Goldfish of the month July:
THE BUBBLE EYE!

Origin
As many other goldfish before him, the bubble eye also orgins in China, and was at first most likely a mutant to a telescope or celestial, developing rather strange additional features that later were bred out into the breed of the bubble eye.

Body features
The bubble eye will bring out completely different opinions in most people, and will devide right down the middle - one half completely in love with the fish, the other half most likely finding him a freak of nature.
Either way, he is not a "normal" looking goldfish at all, which can be attributed to his huge bubbles on either side of his face, right underneath his eyes. Those bubbles are liquid filled sacs, and are extremely delicate, and can burst easily.
Other features are the eyes, which - different to most other goldfish breeds - point upwards. The bubble eye is not as round in his body feature as the fish of last month, the ryukin. He is a rather slim fish, has a pair of anal, ventral and pectoral fins, and should have a smooth back, with no visible indentations or humps. In China the bubble eye is bred with and without dorsal fin, but here in the US, by standards of the GFSA, any sign of a dorsal fin, may it even be so slightly, is grounds for disqualification on a show. These standards count as well in most other western countries.


(Courtesy Ken from DandyOrandas.com in 2008)


Color options
The color palette for this fish is rather big as well - red/white, red, red/black, even colors of blue and chocolate have been seen. Then there is the familiar calico and not so much known black, which, like in most goldie breeds, is not a stable color.


(Courtesy Ken Fischer from DandyOrandas.com 2008)

Challenges and food menu
The bubble eye is a rather challenging fish when it comes to his housing and diet. Those liquid filled bubble sacs, as mentioned above, are very delicate and can easily be damaged and destroyed. This requires some planning ahead when purchasing a bubble eye - no sharp objects or ornaments, plastic plants need to be inspected for any edges and leaves that might damage the bubbles. The intake tubes of the filter should be covered with a sponge or fine netting - bubble eyes generally are weak swimmers, and tend to get too close to those intake tubes, not being able to swim free from the current.
Food is another thing to think about - not that the bubble eye needs a particular food. Just by looking at the constellation of his eyes, one can imagine that its very hard for him to find food that sinks rather fast, or is very small (like bloodworms). He prefers slowly sinking food, veggies on a clip at the same spot in the tank every time when feeding. Its also a very good idea to keep only bubble eyes or other "eye handicapped" fish in with him, like telescopes and celestials. That way everybody has a fair chance at the dinner table, and we don't have any starving bubble eye while a much faster oranda gobbles up all the food, before the fish can get to it.

And last, but not least.....
Once the basic needs for this beautiful fish are met, you will have a happy and healthy fish for a long time. If by accident a bubble gets compromised, it might take time, but in most cases it will grow back. It will not get his original shape and/or size, and the two bubbles in comparison will not look equal anymore, which is a big disadvantage in a show, but will not minimize the joy and fun you will have with a bubble eye at all.
One funny obversation I made with bubble eyes over the years - when they get older or get sick, they tend to slow down enormously. Not only resting a lot, but they will start to seem disoriented in the tank, floating around at times without being able to right them back up. This can go on for weeks, the bubble eye apparently not bothered by it at all, and he stops to fight it after time, while one morning you will find him stuck to the intake tube or squeezed in between plants and ornaments, so weak that he can not move anymore.
This up-side-down behaviour I haven't observed in any aging or sick breed otherwise, and it seems a unique to the bubble eye.........

ah, bubble eyes. so odd yet so lovable. i have three myself! shadow had that upside-downy behaviour for about a day but i think that was swim bladder because of the nitrates being too high. they are such fun to watch when they swim, they kind of waddle. funny creatures!

Oh, finally, somebody with bubble eyes! Amy, I was thinking of you while writing the article. Do you have pictures of yours?

i had loads but our computer had a virus and blew everything out. ill have a hunt for some.

heres one of pumpkin:

and one of shadow:

and one of phoenix and shadow when i first got them:

THats so cool - Shadow actually kept his dark coloration!? Is it black, or more of a chocolate color?

Here's Beaker, our young bubble eye. Recently he lost one of his eye-sacks, but he's doing fine now.

Ric! Good to have Beaker's picture, he belongs in here!....
About the theory of popped bubbles growing back, did it start regrowing yet, and how does it look in shape? .....

with good lighting shadow kept her dark colouration but shes been going more chocolaty over the past couple of weeks since she moved to a tank without lights but shes moving again soon so the black should come back!

hey, can everyone else see the picture or phoenix cos i cant!

Amy, the only picture of Phoenix I see is together with Shadow when you first got them...

It has just begun to grow back, it looks similar to a baggy eye after a night of no sleep

Well, in this case you better don't put any mirror in Beaker's tank, otherwise he gets depressed!

This isn't mine but it is a pretty fish!

