Bubble eye goldfish
The bubble eye is a fancy goldfish with two large fluid-filled sacs beneath its eyes, which sway as it swims.
It has no dorsal fin, an egg-shaped body and upward-pointing eyes, and was developed in China.
It reaches around 12 to 15 centimetres and lives ten to fifteen years. It is also, by common agreement among fishkeepers, one of the most compromised animals produced by ornamental breeding. The sacs are delicate, easily punctured, prone to infection, and grow large enough to impede both vision and swimming. A punctured sac may partially refill but never recovers its shape, and the fish is vulnerable while it heals.
- Origin
- China
- Adult size
- 12–15 cm
- Lifespan
- 10–15 years
- Minimum tank
- About 150 litres; bare or very smooth decor
- Temperature
- 18–22°C — cold water
- Welfare
- The eye sacs impede sight and swimming and rupture easily
Related: Goldfish
2 bubble eye goldfish photos, newest first
Living with a bubble eye goldfish
Set the tank up for the sacs. Nothing sharp, nothing rough, no plastic plants with hard edges, and ideally a bare or sand bottom. Cover every filter intake — a bubble eye drawn against a strainer will be injured by it.
Keep the flow gentle. This fish has no dorsal fin and swims poorly, and a normal filter outflow will exhaust it.
House it only with other slow fancies, never with fast goldfish that will outcompete it or nip at the sacs.
Watch for cloudiness or redness in a sac, which means infection and needs clean water and often veterinary attention.
It is worth being clear-eyed about the variety before buying one. Everything above is management of a problem that was bred in deliberately, and plenty of experienced keepers decline to keep them for that reason.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual fishs vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
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