Bubble eye goldfish: Complete care and guide- 2020

The Bubble Eye Goldfish’s most intriguing trait is its bubbles. The bubbles on this goldfish start to develop at the age of 6-9 months, leading to the name Water-Bubble Eye.

The bubbles are very large by the time those goldfish are 2 years old. These water-filled bubbles are actually so big that it can even make it hard for this fish to see and swim 

These fancy goldfish look very intriguing but they easily break their bubble sacs. The sacs are notorious for being caught in aquarium filter water uptake valves. A cover of foam over the valve should help to prevent that.

Broken bubbles will grow back most of the time but have a different shape and size which doesn’t match the other bubble. A broken bubble sometimes doesn’t grow back at all.

Furthermore, broken bubbles heal slowly and are subject to infection, so keep an eye on your fish and be prepared to treat it if needed. In addition to its infamous bubbles, the Bubble Eye Goldfish is one of the most unique varieties of goldfish.

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The Bubble Eye Goldfish is dorsal-less along with the Lion head Goldfish, so it doesn’t have a fin at the top of its back. One variety of Bubble Eye Goldfish grown in China does have a dorsal fin, but the Goldfish Society of America (GFSA) does not qualify for a show. 

The Bubble Eye Goldfish is one of the fancy goldfish that is more rounded or egg-shaped, distinguishing it from the long, slender body seen in Common Goldfish or the Shubunkins. It has a double-tail and is very similar to the Celestial Eye Goldfish in its body shape and size.

Like the Celestial, the eyes of the Bubble Eye are upturned, albeit not as extreme as those of the Celestial. Both of these goldfish have slightly slimmer bodies than other round or egg-shaped goldfish. 

Although Bubble Eye Goldfish is widely available, they are considered delicate and are not recommended either as a starting fish or for community aquariums. Its swimming capacity is burdened by its rounded body and further reduced by the lack of a stabilizing dorsal fin. 

Many of the elongated goldfish varieties, such as the Common Goldfish, Comet Goldfish and the Shubunkin, are not good companions to the Bubble Eye Goldfish because they are fast swimmers and too competitive during feeding time.

The similarly disabled but less hardy Lion head Goldfish, Telescope Goldfish, and Celestial Eye Goldfish would be better tank mates. It won’t win any races but the Water-Bubble Eye Goldfish should have plenty to eat if kept with other slow-moving varieties.

The Bubble Eye is a small variety of fancy goldfish with upward-pointing eyes, accompanied by two large bags filled with fluid. It is a dorsal-less fish-good specimen that will have a color and size matching clean back and eye bubbles.

Their bubbles are rather delicate, so they should keep the fish separate from boisterous types, as well as sharp tank decoration. If punctured, the bubbles will regrow, but an injury could leave the fish prone to infection.

The bubbles may disadvantage the fish as it is not a strong swimmer, sometimes with a seemingly low bobbing head; bubbles are infamous for being sucked into aquarium filters and siphons.

Habitat and Distribution

Today’s goldfish are descendants of a wild carp species known as the Prussian Carp, Silver Prussian carp, or Gibel Carp Carassius gibelio (syn: Carassius auratus gibelio), that Bloch described in 1782.

This wild carp is native to Central Asia (Siberia). They live in the slow-moving and stagnant waters of rivers, lakes, ponds, and ditches, feeding on plants, detritus, small crustaceans, and insects.

It has been believed for many years that goldfish originated from the Crucian Carp or Golden Carp Carassius described by Linnaeus in 1758. Recent genetic research does point to C, though. A more likely ancestor, gibelio. 

Originally goldfish were grown in China. Goldfish were traded into Japan by the 1500s, arriving in Europe in the 1600s and America in the 1800s.

Asian breeders developed the bulk of the fancy goldfish. We can see the results of this centuries-long effort in today’s goldfish gorgeous colors and shapes. Now, domesticated goldfish are distributed around the world.