A very nice one, yes!!
Those couldn't be the only bubble eyes on the board!.....

i would have thought there would be more, too. im sure there are but they havent stumbled across this topic yet.
andrea, i put my moor cross in the tank with the bubble eyes to hopefully breed and prevent them reabsorbing their eggs. he hasnt been giving them any trouble and hes such a clumbsy breeder too so i dont think hes likely to pop their sacs. so far so good.

Good to hear, Amy!!!
REmind me to never pick a Tosakin as the fish of the month, we will never get any pictures of those then!...

there was one person with a tosakin ive seen. im in persuit of one myself! dont give up hope yet! lol. maybe, just maybe....

Even though TD posted about Beeker this is my fave pic of him

Thanks for the info on the bubble eyes.

Personally to look at them makes my own eyes water. They are cute and they are growing on me, but I don't know if I could own one.
Those eyes, I'd be parnoid over something popping it.

Very nice pictures everyone.

While in the lfs today I was watching them. There was a cute little calico and for the first time, I actually thought "Aw, how cute". Progress.......You people may still get me to have all kinds of different GF, not just orandas.

hey, koko. is beaker in with the other fish or is he in a seperate place because of the bubbles? how did he pop his sac?

Beeker is with Mr.T and Jellybean (Oranda and Lionhead), he popped his sac on the intake tube to the Filter. Its now in safe mode for him

I am a Bubble Eye mom!!!

I have been all over this site, but just found this particular forum. I am so glad to see other bubble eye owners! Seems like there aren’t many. I have three, a calico-Morton, Gold-Nugget, and white-Sofia. I LOVE these fish; I think they are the cutest fish ever! I love how the bubbles move when they swim... totally looks like there waddling, it cracks me up They are so friendly and always come over to see me if I am close to the tank. And when I’m moving things in the tank, they come up and suck on my hand or wrist. I know they are just testing for food, but I call it gold fish kisses. I read in this forum that black and white fish colors aren’t stable? Does that mean the color changes? What color would my white bub eye change to?

Hi Morton, and !
Whew, you sure went back a while to find this article!
The color black is the one that is most unstable. It disappears in most goldfish, and what you get is whatever color was hidden away underneath the black. As an example - you see the pictures in my signature? There is a red/white/black ryukin in the middle, and there are still a few black specks left on him. He was an all black ryukin at first, and had darker patches underneath the black that showed through. With time, the black disappeared, and all those dark patches is what is orange now.
The color white is a stable color, and every now and then you see some orange specks or plotches showing up, but other than that, the white pretty much stays.

I am a Bubble Eye mommy!
I have three...Morton (calico), Nugget (gold) & Sofia (white)
I read that white is an unstable color, and can change? What does this mean? What color could she turn into?

Thanks for any help!
Emily

Okay, i'm reeeetarded
When i looked on this forum i didn't see my first post, didn't think i showed up. So i posted again about the question on stable colors. But i didn't look on the second page. NOW i see my first post and your reply, THANK you for the info and explanation! Disregard my second post.

THANKS !

Here is a picture of my Casey. In this picture you can see that one bubble is slightly larger than the other. He had a slight leak in it, and it was refilling at that time. It has now completely refilled and is now the same size as the other

purdy bubble eye. =]

awsome fish everyone! was thinking of getting a bubble eye myself when everyone plays musicle tanks

next FOTM should be mutts. lol! im sure many of us have hybrids.....

Bubble Eye Owners I need your help!
As some of you may have realized there doesn’t seem to be a lot of Bubble Eye owners. I am looking for someone that has dealt with my problem before. I HAVE posted this under the Diagnosis/Treatment forum, and I did get some replies and suggestions. But I REALLLY want to talk to someone that knows for sure. One of my Bubble Eyes has a problem with her bubbles. First they started looking kind of cloudy, like you couldn’t see threw them all the way, and a little yellow. She is an albino so sometimes the fluid in the bubbles does look a little yellow, so I didn't worry about it. Then two days later they were completely clouded up, I couldn't see threw them at ALL. The people on the diagnosis forum suggested salting the tank which I did. After 1 and 1/2 days of salting one of the bubbles started clearing up towards the top of the bubble, but at the bottom I can see a clump of stuff. That is now happening with the other bubble. It is clear at the top, then it has some of the stuff on the sides of the bubble, and then at the bottom a clump of stuff. So it does look like it is getting better. But I have no idea what it is, what caused it, if there is something else I should do for it, or how to prevent it? Also one of the persons on the other forum said he read about this and that the clumps of stuff will stay in the bubbles forever. I have been looking ALL OVER the web for the past 3 days about 2 hours a day trying to find information on what this could be. No luck! I can't find anything other than what happens when a bubble gets torn or pops. Can any of you help me? Have you heard of this before? Or can any of you tell me where I could look for information on this and get me pointed in the right direction? I feel helpless

Thank you for any help or direction!
Emily

Hi Emily,
Me again

The passage that I quoted about the little ball remaining in the bubble came from the book "Fancy Goldfish", by Johnson and Hess. Not sure if I mentioned that in my message on the other thread (should have )

I do have a bubble eye, and have dealt with leaking bubbles, but have never dealt with an infected bubble.

