Nov 24 2007
Swim Bladder Problems in Goldfish
A reader’s goldfish swims at the top and has a distended abdomen. My advice follows.
Hi Jill,
I brought a Bio-orb fish bowl in October and set it up according to manufacturers instructions, two goldfish, one at a time with a break of a month between them. Everything seemed fine until last weekend when one of the fish was very quiet and was swimming with its fin down. The following morning this fish had died. I returned to the shop and had the water tested for nitrates and this was fine. I also purchased a new filter and changed 33% of the tank water. As the water had tested fine the shop said it was probably one of those things and I purchased two more fish which I added to the bowl. All was fine until this morning when the second fish began to have problems. It appears to be having trouble not floating and keeps going to the surface of the water. It can stay down but only by swimming very hard, its abdomen appears to be a little bloated. What could this be and is there anything that can be done to 1) help this fish, and 2) prevent this happening to the other fish? The fish are all ornamental. I feed them with one pinch of fish food every morning. The bio-orb has a filter and light. They are not in direct sunlight but the house is quite warm. I hope you can help me with this problem.
Thanks, Pat
Hi Pat. It sounds like your fish are having indigestion and constipation, causing swim bladder problems. This is common in the fancy, orb-shaped goldfish. What kind of food are you feeding? They seem to be sensitive to it. Do not feed them food for 3-4 days. Nothing. Then, when they start swimming around, get them on a live food diet for a week. See your local fish store for live foods. Then, make sure that the next food you give them is a different type from your first offering. Perhaps moisten the pellets or flakes first. keep in mind that once a goldfish gets swim bladder issues, that they will probably crop up again. Fasting, then live foods are your best friends when this happens.
Also try feeding smaller amounts of food more often thru the day, instead of all at once in the morning. Do you ever add salt to your tank water? That is a good tonic, BTW.
What kind of filter are you using? This could be an aeration problem, but it really sounds more like swim bladder problems. Lastly, you did not mention how big your Bio-Orb is. If this is a bowl, or a smallish tank, then two (or is it three, I’m not sure from your letter) goldfish are not going to have a decent level of ammonia and nitrites for survival. Goldfish really need a tank of 5-10 gallons each, but 3.5 gallons each is passable.
Let me know how it goes and good luck!
Jill Florio
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