Description

Bubble eye goldfish
Image by Angie Torres from Commons Wikimedia

The Water-Bubble Eye Goldfish is an egg-shaped variety of goldfish, also known as the Bubble Eye Goldfish. It has a double-tail, and its body shape and size are very similar to the Celestial Goldfish, which is also slightly slimmer than other goldfish in the form of an egg. Like the Celestial, his eyes are also upturned, albeit not as extreme. 

Age 6-9 months, fluid-filled sacks begin to develop as bubbles under his eyes. The bubbles are quite large by the time they ‘re 2 years old. It is one of the goldfish that is dorsal-less, although one variety bred in China does have a dorsal fin.

These goldfish are available in a variety of colors, including red, blue, chocolate and black solids; red/white and red/black bi-colors; and calicos.

They will usually reach about 5 inches (13 cm), though some hobbyists report growing much larger in their Bubble Eye’s.

The average lifespan of goldfish is 10-15 years, although living 20 years or more is not uncommon in well-maintained aquariums and ponds. 

Fish size-inches: 5.0 inches (12.70 cm)-This fish, although capable of larger sizes, rarely exceeds 5 inches in the home aquarium.

Lifespan: 15 years – The average lifespan of goldfish is 10 – 15 years, but when well maintained they have been known to live 20 years longer.

The Bubble Eye usually has a curved, even back that lacks a dorsal fin. Under her eyes, the pair of large skin pockets jiggle as she swims.

Bubble eyes have metallic scales, and similar to goldfish in the celestial eye. The Bubble Eye goldfish ‘s eyes are normal in the young fry, but three months after hatching will begin to develop eye bladders.

The bubble goldfish eye, like ranchu, lacks a dorsal fin and has a double tail. They normally grow to lengths of 3 to 4 inches. If one of their “Bubbles” pops with a sharp object due to pressure or collision, there is a risk of infection where the inside of the sac has been exposed.

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Fish-Keeping Difficulty

Bubble Eye Goldfish are among the most sensitive of goldfish species. They aren’t recommended for starting fish or community aquariums. They have a lower tolerance to pollution than the flat-bodied types of goldfish. They’ll need plenty of space and good care. They won’t thrive with fast, competitive tank-mates when it comes to feeding. 

Be careful when netting these fish, as they easily damage their eyes. Be careful also about filter intakes. If there is a strong flow of water, these fish’s bubble sacs may be sucked into the intake and burst. Adding some media of soft sponge filters over the intake valve may help.

Many people will keep goldfish without a heater or filtration in small one or two-gallon bowls. But for the best success in keeping the Bubble Eye Goldfish, provide them with the same filtration that other aquarium residents enjoy, especially biological filtration. 

  • Aquarium Hardness: Moderately Hard-The bags under the eyes are very delicate. That fish has poor vision and is a poor swimmer.
  • Aquarist Experience Level: Intermediate-The aquarist should know Goldfish care well and the specific variation requirements.

Bubble eye goldfish Feeding

Wondering! what to feed your bubble eye goldfish? We have got this covered for you. Because they are omnivorous, the Bubble Eye Goldfish usually eat all sorts of fresh, frozen, and flake foods. Give them a high quality, flake food every day to maintain a good balance.

Food brine shrimp (either live or frozen), blood worms, daphnia, or tubifex worms as a treat to care for your Bubble Eye Goldfish. To avoid parasites and bacterial infections, freeze-dried foods are usually preferable to live foods. 

The Bubble Eye can have poor vision because of the fluid-filled sacs beneath their eyes. This makes their food more difficult to see and means they need extra time to feed.

Aquarium care

In order to stay healthy, these goldfish need a well-maintained tank. The minimum tank size is 10 gallons so make sure there are frequent changes in water.

Regular weekly changes in water from 1/4 to 1/3 are strongly recommended to maintain these fish healthy. You can add snails as they reduce the algae in the tank, helping keep it clean. 

Changes in water: Weekly-Goldfish produces more waste than most other freshwater fish and greatly benefit from more frequent changes in water.

