What to feed my floaty fancy goldie?

[Reygan2]

I could use some ideas. I’ve researched until my head is about to explode, but I can’t seem to find a solution for my white oranda. Even with a modified diet, no pellets whatsoever, she still floats. Sometimes for 24+ hours at a time. I was down to feeding only Repashy, then she started floating after eating that. I’ve set up a hospital tank so I can separate her and try something else, but honestly I’m at a loss. She floats after eating frozen worms, shrimp, and daphnia too, but not as long. Suggestions?

 

[BBradbury]

Hello Rey...

Unusual fish behavior is mostly water related. Start with your water conditions. Goldfish are different than tropicals. They're generally much larger and are heavier waste producers. They need lots of large, weekly water changes to be healthy. I change out 75 percent of the water every week. Also, they're curious and like to explore. I heavily plant the surface of my Comet tank with Duckweed and Anacharis (Elodea). These aren't just good, natural filters, but a supplement to the fishes' diet. My fish like stacks of lava rock mixed in with Anubias nana and nangi to swim around and explore. Maybe your Goldfish needs some company. They are very social fish.

B

 

[Reygan2]

I agree with you, water conditions have a great deal to do with most fish issues. I faithfully do 80% water changes per week. My tank is heavily planted with lots of anacharis and water sprite for them to snack on. I’ve been advised by several others to never add duckweed. I offer blanched veggies such as spinach as well. She resides with 2 fantails and a black moor. The others aren’t having any issues and are healthy. Here’s the gang:

 

[Angellove78]

She's probably taking in too much air while eating.

 

[Reygan2]

That’s possible. She’s been in the hospital tank and I’ve only fed peas. So far no floating. I’m going to keep trying to find out the food that causes it.

 

[Angellove78]

https://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Swim-Bladder-Disease-in-Goldfish

 

[Reygan2]

Ok...she’s a big ol pig! Lol after the qt tank with close supervision, it seems that the only time she floats is when she gorges herself. Trouble is, it’s hard to control that when I feed the tank. She definitely gets more than her share, so it looks like I’m going to have to find some way to make sure she doesn’t eat too much at feedings. She had absolutely no floating incidences while in qt, where I could monitor and control her food intake.

 

[Reygan2]

https://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Swim-Bladder-Disease-in-Goldfish

Thanks for the link! She has never been upside down. Hopefully this problem isn’t too severe.

 

[Reygan2]

I found out I have to break my office tank down for painting and renovations at school during the summer. I have absolutely no place to set that tank up where I live, so I’m going to add them to the 75g for 2 months. Guess I’ll be doing a lot more water changes. Thankfully the two goldies that were in my office tank are small.

 

[Autumnsky]

Darn. Are you able to run the broken down tank's filter til it is safe for them again??

 

[Autumnsky]

Maybe you can feed peas first so piggy can eat a bunch of them before the other food. Could you be feeding too much protein?

 

[Reygan2]

Their main diet is repashy. No pellets, occasional frozen bloodworms/shrimp/daphnia, leafy greens, and peas. I don’t think it’s protein. Probably just a kink in her digestive tract that catches large amounts of food trying to pass. That’s just my guess though. She’s perfectly fine otherwise. She’s never been upside down either.