Golf Fish

[fishtalk]

Hi

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this??

I have got a fan tail golf fish, he's lived a lot longer than i ever expected! Over 5/6 years..

But the other day i notice that he was floating up side down and then brought him self round to swim off!

what does this mean!? Is something up with his body's buoyancy??

Any help would be great, thanks

 

[Always Learning]

He's probably got a hole in one. Poor thing






Sorry. Do you feed him flakes or pellets? I was always told when I was younger to feed them sinking food, as if they take food from the surface, they can fill their bladders with air. It should 'deflate' though and carry on as normal. Which yours seems to have done.

 

[Assaye]

Hi

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this??

I have got a fan tail golf fish, he's lived a lot longer than i ever expected! Over 5/6 years..

But the other day i notice that he was floating up side down and then brought him self round to swim off!

what does this mean!? Is something up with his body's buoyancy??

Any help would be great, thanks

Heya, do you mean "gold fish"?

These little (or not so little) guys can live up to 30 years (but more commonly 15-20) so yours is still quite young.

If he's not swimming properly or floating upside down, it could be that his swimbladder is malfunctioning. This can be caused by a lot of things so could you please answer a few questions:

1) What size tank is he in
2) Do you have a filter and if so, what kind?
3) Does he have any tank-mates and if so, what are they?
4) What do you feed him and how much?
5) Do you get your water tested and if so, what were your latest results for ammonia and nitrite (and also nitrate and Ph is you have them)?
6) What temperature is his water?
7) How big is he?

 

[fishtalk]

Yeh I feed him flakes..

Its a gold fish..

1) Tank is just over a foot by 3/4 of a foot.
2) I do have a filter, not sure whats its called..it came with the tank i bought. Which is a Tetra tank
3) No tank mates, his buddy died a long while ago
4) As said i feed him flakes once a day..about a pinch
5) Never tested the water..
6) Do not know the temp, room temp?
7) His about 6/7cm with out the tail..

Hope this helps?

 

[kelly528]

A lot.

The flakes are whats excaberating his swim bladder disorder, commonly known as flip over. The major contributor to this is air or swelling in the stomach. Which flakes can cause in 2 ways:

a) Goldfish swallow air when they eat from the surface of the water.
b) Flakes take in water in the fish's gut, swelling to 2, 3 or 4 times their size.


I suggest you chuck the flakes in the bin; they are complete crap as far as both format and nutrition go. Try switching onto a sinking pellet such as Dainichi, Omega One, Hikari Lionhead, Saki-Hikari, or Hikari Oranda Gold.


Another problem is your tank size. Goldfish lack a stomach and therefore 90% of what 'comes in', 'goes out'. hence they are hailed as the pooping champs of the fish world and are likely the 'messiest' domestic fish inch for inch. The suggested stocking, therefore, is 20 USG for 1 goldfish and 10 for each additional goldfish. Lack of tank space leads to terrible water quality and stunting. Speaking of, your fish would be 15 cm at MINIMUM if kept in a proper tank.

Furthermore, being dirty and oxygen loving fish, goldfish need double the filtration of most tropical in gallons per hour, which works out to 10x the tanks volume in Gallons per Hour.



I know that was a lot to absorb, just hang in there and we will help you set things straight!

Welcome to the fish forum!

 

[rdd1952]

Sounds like a case of constipation. Try feeding it some cooked, shelled peas. Make sure the skin is gone and you are feeding only the "meat" from inside the pea. They typically love them and they should clear up the problem.

 

[OldMan47]

A goldfish that is swimming upside down when at rest but can still right itself is on the edge of becoming a full time upside down swimmer. We have a vet in our fish club who did surgery to correct that symptom at one of our meetings on a gold fish about the same age as yours. The swim bladder in a fish is really just an enlargement in a portion of the fish's gut that gets filled with air to hold the fish upright and keep it buoyant. The way the vet described it was that if the bladder gets displaced from where it should be or becomes bigger than it should be from heavy feeding while young, the air trapped is not the correct amount for the fish's body mass and it can flip them upside down. There is no particular cure but avoiding generous feedings can slow the progress of the condition to keep it from getting much worse. The surgical correction he did was to remove part of the swim bladder so that there was less volume to fill with air and so less a chance of the fish being overcome with a buoyancy that it couldn't handle. For most of us, the cost of the surgery would be prohibitive for a pet goldfish so we end up with fish that must either live with the problem or end up euthanized when it gets too bad.

