Bubble-eye goldfish concerns

[Cher]

To anyone out there with bubble-eye goldfish, I'm looking for input please.

How would you describe the normal day to day behavior of your bubble-eye? Is it really active, tend to float alot, tend to act listless?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm really worried about my bubble-eye but I'm wondering if I'm just being paranoid. I treated her last week for dropsy because some of her scales seemed to be lifted up around her lower abdomen, but after a few days, they seemed to lay flat again so I wondered if I mis-diagnosed. After a week in isolation, she seemed so fine and happy that I put her back in my big tank this past Friday. Today I walked in and she was leaning against the bottom of the intake tube. I don't know if she was too weak to pull away or it was just a comfy position. I was able to reach in and pick her up with my hand and transfer back to the iso tank without a struggle. Now she's just bobbing around the iso tank with little or no body movement. I can see no visible signs of illness. Her fins aren't clamped and she's not gasping or anything like that. I went ahead and dosed the tank with salt. She ate peas last night but I haven't tried feeding her today.

I've had her for about 2 months now and she's always been the least active of all my goldfish so I'm just not sure if I am over-reacting or not.. My other 4 fish are all fine as far as I can tell.

Please tell me what you think.. Thanks!


Cher

 

[Matt Nace]

to add, although may not help, make sure the water is cool, goldfish can develop a swim-bladder problem at higher temps.

HTH

 

[colesea]

Bubble-eyed goldfish are not as active as some other varieties, the sacs under their eyes kinda hinders that. But it shouldn't be spending so much time hanging around. They do that occasionally as far as I can tell, but they should be responsive to food or stimuli. I have seen them rest against the filter intake at times. It just seems to be where they end up when they stop swimming.

If you are feeding a dry pellet type food, soak it before you give it to the fish. The absorbtion of water in the gut can put pressure on the swim bladder and make them sick. If they eat pre-soaked food, it helps them more.

Just watch and see how it goes. I would continue to keep the bubble eye seperate from other varieties of goldfish though, they don't compeat well for food and that could weaken them as well.
~~Colesea