AboutChris Robbins Expertise I have 25+ years of personal experience as a pet
store employee and manager in the family pet store
business. The main part of our business was
Freshwater Fish. I can answer questions on; Fish care, diseases,
parasites and fish identification, feeding your
fish, breeding and sexing your fish, setting up
your aquarium, cleaning your aquarium, and
"what`s this weird stuff in my tank/on my
fish" questions. I am not an African Cichlid expert, Plant expert or Brackish Expert. No Pond or Saltwater Questions Please.
Experience I worked in and managed my family's fish and pet and fish store for 26 years and maintained the 35 aquariums. My experience also has included occasional in-home consultation and aquarium maintenance for my clients.
Expert: Chris Robbins Date: 2/25/2008 Subject: Oranda
Question Hi Chris,
I have 2 oranda goldfish in a 20 gallon tank. We've had the tank for about 10 weeks and the fish for about 8 weeks. The bigger of the 2 sometimes swims sideways, or bobbing at the top, and now has been spending a lot of time sitting at the bottom in the corner. I tested the water and everything checked out fine, and I did a 40 water change 48 hours ago.
Answer Hi Vanessa;
It sounds like a swim bladder disorder. The swim bladder is an organ inside the fish below the spine that controls buoyancy. When it's malfunctioning the fish can have trouble floating and/or sinking properly. Here is a good web page about it and what you can do to help him;