 

[kelly528]

A goldfish that is swimming upside down when at rest but can still right itself is on the edge of becoming a full time upside down swimmer. We have a vet in our fish club who did surgery to correct that symptom at one of our meetings on a gold fish about the same age as yours. The swim bladder in a fish is really just an enlargement in a portion of the fish's gut that gets filled with air to hold the fish upright and keep it buoyant. The way the vet described it was that if the bladder gets displaced from where it should be or becomes bigger than it should be from heavy feeding while young, the air trapped is not the correct amount for the fish's body mass and it can flip them upside down. There is no particular cure but avoiding generous feedings can slow the progress of the condition to keep it from getting much worse. The surgical correction he did was to remove part of the swim bladder so that there was less volume to fill with air and so less a chance of the fish being overcome with a buoyancy that it couldn't handle. For most of us, the cost of the surgery would be prohibitive for a pet goldfish so we end up with fish that must either live with the problem or end up euthanized when it gets too bad.

Good info Oldman! I have never been able to visualise well how swim bladders work, much less stop working!

I have also heard of people constructing slings for their goldfish to keep them upright.

 

[fishtalk]

Ok so what should I do..(he seems to be balancing a lot better now)

How much is the correct amount to feed? Should I still change to a bottom feed?

How come when buying a goldfish they generally seem to sell you the flakes..

Thanks for the info everyone!!

 

[OldMan47]

You need to be careful not to overfeed the fish, since they will eat more than what is good for them. It is a challenge to get it right once the fish has already progressed to the point of showing symptoms.

 

[kelly528]

Ok so what should I do..(he seems to be balancing a lot better now)

How much is the correct amount to feed? Should I still change to a bottom feed?

How come when buying a goldfish they generally seem to sell you the flakes..

Thanks for the info everyone!!

Why do they sell flakes.....

1) The pet store employees don't know any better
2) People buy what they are most familiar with
3) Flakes cost more per 100g than most pellets
4) Flakes come in a big, cheap can that makes the buyer think that they are getting more value than they actually are.
5) If pet stores sold excellent foods to every customer, less people would have to buy meds / replace fish from them!

But mainly it is a factor of 1, 2, and 4. Also, flakes were state-of-the-art in the 70, 80s and 90s and fish store owners who have been in the business for that long don't always change with the times.


I would get ahold of some sinking pellets. Make sure it is a goldfish food and that it specifically says sinking pellets on the label. Some excellent fods to look for are....

-Dainichi Goldfish food
-Omega One Sinking Pellets
-Saki-hikari
-Hikari Lionhead
-Hikari Oranda Gold

I feed my goldfish twice daily, each goldie gets a portion about the size of their eye. In the morning its sinking pellets as I'm usually rushing out the door to work. In the evening when I have more time they get a fresh food, usually blanched veggies or frozen critters like bloodworms, krill or tubifex worms.

 

[greengoddess]

I can verify that the cooked pea method works to help cure the swim bladder problem. Take a couple of peas, cook them then make sure you remove the shells. Chop them as finely as you can and sprinkle them into the tank. Watch your fish to make sure it eats some. Within an hour or two my fish was cured. The peas act as a laxative and your fish will soon start pooping green.

If your fish is spending a lot of time at the surface of the water gulping in air it is because there is not enough oxygen in the water. That's either down to poor water quality or the tank is too small. Gulping in air may eventually cause a swim bladder problem like you have now.

When you feed your fish on flakes, your fish gulps in air with the food because the flakes float. That's why you should always feed fancy goldfish on sinking pellets. Feed them as much food as they can gulp down in 30 seconds. Any more and you're overfeeding them which can affect water quality and lead to health problems.

 

[fishtalk]

Ok I'll try these pointers, and see how i get on!

Sound like some good advice being shared, thanks very much.

 

[rdd1952]

Take a couple of peas, cook them then make sure you remove the shells.

I don't even go to that length. I just look in the pantry for a can of peas (green peas or black-eyed peas is usually what we have handy), open the can and and pull a few out (cook the rest for dinner), remove the skin and mush up. Usually, the green peas are already pretty mushy so they don't need anything to soften them up.

In doing this, it's best if you can isolate the fish somehow to make sure it eats. Since it's having swimming problems, if you feed it with the other fish, it may not get enough since it can't swim well enough to compete. You can also fast them for 2 or 3 days before feeding the peas just to make sure they're hungry.

 

[kelly528]

Take a couple of peas, cook them then make sure you remove the shells.

I don't even go to that length. I just look in the pantry for a can of peas (green peas or black-eyed peas is usually what we have handy), open the can and and pull a few out (cook the rest for dinner), remove the skin and mush up. Usually, the green peas are already pretty mushy so they don't need anything to soften them up.

In doing this, it's best if you can isolate the fish somehow to make sure it eats. Since it's having swimming problems, if you feed it with the other fish, it may not get enough since it can't swim well enough to compete. You can also fast them for 2 or 3 days before feeding the peas just to make sure they're hungry.

Never doing canned peas. All the preservatives and heavy metals... doesn't sound like a good idea to me. For humans or fish . Even for those who use them for years... buy the wrong brand one day and you could get yourself into huge trouble.

Plus if they have been loaded up with sodium I would imagine they would do more harm than good.... unless you're looking to mummify your fish!