Is my goldfish blind in one eye?

[hanwyz]

Ok, I have had my fantail goldfish for about a year now, and recently I have been noticing that he has a very strange eye - one that is almost completely black. The other eye looks like an eye - a black centre surronded by white. He is a very hardy fish - living in a 9l tank with 3 minnows (I know - shoot me now) then moving into a 70L community tank with 3 minnows, a weather loach, 2 corys and 2 blackbanded sunfish. He is now in a 110L community tank that is overfilted but also, taking adult sizes into account, overstocked (goldfish, 2x corys, 3x weather loaches, 5x minnows, 5x zebra danios) I am aware this is a grow out tank for the next year, when my channa will have this tank and the community will have an upgrade. Each move, except the final one has included the goldfish going through a fish-in cycle. I also lost both my sunfish to unknown caused within the last few months. I hadnt noticed the eye until sometime after christmas. So my questions are: is the goldfish blind, if so how could it have happened? And is there anything I can do to help? Oh, the tank is kept at 19, the filter is the fluval u4, the tank is planted, all water levels are at 0, but a few months ago over xmas in the 70L tank I had a major nitrate problem but that is sorted now. Please help....


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[Chicxulub]

Pictures would really help.

I'm very leery about the concept of keeping a goldfish in a 9l tank I might add.

 

[hanwyz]

Ok i will get pictures when i get home. And i know, i didnt understand fish when i first got the tank, he got moved out of there as quickly as possible. I've been learning as quickly as possible as realised i was a complete idiot when i first started.


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[hanwyz]

Hes in the 110L communtity tank now


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[Chicxulub]

Ok i will get pictures when i get home. And i know, i didnt understand fish when i first got the tank, he got moved out of there as quickly as possible. I've been learning as quickly as possible as realised i was a complete idiot when i first started.


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No one's perfect friend. This hobby is a hobby of learning. No matter how long you do it and no matter how much you think you know, you can always look back and realize how little you didn't know. That's my favorite thing about this hobby: its a quest for knowledge.

 

[hanwyz]

Hope these photos show it clear enough.... As you can see, the eyes on both sides are totally different. And yea, I've noticed that as soon as you've learnt the basic rules and got comfortable with them, you learn the times when the rules dont apply, or you try an harder species (in my case, my channa) amd you learn more and more about the fish as individuals and as a species. Ive also learnt that no matter how bug a tank you have, you will always want/need a bigger one.... Oh and that if the fish are not eating at least as well as you are then there is a problem (my channa just had a treat of a small piece of salmon... I havent had salmon in months)


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[Chicxulub]

He does have a lot of black spots on him. I suspect he simply has black pigmentation on his eye.

 

[hanwyz]

Ok thankyou, I just started to really worry last night when my other half asked if he was blind in that eye.... I'd never thought of that before you see, thought it was natural.... As I guess you do as well. Is a relief though, means that he can still compete for food.


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[Chicxulub]

Ok thankyou, I just started to really worry last night when my other half asked if he was blind in that eye.... I'd never thought of that before you see, thought it was natural.... As I guess you do as well. Is a relief though, means that he can still compete for food.


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If his pupil is clear he can see. If he were blind, the pupil would be cloudy and opaque.