Floaty Old goldfish

[cow]

Hello, I am new here! couldt find how to post for an hour, but i have had some goldfish, not fancy type for 13 yrs, they are in a twenty tank with filters airstones etc, i change 2-3 gallons a week, have to use my home tap water from softener, always have, nitrite and ammonia 0 ph 8 nitrate 20 gh 0 kh 180
I had a few others one large one jsut died a month ago, he was alone in one twenty tank and was so awesome, i dont know waht happened to him , i worked all night truly til daylight trying to help him , it was something coming on as i noticed he sit in corner everyday, he would eat but i had to make all of them pasty little balls of food crushed from pellets and rolled in flaked food, i dont do that now with the two i have left as they can see.Anyhow since i lost the two blind ones, one from this tank i speak of now and one from a twenty of his own, i now feed pellets to the ones left, I dont know if it is that or something else making one of them float more then usual at top of tank, he has been doing it for 2 yrs off and on, lately almost every time he eats, sometimes it can be scary as he sorta list to side, then swims jerky and repeats, next day he is swimming fine, I have tried all sorts of foods, after he eats he will start to float at top, he gobbles bubbles and air as he keeps wanting more food when i walk by. So i started to try differernt foods each day, no help, he still floats, i am thinking now it might be the pellets, maybe he gets gassy from them , so i went to flakes, new kind he never had, cobalt flakes, he eats them and once again floats, so i decided to try the homemade gel food, i made some with the following
baby food peas, tuna, garlic powder, NLS pellets, crushed, egg whites, gelatin, and a few spirulina flakes and one crused probiotic (acidopholis) If any of these dont sound good for them let me know, I gave him a pinch today , not even sure how much i should feed him, but has not floated to top all day today or tonight yet for that matter, Please explain how this gel food helps them as opposed to any other food?
Thanks for any help

 

[SKB]

I haven't heard of the gel food but I have heard of peas helping them kind of digest or help them. How much do you feed them? How big are they? You said they aren't fancy goldfish, what kind are they? Depending on what kind, a 20 gallon tank might not be adequate room for them.

 

[cow]

Floaty old goldfish

Hello, I have a twenty gallon tank with two filters, One of which i jsut discovered was running on low instead of its higher adjustment, (will this hurt) couild have been like that for two weeks, i turn it down to feed and forgot about it!!) The fish are the type of fish that i got 13 yrs ago as feeder goldfish. If youve never heard of gel food, maybe i shouldnt use it, i have to try to find something he can eat to stop his floating issues, he had them for over a year off and on but now since i have been feeding many foods, it is almost everyday except this one since i fed the gel food, contains pea baby food and other stuff

 

[SKB]

Does he look bloated? Scales raised? A softened pea can help. But how much are you feeding him daily/weekly?

 

[jlk]

Gelfood is actually the best thing for goldfish that have a tendancy to get floaty. Its easier for them to digest and does not expand in their digestive tracts which contributes to floatiness. If he seems to be doing better with the gelfood, stick to feeding this exclusively. Welcome to AA!!!

 

[cow]

floaty old goldfish

Does he look bloated? Scales raised? A softened pea can help. But how much are you feeding him daily/weekly?

No his scales arent raised and he eats once a day, just started the gel food yesterday and so far so good, i give him two pieces the size of his eye
had been (before these last two days) giving a variety of pellets and flakes and some frozen veggie food(Omega one freshwater for goldfish) that seemed to help him too, it must be the other foods, he is old and i want to help him with these problems, they would get so bad at times he would float and list on side on top of water, it was scary , and is scary when he does it

 

[cow]

floaty old fish

Gelfood is actually the best thing for goldfish that have a tendancy to get floaty. Its easier for them to digest and does not expand in their digestive tracts which contributes to floatiness. If he seems to be doing better with the gelfood, stick to feeding this exclusively. Welcome to AA!!!

Thanks, I hope so, Can you explain how it actually helps them, you said it dont expand in the stomach, but I am worried about nutrition, i didnt add any vitamins to the gel recipe , i added some of his pelleted food, but only about a tsp. will this provide him all he needs?? It had baby food peas, tuna, garlic powder, crushed New life Spectrum pellets, one crushed probiotic pill, 1/4 egg white cooked, and the gelatin. Will any of these ingredients cause him harm in the long run and can i feed this food everyday?

 

[SKB]

Well like I said I didn't know about the gel food. If jlk says it is the best for goldfish im sure that is correct! Def stay on that road if it is helping. If you continue to have problems the pea, garlic powder with the rest u stated, sounds good. IMO

 

[cow]

Okay i got another question,keep in mind this fish has been doing this off and on for over a year or so, but more lately. The first few times this year were pretty bad and it must have been constipation, i seen what he left in tank following the pea food, but for the last several months, this winter, i notice when i look at him as he swims away at his side he seems to not be smooth , it looks a bit bumpy , especially on one side, but when he swims to me from another angle it looks fine, I try to look down into tank from atop and cant tell anything as it has too much agitation, but he is very gold and shiny and it is hard to tell if his scales want to stick out, they are not right now at all but wonder about this, when i have the light on i cant see any abnormalities, just when i look with natural light, is constipation the first sign of dropsy?? I have meds but dont want to change from this gel food now as he is not floating as he usually does after eating!

 

[SKB]

I have never dealt with dropsy. Since it has been going on for over a year...it makes me think no, but I hope someone else can help you! Good luck!

 

[jlk]

It sounds like you did a good job with the food! If your concerned about vitamins and minerals, they do make fish vit/min supplements. I use human multivitamins and probiotics.

In respect to digestion, drop a pellet in some water and watch how it blows up as it absorbs water. For a fish with some digestive issues, this can pose a problem and can cause gas and blockages. The gel food already has a specific moisture content and will not blow up, just disintegrate vs food that can not be digested until its moisture content increases. Kinda similar to us sitting down to a four course meal vs drinking a liquid nutrition shake- the four course meal will be much harder to digest and take much longer. Does this make any sense?