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About Lauren
Expertise
I can answer all questions on breeding and caring for fry from any type of fish, water quality, testing and altering the pH value, toxins, foods and feeding advice, live, frozen, kitchen and other foods that are suitable for your aquarium fish, causes of diseases and how to cure them, where to place aquariums, setting up aquariums, aquatic plants, general information, fish anatomy, calculations and imperial to metric conversions. I can also tell you the origins, compatibility with other fish, adult size's, ease of keeping out of 10, diet requirements, pH range and temperature ranges on all fish. I can't answer any questions about salt water aquariums. Any questions I struggle with I will be willing to give an educated answer from research.
Experience
Breeding of Betta's, Guppies, Mollies, Platy's and Goldfish. Wwork experience at local pet stores.
Education/Credentials
Working at out local pet shop.
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You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Pet Fish > Fish > How can I help my floating goldfish?
Fish - How can I help my floating goldfish?
Expert: Lauren - 11/4/2009
Question
Hello Expert,
Thank you for helping me with my fish.
I currently have three goldfish. I am uncertain as to exactly which type they are, but I think they may be panda moor goldfish. One of my goldfish has recently fallen ill, but the other two are perfectly healthy and doing fine. This fish was breathing heavily last week. I went away on vacation over the weekend and returned to find him floating upside down on the surface of the water. He is still breathing and can use his fins to swim a little bit, but is unable to control his depth or buoyancy. Additionally, his fins look as if they are beginning to fray. Unfortunately, due to his inability to swim properly, he was sucked into the filter pipe where he sustained a large, red contusion from the suction pressure. I have removed him to a hospital tank and an currently applying fungus cure to the water to help his fins recover. I was told that he may have swim bladder problems, and I have kept him on a fast for the past 36 hours, but he is not improving. Has he been properly diagnosed? How can I help him? Is there anything I can do to assist with his recovery or help mend his contusion? Thank you for your help!
-Shannon
Answer
i wouldnt treat with fungus care...he doesnt have that...the fungus disease is where they have a sort of slime coating on them...he sounds like he has many problems but the fraying fins is probery fin rot not fungus..if you treat hin wrongly he will die so stop that treatment and do a water change (about 30% once a day for 2 days)
also..to help me answer and try and diognose correctly what are ALL his symptoms...
does his scales look like there popping off? is he really fat or bloated looking?? does he have red gills..i know he has torn fins..that could either be fin rot or ammonia posioning..but other symptoms will help me determine which one it is...
if his symptoms are these:
Erratic Swimming Position
Loss of equilibrium
Fish will be unable to maintain buoyancy
then he probably has a swim bladder disease...
Swim Bladder Disease General Description
Swim bladder disease is a multifactorial illness which primarily affects ornamental goldfish which have globoid body shapes, like orandas, ryukins, and fantails. It most often presents as a fish which floats at the surface, or a fish which stays on the bottom and doesn't seem to be able to easily rise. A fish which has normal buoyancy but is listing to one side or the other often does not have swim bladder disease, but may have other diseases.
Swim Bladder Disease Treatments
This is a problem more common in fancy goldfish, and there is no cure for it. Feeding medicated food (see bottom of page), adding salt to the tank, feeding peas, and raising the temperature to 76 degrees may help but only for a short time. Eventually the fish may be unable to eat and will have to be euthanized.
Feed your fish a couple of peas. That's right, peas. Just get some frozen peas, thaw them, and feed them to your fish. A professor of fish medicine at N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine has done this in several cases with very good results. He thinks that the peas somehow encourage destruction of the impaction. No hard scientific data yet, but it's worth a try.
Fast your fish for a couple of days. Withhold all food for three or four days, and sometimes this alone will break up the impaction and return things to normal. Most fish can go a week to ten days without food and be just fine.
Periodic aspiration of the swim bladder works very well. Basically, you stick a needle in the swim bladder and suck out some of the air. Not something to be entered into lightly, but does work well. This is not a cure, but a successful treatment. The head veterinarian at the Baltimore Aquarium prefers this method.
Swim Bladder Disease Prevention
As always, the golden rule of fish disease is Water Quality. If swim bladder disease does have an infectious cause, your fish will be better able to resist this infection (and others) if your water quality is good. Regular water changes and water testing are a must.
Pre-soak your flake or pelleted food. This will allow expansion to occur prior to the fish eating it, and will lessen the chance of impaction.
Even better, switch to a gel-based food or other food source, i.e. frozen or live food.
if not..please tell me ALL his symptoms and ill help you save your fishy!!
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