# Blind black moor



## tilli94 (Nov 30, 2012)

I wanted to post this because the black moor goldfish I rescued from a stream this week has me kind of worried. Two things make me nervous for him. The first thing is that he doesn't seem to have too much trouble navigating the tank except for when he encounters the corners. When he gets to a corner in the tank he doesn't stop until he runs his face into it and then he turns. So I wonder if maybe he's blind or something.
Also, he has no idea what flakes are. I've been feeding him some top fin goldfish flakes because they're all I could get for him at the moment and when he first didn't eat I thought maybe he was just still stressed and unsure of his surroundings but now that I watch him I realize he has no idea what flakes are and he's vaguely afraid of them. He'll swim over to investigate them but he won't go near them and when he realizes they've spread out and cover the surface of the water he just sort of backs up into the corner and watches them float. The thing he does do that I believe is related to eating is picking up the rocks at the bottom of the tank and sort of swishing them around in his mouth and spitting them out. Is that nor al for black moors? 
I have no idea what the deal is with this fish. Please help!


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

Hey there,

It is a common behavior that goldfish pick gravel up in their mouths and spit it out again though from what I have learnt it is important that the stones are large enough that they cannot be swallowed as goldfish have died due to a gut full of gravel. I personally have had goldfish get a large stone stuck in their mouth and had to ever so carefully remove it with tweezers.

As far as feeding goes if you can get hold of some live black worms or even some frozen food or sinking goldfish pellet this may tempt him to eat. You said that you rescued him from a stream, how did he come to be there? maybe if he has been surviving on his own for a while he is more use to live food in which case he will be used to eating from the bottom/mid region of the tank and not the surface which is why I suggested the above feeds. Good Luck and please keep us posted.


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## rickey (Jul 7, 2013)

Globe eyed goldfish aren't known for their superior vision,so is he blind? maybe not totally but probably doesn't see well. All goldfish have a highly developed sense of smell and a very highly developed inner ear and lateral line that they use to locate food. unlike Betta the aren't sight hurts they pick up sxnd or gravel look for small bits of food trapped or that live in the substrate this is their natural feeding pattern. I quite sure he has little idea what flakes are right now he will learn

Rick


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## tilli94 (Nov 30, 2012)

Ok. I'll look into some live foods for him. I know bloodworms don't have a lot of nutritional value for bettas but is that different for goldfish? If they don't have a lot of value what can I give him in substitute. He won't be with me long but I do want him to be happy and healthy for the time he's here


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

You should be feeding the goldfish pellets, not flakes. Flakes are for little tiny fish - pellets are for big fat fish that need more substance.




Too, I have to wonder if the owner of a fish that supposedly died from gravel in the gut actually opened the fish up to see. I bet not.


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

well i never had one but i have a calico oranda and a ranchu you should feed pellets and veggies ! they love veggies! also mix it up frozen bbs frozen stuff! all kinds of stuff!!


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## tilli94 (Nov 30, 2012)

Hehe. I'll have to make another trip to petsmart for some pellets. Not fresh veggies right? Do I boil them or just chop them into bits. And what size bits?


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## rickey (Jul 7, 2013)

Blanc fresh veg just long to soften

r


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

^+++++++1000000000000


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

jaysee the owner of the goldfish that died from a gut load of gravel did open the goldfish up. When they found him dead and lifted him from the tank they noticed that he was unusually heavy even for a large goldfish, there were no real physical signs of disease so they decided to investigate and did a post mortem and discovered to their horror that the fishes gut was full of the gravel from the tank. The gravel in the gut was not just a guess, they had no idea what had killed it until they cut it open.....


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Well I'm impressed - it doesn't seem like most people have the stomach for doing something like that.


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah I know I couldn't have done it but then all my fish are pets and if I remember correctly these people bred masses of goldfish so they did it 'for the good of the stud' so as to speak in-case it was something contagious that could affect the others.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I work on a fishing boat and examine the stomaches of the fish we catch - its definitely something that I would do  also, my fish are not pets so i wouldn't think twice about dissecting them. too many people just assume that something is so, often the most convenient explanation. Really when you think about all the things that could cause a fish to die, there aren't that many that we would be able to identify as a cause of death.


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

Yes cause of death is not something that can be readily confirmed just by looking at the exterior of the fish. Sure some common diseases have pretty obvious physical symptoms but considering the fact that fish can get everything from white spot to thyroid cancer means that at times further investigation such as post mortem is necessary if the true cause of death is to be determined.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

And hopefully we know what we are looking at when we find it...


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

yeah that might help hey!


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