Aquarium setup

The first step toward success is to set up a goldfish aquarium in a way that will keep your fish happy and healthy. The aquarium shape and size is important and depends on how many goldfish you will keep. These fish need a great deal of oxygen and they produce a lot of waste. 

Good filtration, particularly biological filtration, is of great help in maintaining aquarium water quality. A filtration system will remove much of the detritus, excess food, and waste that keeps the tank clean and preserves the goldfish’s overall health.

However, the Bubble Eye Goldfish’s sacs are notorious for being caught in the aquarium filter’s water uptake valves.

Tank size

Ten gallons is the absolute minimum required to house a goldfish with a Bubble Eye. Starting with a 20-30 gallon tank for your first goldfish is best, and then increasing the tank size by 10 gallons for each additional goldfish.

It will help to dilute the amount of waste and reduce the number of water changes needed by providing a large amount of water per fish.

Tank shape

Always provide the maximum surface area required. A large area of the surface minimizes the possibility of oxygen shortages affecting the goldfish.

The surface area depends on the tank ‘s shape. An elongated tank, for example, provides more surface area (and oxygen) than a tall tank. In order to maximize the surface area, oval or round tanks which are wide in the middle and narrower towards the top might be filled in less than full.

Number of fishes

A general thumb rule for juveniles is 1 inch (2.54 cm) per 1 gallon of water. Yet this rule applies only to young fish.

Larger goldfish consume much more oxygen than young fish so they will be stunned by maintaining this formula for growing fish and may contribute to illness and even death. 

Fish size and growth

Either buy less fish than the maximum number or be prepared to get a larger tank, to allow for proper growth. Don’t overstock the aquarium to avoid stunted growth and other health problems.

Goldfish are cold-water fish and temperatures between 65-72 ° F (18 °-22 ° C) will do their best. Unlike flat-bodied goldfish species, Bubble Eye Goldfish can not tolerate temperatures much lower than 60 ° F (16 ° C). 

Provide a gravel substratum to help create a comfortable natural environment for your fish. You can add some decoration but bear in mind that its fluid-filled eye sacs can be a problem, both easily damaged and giving poor vision to these fish.

Make sure all ornamentation is smooth without sharp edges or protruding dots. Smooth rocks or driftwood, if any should be used sparingly.

Aquarium plants would be the best aquarium decor choice for goldfish, but sadly these fish are diggers. Live plants can, therefore, be uprooted. Artificial plants make a good substitute and plants made of silk are safer than plastics. 

Most aquariums come with an illuminant cover. A tank cover is desirable as it reduces evaporation and although they are not prone to jumping, some goldfish will jump out on occasion.

In general, lighting is not essential for goldfish, but it can help the Bubble Eye since these fish have such poor vision. It makes the aquarium a nice piece of the show and if you have live plants it is necessary.

Goldfish are freshwater fish, but tolerance for slightly brackish water is given. The level of salinity to C. Auratus must be kept low, with a specific gravity of less than 1.002 below 10 percent.

  • Minimum tank size: 10 gals (38 L)-The absolute minimum required to house this fish is ten gallons. It has high demands for oxygen and is producing a lot of waste. If it’s kept in a smaller aquarium it will have very stunted growth.
  • Nano Tank Fits: Sometimes
  • Substrate type: Any-A gravel of a medium-size works best.
  • Lighting Needs: Moderate-normal illumination-Strong lighting will help this fish make the most of what little eyesight they have.
  • Temperature: 65.0 to 72.0 ° F (18.3 to 22.2 ° C)-Bubble Eye Goldfish can not tolerate temperatures much below 60 ° F (16 ° C) unlike flat-bodied types of goldfish.

Typical Behaviour

Goldfish are very social and great community fish, and they are also great scavengers. When you have goldfish, you really don’t need to add other scavengers or other bottom feeders to the aquarium. 

Bear in mind the Bubble Eye’s physical traits when choosing tank mates for this fancy goldfish. Like the Goldfish and Celestial Goldfish telescopes, the Bubble Eye can be visually impaired.

