Telescopic eye injury

Question
Hi Nicole.
I just read a post that you responded to regarding injured eyes.  Well I am one of the dolts that sucked my fish, Chloe, into my syphon.  I feel absolutely horrible!!  Her one eye is totally gone and the other appears to be ruptured. She is swimming around very slowly and appears to be very stunned, which I would think is probably normal when you get your eyes sucked out!!

Along with using aquarium salt, keeping the aquarium clean and using vitamins, is there anything else I should be doing for her?  I haven't removed her from the community tank as I do not want to stress her any more.  Should I put her in another home for a while?  I feed my goldfish mainly live plants, vegitables (peas, corn, carrots)and some algae.  I am worried that she will not be able to find food.  Is there a way that I can make sure that she is getting enough food? How will she find the food with no eyesight? Do I have to worry about the other fish pulling on her injured areas/loose tissue?

One last general question...since I feed my fish live plants and vegitables, am I giving them enough nutrition or should I be adding other foods?

Thank you for your time.  

TJ

Answer
Hi TJ,

Yikes! I am truly sorry to hear about this.

I personally would recommend quarantine. The exposed areas are very prone to infection, and a separate container could probably be kept cleaner than a tank with other fish. The best water quality possible will ensure that secondary infections don't set it - ammonia and nitrites zero of course, and nitrates as low as possible. If you don't have any other means of separating Chloe, because you don't have another tank or container (a large clear Rubbermaid container is fine, doesn't need to be an aquarium) or another filter to move the water around, then you can leave her in there, but this is a bit risky.

I can't say whether the other fish will bother her. It depends greatly on what tankmates are in there, which you don't mention. If it were to be other fancy goldfish, I would say that she would probably be fine - as long as this tank is big enough to house them all, since goldfish are very messy (although less so, with a diet such as yours). But if you have large sucking fish in there (a big no-no with goldfish) then it is quite possible that due to their opportunistic tendencies, they will harm her. Plecostomuses and algae eaters have no place with goldfish, as many goldfish get welts on their sides due to having such fish in the tank with them. Even if all seems fine, it is NOT a risk worth taking to have a large sucking fish in there. Especially since there are other means of algae control!

I would not be relying too heavily on aquarium salt - this also depends on who is in there with her. Some fish absolutely hate salt. Up to 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons is fine, but do not add more, since aquarium salt can be quite irritating to some fish. If you are using vitamins, adding these directly to the water is of little benefit - much better is to soak foods in vitamins, and pellets are the ideal medium. More on this later...

This is one of those situations where Melafix might actually be useful. Its mild antimicrobial properties might be just what you need here, to keep the water extra sanitary, since the possibility of secondary infection is great. If you can, the ideal would be to put Chloe in a separate tank or container of at least 10 gallons (preferably more) and do daily water changes of 20-30%. Add Melafix to the water, if you can. Stress Coat works just as well as aquarium salt. Aquarium salt is fine as long as it's a low dose.

Feeding this goldfish might be a problem for a while. Telescopic goldfish are always recommended to be in a tank with goldfish of similar handicap, since fast comets will always beat them to the food. Goldfish are recommended in species only systems, with select few fish...perhaps corydoras, a bristlenose pleco, or an apple snail. I'm not sure what kind of community Chloe is in, but you're going to have to watch to make sure she gets something to eat at least once a day. You could try feeding only her on one side of the tank, and then feeding the others on another side.

Many fish find food by smell, such as the large Synodontis catfish who have large, saucer like eyes and poor vision. I am not sure how much smells play a part in goldfish's search for food...I would imagine that foods like peas, carrots, and corn wouldn't smell much. You could try adding a few drops of attractant, such as Garlic Guard or Garlic Xtreme (use Google.com to learn more about these products, by searching their names) to make the food smellier.

The diet sounds like a very safe one - goldfish are very prone to bloating, and a diet such as yours is highly preferable to a dried foods only diet. Still, I would expand this diet to include other vegetables, and give a meaty treat once in a while. Frozen brine and mysis shrimp is good for goldfish, since the shells of these crustaceans provide roughage, and mysis shrimp especially is very nutritious. Brine shrimp has multi-vitamins or Spirulina added to it to enrich the nutritional content. You could also try feeding a chopped up earthworm once in a while from the garden. My fish love this treat, it's the only live food I use!

There's lots about feeding at these pages here:
http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/food.html
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm

I recommend you also rely on a high quality staple food. The very best in my opinion, is New Life Spectrum, who is now making a goldfish staple food. You can find it here:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp18338/si1382519/cl0/newlifespectr...

I've fed this brand of pellet to my African cichlids for years, and they have never gotten sick or bloated. Their color is fantastic, although I supplement their diet with European Shrimp Mix and vegetables, along with other treats.

Best of luck, I am so sorry this happened!
Nicole