to see He doesn't have a clue what's going on above him xD Such a cutie.

[motherredcap 6,284]

Lots of fish live perfectly happy and healthy lives with one eye. If you like him, and he looks otherwise healthy, buy him.

But, do QT for more than 2 weeks! He will need a 6 week QT, particularly important since he comes from a yucky tank.

Do make sure that the visiting fish is gone before you place him in the tank with your fish. Your tank is really only big enough for two. And, of course, take pictures

[GoldenSpoiledRotten 6,786]

I agree with Susanne on all points.

There is nothing wrong with having a 'disabled' fish. In fact, many people outside of the hobby see all fancy goldies as being disabled due to their extreme shapes. Many people on here own and love their little 'disabled' fish.

Please do a full QT like Susanne suggested. 2 weeks is not nearly enough for all issues to show themselves, let alone for all preemptive treatments to be finished. 4-6 weeks is recommended, but I would definitely go minimum 6 weeks if the fish is coming from a source with unhealthy others in his/her tank.

Edited January 16, 2014 by ChelseaM

[dnalex 13,633]

There is also this. By buying, you will reinforce to the sellers that this is acceptable. So, if there is anyway possible, I would see if I could get a discount from him, or get the fish for free.

One of my all time favorite fish is my ranchu Bandit. He came to me having only one eye, but he is far from disabled, and you can tell. He's also the biggest ranchu in the tank!

Also, with a ~30 gallon tank, I do not think it would be wise to get another goldfish. With 2, you already may have to deal with an upgrade soon.

Edited to add the "not"

[Chai 7,337]

I hope that was meant to say "I do not think it would be wise to get another", Alex.

Unless the fish would have its own separate tank, I wouldn't recommend 3 fish in a 30g tank.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Chai

[fishy 54]

I've had a black moor missing both eyes and a small white & orange goldfish (Ryukin maybe) missing both eyes as well and they did absolutely terrific. I bought them that way from the big box pet store by me-the employee said that the cichlids or oscars in the next tank jumped into the goldfish tank and ate their eyes. They learned quickly how to hand feed and did wonderfully. Unfortunately, I had them before I found kokos and I lost them to my own ignorance on proper goldfish care (tank size, stocking, and frequency of water changes). Good luck to you : )

[DawnMichele 6,045]

I had a couple of Goldfish with one eye and they did great.

[Justin 383]

Like the there said, there is no problem with owning a disabled fish. But, I don't think you should buy it for the reasons Alex has stated.

[*Amanda* 556]

Yes, a goldfish can definitely survive with a missing eye. Just make sure it appears healed and not infected. If it doesn't seem infected, it's possible the eye was missing long before the fish was added to that tank.

I would also go up to the person in charge and let them know if you notice fish are being housed with inappropriate tankmates. An LFS near me keeps Chinese algae eaters in all their goldfish tanks and recommends this to their customers (including my boyfriend, who I had to convince not to get one). I pointed out why this is bad, but they think the CAE is important for tank cleanliness ... sigh.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Pearlscaleperfect 3,561]

I agree with alex about not supporting sellers that do not treat their fish well. My LFS treats their fish quite well, and over the summer I purchased a one eye butterfly telescope from them. She had been injured and they nursed her back to health and sold her to me for a few dollars (where most of their butterfly goldfish go for 30+). She is beautiful and a big pig!

[Embrace 19]

Thanks for all your help guys! I really appreciate it

What signs would indicate that the eye was infected?

[GoldenSpoiledRotten 6,786]

While stocking has been brought up: Six weeks will also give you enough time to get the second fish back to his/her owner, right? I do hope they join Koko's once they're settled in their new house.

[motherredcap 6,284]

You would just have to look carefully at the socket. Most likely, the infection would show up as red and/or swollen tissue. There have been cases where people brought home a healthy looking fish from a bad environment and the fish never made it out of QT. That is another reason to ask for a discount at the store.

[*Amanda* 556]

I agree with alex about not supporting sellers that do not treat their fish well. My LFS treats their fish quite well, and over the summer I purchased a one eye butterfly telescope from them. She had been injured and they nursed her back to health and sold her to me for a few dollars (where most of their butterfly goldfish go for 30+). She is beautiful and a big pig!

Wow, you have a local store that sells high-quality goldfish? That's awesome! I don't have any place like that in my area. They all buy from the same supplier. For me it's either buy the $5-8 fish from the store or buy online.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Pearlscaleperfect 3,561]

I agree with alex about not supporting sellers that do not treat their fish well. My LFS treats their fish quite well, and over the summer I purchased a one eye butterfly telescope from them. She had been injured and they nursed her back to health and sold her to me for a few dollars (where most of their butterfly goldfish go for 30+). She is beautiful and a big pig!

Wow, you have a local store that sells high-quality goldfish? That's awesome! I don't have any place like that in my area. They all buy from the same supplier. For me it's either buy the $5-8 fish from the store or buy online.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Yes! It sells a ton of fresh and saltater fish and normally has a great selection of goldfish (Especially in spring)

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/forum/index.php?/topic/105603-the-aquarium-center-nj-review/

^here are more pictures! But they're all pretty old!

[Kittycat 67]

Oh wow, those are some lovely fish! I can't remember if I've ever seen any ranchu for sale where I live, but definitely no wakins! Mostly there are fantails, black moores, lionheads, and orandas, although I did see a tank full of ryukins last week at the local pet store, and I've also seen a few bubble eyes and pom-poms.

As for disabled fish, I've never bought one that was disabled, but I do have several disabled fish. I do agree that if they came from a tank with other diseased looking fish, I would definitely quarantine it for longer than two weeks. I also think it's a great idea to ask for some sort of discount on the fish, especially with something as obvious as a missing eye.

[goldiegeek 523]

Oh my gosh, I love those fish. The black is awesome:)

My advice would be to not get the fish. If the bioload is too big, you'll be on a never ending schedule of water changes and that's never fun. Although, if they are small enough, you could get away with it for a short time:)

I run a goldfish rescue and have had to overstock a tank or two at times when things come up. Overstocking is what I dread the most because I know the amount of time I will have to spend on maintenance will be crazy. I've lost cycles completely before and would hate to see anyone else have to fight that battle lol. I think the worst was just recently with about 17 huge commons in a 50 gallon storage bin for a couple of days while we set up for them (very short notice). I had about half a dozen filters on it and still, I was doing 3 water changes each day. Blah.