Guest Author - Jilly Florio

A reader asks what to do for a goldfish with swim bladder problems, and when to start feeding live foods.

Hello!
You are my last resort. I don't know what to do for my fish, Doree. I believe she has a swim bladder issue. She has issues swimming right, raising up and down in her tank. She acts like she has control issues when she swims and can't even swim in a straight line... she constantly flips herself over in the water. She even lays perpendicular to the bottom of her tank, with face in the gravel. She is in a 10 gallon tank. She has been doing this now for about 2 months, and it has gotten progressively worse. I have tried feeding her peas and not feeding her for a few days. After finding your site, I am going to take your advice and not feed her for about 5-7, then try something live. What live food do you recommend? I just want my fish to be well and am at wits ends. I will be going Friday to have her water tested. I moved in the last month, so maybe her water is not balanced or something.

Any advice you can offer would be welcomed at this point in time. I just don't know what to do, and am tired of people making fun of her inability to swim right.

Concerend Fancy Fish Owner,
Doree the 'sick' goldfish and her Mom

Hi Doree's Mom! It sounds like your goldfish is lucky - most fancy goldies with swim bladder problems don't last that long, and yours seemed to adapt to a bad sitation. Fancy goldfish are much more delicate than the common goldfish varieties and often get in trouble with their swim bladders and digestive tracts.

You will have to NOT FEED your goldfish for a whole week - or longer - and only start with live food after she regains some mobility. Not feeding is very difficult, but you have to be cruel here, to be kind. Stuffing more food into the intestinal blockage only makes things worse.

Tubifex worms are very good foods to offer live, when you do feed Doree again. Just take it easy with the feeding. She might need live food permanently, since once a fish has a serious swim bladder problem, it's usually going to be chronic. So treat her like a "special needs" fish. The peas are a good supplement, but stay away from flakes.

Another thing that would make a big difference is making sure she has really, really clean water. You can never do too many partial changes, especially with goldfish, who are HUGE ammonia producers. So change the filter often, vacuum the gravel a lot, and try adding a dash of aquarium salt to the water - follow the directions on the box for your amount. Your fish needs the best environment possible to focus on healing right now.

You're a good mom for writing and for caring. I recommend you go say hello to everyone in the Fish Forum and get some support! It's a great bunch of fish folks who always have warm, helpful comments. And don't let people make fun of your poor fishie - she's trying hard to survive. What a trooper! :)

Good luck and see you on the forum!
Jilly

---

A Great Gift for Goldfish Fanciers:
Kingyo: The Artistry of Japanese Goldfish



"The fantastical Japanese goldfish gets a fitting homage in this thick, sumptuous gift book. First imported from China at the beginning of the 16th century, goldfish were kept and bred only by the aristocracy for some 300 years; in the 19th century, enthusiasm for goldfish swept through the rest of the country. In Kuru's vivid photographs, brilliant orange fish glow against pure white background, revealing strange, tumorous heads, bulging eyes or fins as delicate and diaphanous as silk scarves." [Review From Publishers Weekly]