[amcoffeegirl]

When i woke up today my lionhead was missing an eyeball. has anyone had this happen with other fish? i can only imagine the other fish ate it. will he eat everyones eyeballs now? what can i do?

 

[mistergreen]

Yup, somebody attack the goldfish. All you can do is remove the offending fish so he doesn't attack the other goldfish.

The injured goldfish should survive the injury.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

Thank you. i did separate them. so much for my zen tank.

 

[mistergreen]

What was the offending fish btw?

 

[amcoffeegirl]

This tank only had goldfish in it. i believe the largest goldfish about 5-6 inches inflicted the wound on the smallest goldfish about 2 1/2 inches. does that mean she has to live alone? or would another large goldfish be safe?

 

[mistergreen]

Oh, that's interesting... Are they different types of goldfish, like one is a comet, another a lionhead?

Yeah, goldfish can be aggressive especially when one has speed and strength advantage. I'd keep the same size & types together.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I have one larger oranda one smallish lionhead one medium oranda and one medium telescope. my lfs said it probably wasnt aggression so much as just looking for something interesting to eat??? i feed them daily and they are all fat. i change up the diet often. offering sinking pellets and flakes. sometimes peas. and always keep live plants to nibble on. i think its more of a size compatibilty issue. but i never thought this would happen. water conditions are fine. and no signs of illness. this is a fairly new tank. It was started with an established filter. and all fish were put in the tank within 24 hrs of each other. although the large one was put in first. and the reason i bought a large tank. i had the smaller fish about 9mths. the telescope about 6mths and the large oranda about 3 mths. all were quaratined in separate tanks. i thought a peaceful goldfish tank would be so serene. i had no idea they could inflict damage to each other.

 

[garfieldnfish]

I would keep them together. Goldfish are social fish and not known for aggression. If another goldfish did this it was a fluke. Could it be possible the goldfish ran into a sharp piece of decor and damage the eyeball? If that were the case the other fish might have seen a damaged eyeball as food.

 

[amcoffeegirl]

No i do not believe it was poked. there are no sharps in my tank because i placed a telescope in there. i was extra careful. plus my lionead has no headgrowth and excellent vision.

 

[flip9]

Reminds me of this

New Zealand goldfish rescued after four months in earthquake-hit office

There were six goldfish in the tank when the earthquake struck, but by the time the survivors were found, no trace remained of three of the fish.