Telescope Goldfish with Cataract and Diamond eye?

[J.Allen]

Hello, 

I hope this posting finds you well.

Im new to the forum and fish keeping, I have 3 fancy goldfish 2 telescope eye and 1 Thai Oranda. 

they all poses unique qualities(some say defects) that can be picked out with a critical eye however, they are all active and healthy.

My "Red" telescope eye named MagiKarp came to me with what looked like  a spot of cataract on the pupil I was concerned that it might be parasites but after more research and consideration I decided that I believe its more of a cataract ( there is the abnormality with the eye socket which leads me to believe that this was something that has been with the fish from birth or fry stage.) Roughly 2 months have passed and I have definitely learned some lessons through the errors of my ways, now it appears the spot I thought was cataract seems slightly larger and MagiKarp's eye has been encased partially by what looks to me like shiny new scale.

1. If one fish in my tank had parasites wouldn't that get in the water column and infect my other fish as well? ( there has been no sign of this and this is another reason why I think its more of a cataract)

2. Has anyone seen or heard of such a thing?

3. Due to my early over feeding habits my tank currently hast nitrates in the range of 80-100 PPM could this have something to do with it ? I have slowly been changing out water but read there was a thing called Nitrate shock , where if they had acclimated to high nitrate removing nitrate rapidly may have adverse effects. so I've been changing 5-10 gal of water a week, not on a strict regiment just a water swap and wait and see , the water swap again.

I have attached photos of Magikarp Below as well as my DIY aquarium Build.

this is my first tank ever , so have mercy if you see something improper but please tell me straight so I can start planning the fix.

Substrate is a mixture of Flourite Black, Flourite Red, and Pool filter sand, plants are real, rocks are real, driftwood is real.

if you've read this, I thank you for your time, any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Best regards, 

Jordan 

[koko]

 and

That is one cool sump tank.  

 

Please copy & paste the following form and fill it out to the best of your ability when requesting help for Goldfish Problems:

 

Test Results for the Following:

 Ammonia Level(Tank)

 Nitrite Level(Tank)

 Nitrate level(Tank)

 Ammonia Level(Tap)

 Nitrite Level(Tap)

 Nitrate level(Tap)

 Ph Level, Tank (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)

 Ph Level, Tap (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)

Other Required Info:

 Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops?

 Water temperature?

 Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running?

 What is the name and "size of the filter"(s)?

 How often do you change the water and how much?

 How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change?

 How many fish in the tank and their size?

 What kind of water additives or conditioners?

 What do you feed your fish and how often?

 Any new fish added to the tank?

 Any medications added to the tank?

 List entire medication/treatment history for fish and tank.Please include salt, Prazi, PP, etc and the approximate time and duration of treatment.

 Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt," bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?

 Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.?

"If copy and paste doesn't work for you, quote this post and put your answers after each question."

 

I would like to suggest one thing. I would take all those sharp rocks out of the tank. Goldfish can be clumsy when swimming and bash right into them, causing them to loose scales or get hurt. 

[J.Allen]

27 minutes ago, koko said:

 

Test Results for the Following:

 Ammonia Level(Tank) 0 ppm

 Nitrite Level(Tank) 0 ppm

 Nitrate level(Tank) 80 - 100 ppm

 Ammonia Level(Tap) 1 ppm 

 Nitrite Level(Tap) 0 - 0.25

 Nitrate level(Tap) 0 ppm

 Ph Level, Tank (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines) Ph 7.2 , KH 18ppm , Gh 70 ppm ( have been using RO water primarily when water changing and topping off  learned I need additives if I'm going to do this) 

 Ph Level, Tap (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines) Ph 8.5, Kh 70ppm, GH 70 PPM , free chlorine 0.5 ppm 

Other Required Info:

 Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops?    I use drops,

Primary Kit API freshwater master test kit , I also have a Taylor Test kit for PH / chlorine  I use to check against the API PH 

as well as a fluvial Ammonia kit to check against API 

 Water temperature?  I let it ride with my ambient indoor temp , during the day the water hovers around 75 degrees and at night drops down to 72 -73

 Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running?

I have a 75 gal viewing area with a 55 gal converted to a sump,  I treat this as if I am treating 100 gal and then on top of that I'm conservative with the recommended dosages for things - running 3 months now 

 What is the name and "size of the filter"(s)?

I have a home made system, I have a 400 gph submersible pump with 6' max lift , that pumps in the viewing tank and then I have an overflow skimmer that flows down through pinkly filter floss , and then through a chamber with my stones for bacteria. I also have plants.

 How often do you change the water and how much?

Still new to this. I have been changing 5 - 10 gallons at a time , once or twice a week currently in an attempt to lower nitrates

 How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change?

I changed 5 gal today ( 9/13/2020 ) 

 How many fish in the tank and their size?

3 goldfish 5 " - 7" ea.

 What kind of water additives or conditioners?

before adding any tap water I treat with Seachem Prime and let sit for a few hours 

 What do you feed your fish and how often?