Thanks! Sorry I didn't mean to sound like I thought the posts on the other thread didn't know for sure what they were talking about, but I didn't know for sure if they or you had bubbleEyes. Or if you did if you had one with the same problem. I was just trying to find someone that had the same problem or find some place to read more about it? And yes I think it was you that said the ball or stuff in the bubble will stay there. Does the book say anything else about how to prevent this from happening, or if there is anything else I can do for her? I will try to find that book and buy it myself. But if it says anything else you think I should know, please tell me. Like I said I feel helpless and can't find any detailed information on what happened or what I can do. One thing my sister thought of was cutting the bubbles open to get all the stuff out and then the bubble will re-grow? Is that a horrible idea? That would really hurt right?

Thank you Touchofsky!

Emily

I hadn't taken any offense at your posting here. I think it is good that you are trying to get as many opinions and as much advice as possible.

My bubble eye once had a leaky eye sac and he did have a tiny white ball in the sac. I thought that maybe he had gotten a bit of infection in the sac since it had leaked and with a hole in it would be prone to infection. Although it never did look cloudy. Anyway, the little ball did disappear over time.

The book Fancy Goldfish is really worth having and is available in book stores as well as from Amazon. Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/083...4717672-9285767

The book only has a small section on cloudy bubbles on bubble eyes, and basically it says that the water should be kept pristine, and that he has used antibiotic injections (but isn't sure they do any good). Pristine water seems to be the key.

I wonder if a medicated food such as Medi-Gold would be a good idea.

How is your bubble eye looking today?

I looked up the Medi-Gold and read about it to see if it might help. I said that it mainly has stuff in it that the fish really like to eat. They said sick fish usually don't like to eat so this is good for them. But even though her bubbles are not doing good, she is eating just fine. She is a pig like the rest of them. When my sister goes over to the tank to look at them, she makes this little funny voice and talks like she is the fish saying "We're starving! That lady said she fed us but she lied, we need food! “It cracks me up! So for now I am just going to stick to the Pro-Gold.
I went up to Petco on Sunday to ask if they had any suggestions, a guy there that I have talked to often said that you can use antibiotics but that keeping the water in good condition will be the best thing. He said he would try that before doing any medicines. So I have been doing 10% water changes every other day.
Today the bubbles do look a little clearer, the stuff that is clumping at the bottom of the bubbles was kinda sticking to the sides of the bubbles but it is now mostly a clump at the bottom. The clumps are not small though by any means. I would say the take up maybe 1/5 (one fifth) of the inside of the bubble. I finally got my digital camera in the mail today. But it has alkaline batteries that I have to charge first!!! This takes a few hours, but as sooooon as they are ready I will take some pics of her to post.
Thanks again for your help, and I will be getting that book this weekend for sure!

I am having problems attaching the photos i've taken? I keep getting the following error

THE FOLLOWING ERROR(S) WERE FOUND
Sorry, dynamic pages in the [IMG] tags are not allowed


I was able to create a photo album fine, but i can't seem to put them into a post. Any suggestions?

you need to post the acutally <img> tags hun

Here we go!


This are just different pics of all three
Morten


Nugget


Sofia (the clumps of stuff in her bubbles are getting smaller)

Wow! Great pictures. Your fish are just adorable. I love bubble eyes

I can see from the pictures that the infection is shrinking, so I think your fish is on the mend. I would continue maintaining the pristine water conditions. It seems to be working.

Please keep us updated

I had a black bubble eye exactly like the one in the photo. ):
He was my first fish...and he died of a major fungas overgrowth...he was given to me already covered in the stuff and no matter what I did, it just didn't help. u.u

He was so lovely. ;.;

I don't actually like any other bubble eys apart from black ones. xD
I think the black ones look less freaky.

The black ones are beautiful, aren't they? They are also the ones with the most unstable color, unfortunately. If you get lucky and have a bigger bubbleeye that is still black, consider yourself lucky.

You got any pictures of your black darling, Tankgirl? Anybody else with bubble eye pics?

i have a small calico bubble eye.. he and i are still negotiating his modeling contract so pics may have to wait a bit. i'll try again tonight tho.

here's luigi.

Bubble-eyes are the best!!!!!!!
Heres Louie when he was little and big

He does float and it really bothers me but you gotta love them. He's tank mate keeps watch over him and never goes to far.
Louie is such a pig he cant get enough when I feed them peas. He has such a cute personallity its not funny.
I have been looking for an orange bubble-eye or a calico but havent found "the right one" Like when it came to louie I new right away he was the one.

Apparently, you got the details worked out on your contract! lol! How much did your prima donna stiff you for?!

oh the usual...a slice of orange a week with some gel food and blood worms on the side...AND he wants a girlfriend.