Goldfish with tail rot (or injury)

[Cichlid4life]

ever hear of the blind cave ytetra, they are bore blind, and they ajust just fine.

 

[Colin_T]

ever hear of the blind cave tetra, they are born blind, and they adjust just fine.

They have also spent thousands of years living in dark caves and evolved to be like that. They have much better senses designed for use in dark conditions compared to goldfish that are diurnal fish that live outdoors in light conditions.

If the OP wants to keep the blind fish alive, that is up to them. They need to monitor the eye sockets for infection and make sure the fish gets enough food and doesn't get sucked into any filter intakes. You also need to make sure there are no rocks or ornaments in the tank where the fish can get caught, panic and damage itself.

 

[Jim Sinclair]

ever hear of the blind cave ytetra, they are bore blind, and they ajust just fine.

Yes, I have heard of blind and even eyeless cave fish. That's a different kind of adjustment because it happened over generations of evolution, and they live in an environment where there's no light anyway, so they're not at any disadvantage by not being able to see.

I'm watching out to see that Adrien is doing all right and not having any trouble finding food. So far, in all of one day and one night since I set up the convalescent tank, all 10 convalescing fish seem relaxed and comfortable and all are eating well. Adrien does not seem to be at any disadvantage in finding the food. As I noted last night, Adrien has less extensive tail damage than most of the others, so maybe that compensates for not being able to see.

I hope to have time tomorrow to get some video of the fish in that tank swimming around. You really can't tell from the behavior which one is blind. It gets along just as well as any of the others, in fact better than some.

 

[Cichlid4life]

They have also spent thousands of years living in dark caves and evolved to be like that. They have much better senses designed for use in dark conditions compared to goldfish that are diurnal fish that live outdoors in light conditions.

If the OP wants to keep the blind fish alive, that is up to them. They need to monitor the eye sockets for infection and make sure the fish gets enough food and doesn't get sucked into any filter intakes. You also need to make sure there are no rocks or ornaments in the tank where the fish can get caught, panic and damage itself.

that is true, but at first, the blind cave tetra had eyes, and now, many centuries later, they have empty eye sockets that are still on their heads, my curious questions is how do they breed and dance properly when they can't use their (what was once upon a time were) eyes?

Yes, I have heard of blind and even eyeless cave fish. That's a different kind of adjustment because it happened over generations of evolution, and they live in an environment where there's no light anyway, so they're not at any disadvantage by not being able to see.

I'm watching out to see that Adrien is doing all right and not having any trouble finding food. So far, in all of one day and one night since I set up the convalescent tank, all 10 convalescing fish seem relaxed and comfortable and all are eating well. Adrien does not seem to be at any disadvantage in finding the food. As I noted last night, Adrien has less extensive tail damage than most of the others, so maybe that compensates for not being able to see.

I hope to have time tomorrow to get some video of the fish in that tank swimming around. You really can't tell from the behavior which one is blind. It gets along just as well as any of the others, in fact better than some.

But what i find interesting, is that he/she can find food and he/she can socialize. Also, strangely enough, a blinded fish would be a bit more stressed than the other fish because it lost it's vision, and what ever did that to the goldfish, would of made the goldfish be much more likely to succumb to whatever is doing the tail damage, if is it something in the water like a bacteria or parasite, it would most likely have made the blind fish the worst one of all because it has more of a compromised immune system. If it were fin rot it would be on every fish, and it would be one each and every infected fish's fins, not just the tail. As it is not fin rot, we still have the possibility of a predatory fin nipper or something eating the tail fins, but if that were the case, the blind goldfish would have never seen the fish coming, making it easier to bite without the fish swimming away until after the bite happens. But if the case is that a fish is truely trying to eat the small ones, then the smaller ones try to swim away, maybe the tails are getting ripped because the fish tries to eat a fish, but it swims of while the fish is biting down, shredding the tail fin instead of the fish's body, if that were true, the fish that is eating the tails must be slow.

 

[Colin_T]

my curious questions is how do they breed and dance properly when they can't use their (what was once upon a time were) eyes?

Fish have a lateral line along the side of their body that picks up mild electric fields produced by fish and most organisms. This helps them find each other and other fish in the water. They also smell chemicals released by other fish and food.