I feed my fish Repashy Super Gold , everyday, a few times a day, I cut it in little cubes , and trop in 3- 5 - at first I was feeding way to much but I have fine tuned this now to be able to just deliver each fish a mouth full of food at each feeding. I have also worked peas into the diet for fiber a couple if I see constipation, my fish don't seem to like lettuce, and they don't like grapes.

*** This was and old issue  now solved - I made a mistake and switched to some sinking pellets one and my Thai Oranda - gorged - Immediately had swim bladder issues.

Boy was that a panic. I tried putting it in the plants to keep it up right , nothing, it tried sticking itself underneath my skimmer box ,  nothing, eventually I just reached in the tank and held my little buddy in the proper orientation and I began gently messaging from the Gil plates down towards the cloaca on the underbelly. great progress, I got gas out , gorged pellets, the whole lot - fish was swimming back to normal in an hour - we were very lucky ***

 Any new fish added to the tank? negative 

 Any medications added to the tank? negative

 List entire medication/treatment history for fish and tank.Please include salt, Prazi, PP, etc and the approximate time and duration of treatment Minimally invasive. Added a little bit of salt like 4 tea spoons , have also added api Stress Coat with aloe , and Stress Zyme " bacteria"

 Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt," bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?

Fish 1 - Catarac possible on one fish eye in combination with scale growing over part of that same eye, pretty sure this was a birth defect or an injury when young 

fish 2- forward been Gil plate and accompanying crimp in pectoral fin - starboard side -pretty sure this was a birth defect or an injury when young  

Fish 3 - orange mutant extra fin growing out of base of tail , adds to the fullness of the tail and is hardly noticeable, has a few red "veins" I have read this is normal with the longer tails and the number of red lines is like 1 - 3 paper thin streaks 

 

Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.?

eat like pigs, sometimes the like to lay in a fish pile in the corner of my tank together at night, or if I fast them they will all park themselves where I drop the food in. they seem active , they're constantly foraging , sometimes they chase each other, sometimes I try to play with them through the glass they are responsive. I feel like they know who I am?

"If copy and paste doesn't work for you, quote this post and put your answers after each question."

 

 

 

[Arctic Mama]

I realized I missed this! I’m in the middle of school with the kids but I’m coming back later to answer the questions, thank you for the details

[Arctic Mama]

Okay, nitrates. Do NOT worry about shock, that’s exceedingly rare at these levels and the fish will benefit from bigger water changes. Try at least 50% every two days until they’re down under 10 ppms.

Next, the eye. Probably nothing you can do, it looks like scar tissue from an injury based in the pictures. Possibly some melanin change with the pigment going from dark to orange, too. But if the behavior is good, there is nothing I’d recommend doing except fixing the nitrate levels and continuing good care and management of the tank. Your routine and fish look great

[J.Allen]

Okie Dokie,  I will continue to swap waters until I'm at a desirable nitrate level.

I was unaware I could safely perform such large water changes that close in proximity.

Sad my little buddy is going to be slightly more blind than previously but I've started a training routine to follow the sound of my tapping to the food on the bottom. As the fish gets closer to the food I tap more rapidly until its within reach then I stop tapping.

Thank you for your time, much appreciated.

 

 

[Arctic Mama]

Oh sure, goldfish generally tolerate large water changes very well, much better than tropicals. In fact we do not recommend less that 50-80% water changes weekly for regular maintenance or their waste volume jacks the nitrates up too too high. Regularly rinsing the poo out of the filters (like, monthly) is also really necessary to keep those levels down. I just try to remember to open my canister at the beginning of every month to rinse out the excess in the tank water before that water change and knock the solids from the filter floss. 
 

Otherwise your filters become big nitrate factories with all the decaying food bad waste removed from the tank but still in the system breaking down and producing those huge nitrate amounts. They need to be removed from the water column regularly and from the mechanics filtration regularly but slightly less frequently. If you’re up above 10 ppms of nitrates it’s time, and 20-40 ppms is where we start seeing illness creep in or stress with some of the more delicate fish.

[J.Allen]

So in a strange turn of events,

this eye issue has now transformed into what looks to me like a bloody haze. 

there is no sign of physical injury to the eye, and this does not appear to be growing “ on “ the eye but rather within the eye. 

anything on this helps, even lie to me and tell me it’s going to be ok.

 

 

[Arctic Mama]

I’m sorry things look bad, but I do have good news for you. Unless you’re seeing system wide symptoms, it’s likely the damage will remain contained to the eye, and while he may lose it there are many one eyed telescopes who do remarkably well. Best case scenario the eye just stays the  way it is, attached and healthy except for the damage behind the lens. But I wouldn’t consider this dangerous or fatal. 

Please, though, if you see bottom sitting, poor color, inflammation of the tissue around the eye, or a refusal to eat, poke me and we will begin some antibiotics to counter the infection. But I don’t think that’s called for right now.

[koko]

Looks like this fish might have hit his eye on something.....i agree with AM nothing much you can do but keep your water clean. No pun intended but keep an eye on this eye. 

[J.Allen]

An update on the eye, 

Seems to progressively be healing, here's the eye today.

[koko]

Well then. I would say, that your fish is looking great.

Also this would mean that your taking care of your tank and fish very well.