Furthermore, its swimming capacity is burdened by its rounded body and the lack of a stabilizing dorsal fin, a feature that is also seen in the Lion-head Goldfish.

Tank mates for bubble eye goldfish

It’s not easy to find proper tank mates for Bubble Eye Goldfish. There are quite a few reasons for this. Firstly, aggressive fish or even playful species can easily damage their eye sacs.

Second, their slow swimming renders eating regularly difficult for them. Fast-swimming fish will compete for food, leaving the Bubble Eye Goldfish with nothing left.

In groups of the same species, they are doing very well. But if you are planning to create a community tank, stick to fish that have a handicap similar to that of the Bubble Eye Goldfish. Here are some good mates to consider in the tank.

  • Telescope Goldfish
  • Celestial Goldfish
  • Black Moors
  • Lion-head Goldfish

Sex

The male has white prickles on her gill covers and head during the breeding season called breeding tubercles. Seen from above, when she carries eggs a female will have a fatter appearance.

Goldfish can not be sexed when they’re young and not in the breeding season, but the male is generally smaller and slimmer than the female.

Variants

The Bubble Eye precursor known as the Toadhead or Hama-tou had upturned eyes and very small, bladder-like bags.

The bubble eye is currently available through selective breeding, with either a long or more rounded body and choice of matte, metallic or nacreous scales.

A recent bubble-eye development has four eye sacs instead of the usual two. For these fish, red, calico, orange, red and white and the rare black are the desirable colors.

Care

Enthusiasts have to ensure that their bubble eye is kept free from sharp objects in aquariums because of the delicate eye sacs.

However, due to the visual impairment of the fish, it is advisable to keep them with other bubble eyes, black moors, demekins and celestial goldfish to ensure fair competition for food.

Medical uses

Japanese researchers have theorized that the fluid in the sacs of the bubble eye could be a stimulant to cell growth.

Because of the ability of the eye sac to regenerate and refill itself quickly, scientists are able to milk the same fish with a syringe every few months.

Breeding your Bubble eye goldfish

Let’s talk about breeding in this section! Bubble Eye Goldfish are layers of eggs that spawn readily under the right conditions. They can be bred in groups as small as five individuals but they are very social animals and are also likely to grow in larger groups.

The only time Goldfish spawns in the wild is at spring. You’ll need to imitate the conditions found in nature to spawn them in the aquarium. 

Provide an aquarium of at least 20 gallons, and ensure that the fish are healthy and free from disease. Certain breeders suggest that you treat them for parasites.

Many breeders will also separate the males and females for a couple of weeks before breeding to help increase their spawning interests.

At the same time, insert the fish into the breeding tank. The tank will require a lush environment with solid surfaces to adhere to for the spawning process and the eggs. Bushy, oxygenating plants, like Anacharis, do work well for this, although artificial plants or fibrous spawning mops may also be used. 

To induce spawning, the temperature can be slowly lowered to about 60°F (11°C) and then warmed slowly at a rate of 3°F (2°C) per day until spawning.

Spawning generally starts when temperatures range from 68 ° to 74 ° F (20 ° -23 ° C). During this time, feeding lots of high protein food such as live brine shrimp and worms induce spawning as well.

Three times a day feed small quantities but don’t overfeed. Uneaten scraps sink towards the bottom and foul the water. Maintain the breeding tank up to 20 percent per day with partial water changes. 

Before spawning, the male will chase the female around the aquarium non-aggressively as the temperature rises. For several days, this can continue and the fish will intensify in color.

The fish gyrate from side to side during spawning, and the male pushes the female against the plants. This stimulates the female to drop small eggs, which are then fertilized by the male. The eggs will adhere to the plants or spawn mop with sticky threads.

The eggs will adhere to the plants or spawn mop with sticky threads. Spawning can last for two or three hours and can produce up to ten thousand eggs. 

At this point, parents are going to start eating as many eggs as they can find. For this reason, it is best to remove the parents after the completion of spawning.

