Before you judge me too harshly, keep in mind that I'm new at this fishkeeping business...

I've had some problems with my rosy red. He lived unharassed with 2 comet goldfish, a goby, and a bubble-eyed goldfish for 6 months until about two months ago when I came home one day and found he was missing an eye. I blamed the goby for the attack because I found my poor rosy red seemingly trapped in the goby's lair under a log. After a few weeks of recouperation in a seperate tank, I moved my minnow back into the tank with his buddies (he seemed depressed while living alone). Things were going great until two days ago when I entered my room to feed the fish and found my rosy red sticking out of the bubble-eyed goldfish's mouth. Naturally, I panicked and began gently poking the goldfish with a ruler until he spat the rosy red out. I quickly scooped the injured rosy red into a seperate tank and upon investigation discovered that he had lost the other eye as well. Now I've got a blind rosy red, but would it have been more humane just to let the goldfish finish him off? I've heard that clove oil will put fish to sleep without any pain, but I don't want to put him down if he still has a chance...what do you suggest?

-Chelsea

I've personally never "euthanized" a fish. Reading all the trauma the little guy went through, I would be amazed if he recovered. Without eyes, he will need to find food by smell. He will need to be kept in a tank without any other animals who may hurt him or compete with him.

If you want to euthanize him, the clove oil may work although it's not an exact thing. I've never done that. If I killed a fish, I would probably use the freezer method - fish and water in a ziploc bag in the freezer. I've read though that even that is very painful (like the feeling you get when you're freezing). Rosy reds can live down to freezing so they have to actually freeze to die.

In addition to the actual blindness, there is a risk of infection (bacteria and fungus) attacking where the eyes were. A round of treatment with aquarium salt, MelaFix, and antibiotics would probably be needed if the minnow has a chance of recovering.

Your post is good in that it illustrates a few points I've made in the past. Rosy reds like to be in groups. In an aquarium, they should not be kept with goldfish as older goldfish can eat small minnows. You saw that first hand. Gobies can also be problematic. Many people have told me that they keep goldfish and rosy reds (or similar small fish) together with no problems but you never really know. I had rosy reds and fatheads in my pond with goldfish, orfe, and koi. I had hundreds almost a decade ago but only a few (maybe four?) in there today because of all the other fish and predators. It may be that the minnow lost its first eye from the goldfish as well and was just hiding where the goby was.

I hope the blind rosy red minnow can beat the odds.

Thanks so much for your help!