 

[Cichlid4life]

Fish have a lateral line along the side of their body that picks up mild electric fields produced by fish and most organisms. This helps them find each other and other fish in the water. They also smell chemicals released by other fish and food.

they smell hormones that are released by other fish, they dont smell food, but catfish can "smell" food when food touches their barbels.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Blindness in goldfish is more common than many may realize. Moor and telescope type are prone to damage resulting in blindness. Most learn to adjust and if the owner is diligent in placing food in the same area in front of the fish each day, they usually do fine. I have a moor that is blind in one eye due to aggression from a male during breeding season. Her other eye is cloudy and vision impaired. I now do a light tap on the top of the tank to let her know it’s meal time. She’s the largest and fattest female in the tank. I also use a little Garlic Guard if not feeding her pellets, for instance blood worms or peas. That way she can smell it easier when not finding the pellets she is use to. People often find their Goldie’s completely missing an eye upon observation. Of course they’re upset but most heal just fine with clean water and go on to live a good life.

 

[FishGuest5123]

they smell hormones that are released by other fish, they dont smell food, but catfish can "smell" food when food touches their barbels.

I would think f they have the capability of smelling anything, that they could smell everything???

 

[Colin_T]

Fish have a very good sense of smell and can smell food from very long distances away.

Years ago we used whale oil on bait when we went fishing. We also used it as a berley and we would drip it into the water. Fish would arrive within minutes of adding the oil to the water. There was no food in it to attract them and only the smell/ chemicals released by the oil.

If you put food into a tank with catfish, they come out and start swimming around looking for it because they can smell it. Yes they use their feelers to specifically target bits and pieces but they smell it first.

Have you ever wondered why healthy live fish don't have a strong odour?
It attracts predators.

 

[Jim Sinclair]

Videos:

Last night, recorded from above. (They turned out not to like floating flake food, so I didn't give them any more.) Can you tell which fish is blind from watching them? I couldn't, until about the two-minute mark when I realized that one fish had gotten separated from the rest, looked for it and found Adrien in a corner. Note that one of the other fish seemed to start looking for the absent comrade right around the same time I did. You can practically see them saying, "Here we are, come this way."

This evening, centered on Adrien who is clearly able to find food that sinks to the bottom:

This evening, showing the whole tank after ~48 hours of convalescence:

You can see one with a damaged bulging left eye at around 1:20.

 

[Cichlid4life]

i see in the footage that the tails are pointy at the end, but gldfish usually have rounded tips on their tails.

 

[Colin_T]

The pointy bits in the middle and on the top and bottom edge of the tails (on the video) are just the fin rays that haven't been bitten off.

That video is a horror movie

 

[Jim Sinclair]

That video is a horror movie

Is it? I certainly find it horrifying to think of what those poor fish went through in being chewed up like that. I find it horrifying that this happened to them because of something I did, in well-intentioned ignorance, truly thinking they would be better off in the large pond than in a small tank.

But those horrifying things have already happened. They're in the past, and I can't change the past. All I can do is learn from the past (the lesson learned here is that just because smaller fish are too big to fit in bigger fish's mouths does *not* mean they can safely live together!), and do what I can to make things better in the present.

Those videos are about the present. They show the aftermath of the horror, not the horror itself. And what I'm seeing in the present, as recorded in those videos, are survivors of horror who are now in a safe place, who appear to be getting everything they need for now, and who seem to be reasonably happy going about the business of living their lives. And from what you've said, it's even possible that ongoing healing will restore their mutilated tails.

I don't see horror movies in those videos. I see a cautionary lesson (as noted above). But most of all I see testimony to endurance, healing, and the tenacity of life.

 

[Cichlid4life]

The pointy bits in the middle and on the top and bottom edge of the tails (on the video) are just the fin rays that haven't been bitten off.

That video is a horror movie

i am saying that the fin rays are not rounded at the end but instead they are pointy, which is odd for a goldfish.

 

[Jim Sinclair]

Here's an updated video after five months:

All ten of the fish that were maimed in the pond and then moved to the convalescent tank in December are still alive. Most of their tails have grown back completely. There's just one, named Woodstock because it swims the way Snoopy's bird friend Woodstock flies, whose tail was completely gone and hasn't regrown. The one that had a damaged bulging eye now has two normal eyes and I can't even tell which fish it was. Adrien, who completely lost both eyes, is still blind (eyes don't regenerate), but seems to get around and find food as well as any of the others.

The particles falling through the water in the video are powdered Tetra Pond food pellets. The pellets float when dropped in whole, so the fish have to come to the top and gulp at them and possibly swallow air. I first started powdering them when the fish were tiny little little fry with tiny little mouths. Having learned that the powder sinks, I think this is an easier and more natural way for goldfish to eat, at least in a bare bottom tank. And for Adrien who can't see the food, and Woodstock who can't navigate very well, I think they get a lot more nourishment from grazing powdered food off the tank bottom than they'd get if they had to be able to aim themselves accurately at food floating on the surface.