Eyeless Fish - Upgrading Tank (Help!)

[Kittiee Katt]

So, I'm supposed to be swapping my sister her 80ltr tank for my 120ltr in a few weeks, under the condition that she re-homes two of the four goldfish she has. But I have a "small" problem... My mum. She's in panic mode because one of my sister's goldfish has no eyes (result of horrible water conditions I'm pretty sure can't tell her that though :/) and she's worried it won't be able to find its way around the bigger tank. The fish has been missing its eyes for about 3 years now and has been doing fine (all things considered anyway), finds food, doesn't get picked on etc. But the last few days I've been wondering, is my mum right? Will poor Mrs Bloobkins be able to find her way around the bigger tank? If so, what can I tell mum to calm her farm a little?


And also, before all the hate comes in; I've tried convincing my mum to buy a bigger tank (sister is still in high school) but she refuses to because they're expensive (I live in Tasmania, it cost me roughly $1700 to set up my 400ltr) and I can't exactly afford to buy my sister a 500ltr tank. I can't convince my sister to re-home the goldfish, I've tried and she won't, the only reason she's willing to re-home two of them is because she wants a bigger tank for Mrs Bloobkins.

So, in all I want to know if Mrs Bloobkins (the eyeless fish in question) will be okay being moved to a bigger tank. No new ornaments or plants will be added to the upgrade, it will just be a full décor switch over.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Any other questions feel free to ask, I'll try my best to answer. And please no hate, I'm doing all I can to help these poor fish.

 

[CarpCharacin]

Mrs Bloobkins should be fine. Just make sure that there is nothing sharp in the tank that she could accidentally injure herself on.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Mrs Bloobkins should be fine. Just make sure that there is nothing sharp in the tank that she could accidentally injure herself on.

The tank only has gravel and four silk plants in it. I'm going to try to put the plants in similar spots to where they are now, but mum still thinks she'll get lost... How a tennis ball sized goldfish can get "lost" in 120ltrs of water is beyond me, eyes or no eyes... But that's my mum for ya. Thanks heaps for the reply, now I'm just building my argument for mum.

 

[Wailua Boy]

I think she will be fine. My only concern is her competing with other tank mates for food but if she is getting her fair share, she can live out a fairly good life. Goldfish can thrive in very murky water and rely on other senses mostly.

 

[Wailua Boy]

I actually have had plenty of koi fry born without eyes and almost had a morbid curiosity to breed them to come up with a Blind Cave Koi line but never did lol. Anyways they seem to thrive just fine.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I think she will be fine. My only concern is her competing with other tank mates for food but if she is getting her fair share, she can live out a fairly good life. Goldfish can thrive in very murky water and rely on other senses mostly.

That was going to be part of my argument for mum, I'm going to take some pictures of my mates pond to show her that even if the water is brown and green, the goldfish will still find its way around. Currently looking for studies done on carp and their senses so I can give her a link or two to calm her mind.

 

[Frank Castle]

That was going to be part of my argument for mum, I'm going to take some pictures of my mates pond to show her that even if the water is brown and green, the goldfish will still find its way around. Currently looking for studies done on carp and their senses so I can give her a link or two to calm her mind.

a lot of fish don't rely on vision nearly as much as others, even predatory ones like catfish - they really don't need it because of how amazing their other senses are. Koi, Goldfish, Carp, Catfish and many others have barbels on their mouth which basically act a a 2nd sense of smell and pick up vibrations and taste the area around them. Because of this, they can do just fine without sight, in murky water, or hunting at night.

In addition to this fish also have a lateral lines which is also another sensory organ that detects movement around them and may be compared to "having eyes in the back of their head".

I think they'll be just fine