Depending on the temperature the fertilized eggs will hatch within 4 to 7 days. You can feed the specialty fry foods of the newly hatched goldfish until they become large enough to eat flake or brine shrimp, or you can offer the same food as you feed the parents as long as it is crushed very small. The fry is initially a dark brown or black color to better hide and not be eaten by bigger fish.

Bubble eye goldfish Diseases

Goldfish disease is largely preventable in properly kept aquariums or ponds. Nevertheless, goldfish diseases can occur and can prove fatal if left untreated.

However, goldfish are hardy, and if treated in a timely manner, most will produce a full recovery. 

When treating individuals, moving the afflicted fish into a separate tank with no gravel or plants is usually the best way to do regular partial water changes.

If the disease is apparent across the main tank, however, it may be best to do the treatments there. Whether you’re treating for any medication in a hospital tank or your main tank, read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

By destroying beneficial bacteria some medicines can adversely affect the quality of the water. You may also need to remove the carbon from the filtration system, since carbon will absorb many medicines, making the treatment ineffectual. 

Goldfish diseases are mostly the same as those afflicting other freshwater fish, and goldfish symptoms and treatment are similar as well. Bacterial infections, fungal infections, parasites, and protozoa are key types of fish diseases.

There are other injuries caused by injury, poor nutrition or poor water conditions, too. One of the commonest issues is Ich, which is a protozoan disease.

I find it easy to identify because it looks like your fish is sprinkled with salt. Although Ich, like other protozoan diseases, is easily treated, it can be fatal if not caught quickly.

Some other protozoan diseases are Costia, which causes the skin to become cloudy, and Chilodonella, which causes the skin to feel blue-white. 

External parasites are also quite common, but they are fairly easy to treat, and usually not fatal when treated. They include flukes, which are about 1 mm long flatworms with hooks around their mouths. They infect the fish’s gills or body.

Another type of parasite is fish lice (Argulus), flattened, mite-like crustaceans about 5 mm long which stick to the goldfish ‘s body. Finally, anchor worms look like threads that come out of the fish. 

Some bacterial infections include Dropsy, a kidney infection that can be fatal if it isn’t treated fast. Fish Tuberculosis is indicated by the emaciation of the fish (having a hollow belly).

There is no absolute treatment for this disease, and that can be fatal. Tail / Fin Rot may also be bacterial though a number of factors may also cause the reduced tail or fins. Fungus, fungal infection and Black Spot or Black Ich, which is a parasitic infection, are also present.

Swim Bladder Disease is an ailment indicated by fish swimming in abnormal patterns and struggling to maintain balance.

This can be caused by a number of things: constipation, poor nutrition, physical deformation or infection with parasites. It has been noted that feeding frozen peas (defrosted) helps to alleviate symptoms and in some cases correct the problem. 

Other miscellaneous ailments include Cloudy Eye, which may be caused by a variety of things ranging from poor nutrition, poor quality of water, and rough handling. Other diseases, such as bacterial infections, can also result from this.

Constipation is marked by a loss of appetite and body swelling, and the cause is almost always diet. Then, wounds and ulcers.

Wounds can get infected and can cause ulcers. Wounds can develop bacterial or fungal infections, or both, and need treatment. Individual treatments are available for each of these diseases, and treatments that handle both.

Conclusion

As you can see, Bubble Eye Goldfish treatment has more to say than it meets the eye. You need to be extra cautious when it comes to setting up your habitat because of their unique features.

If you are facing the challenge and are committed to following the letter’s care guidelines we highly recommend this animal. They are some of the most unique freshwater-looking fish you can find.

It is fascinating to watch them move around and will give you the opportunity to see their personalities emerge over time.

You may contact us here. We at Planet fish value your feedback and suggestions.

Hey, I am Praful Kharade, a Blogger, a Data scientist, and the Founder of Planet Fish. This is one of my Hobby Blogs that focuses on Aquatic animals, Reptiles, and Fish Keeping.

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