goldfish problems

[BeavisMom62]

Not sure if this is a disease or not, but its probably a problem. I have an oranda goldfish, Cisco that I have had for a year now. He's about 3" long, not counting tail. He's one of the rounder, baby-faced orandas, not the slimmer red-caps, which I think might be part of the problem (round body shape can be prone to bloat/swim bladder).

Anyhoo, pretty much since I've had him, on occasion usually in the mornings, I'll notice him floating belly up. If I nudge him he'll swim away with no problem but will go back to floating again. He has no problem swimming or keeping himself upright. Usually by mid day he's fine. I figured it was probably a swim bladder problem. So he gets lots of veggies, peas and his usual diet is either Hikari Lionhead or Pro-Gold (from Goldfish Connection because it is said to prevent bloating) and occasional bloodworms. No flakes or freeze dried food. Didn't make a difference. Since it doesn't appear to be diet related, I've tried testing the water whenever he does this to rule out a water quality problem and it is fine! Also the other two goldies in there act normally, no floating. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to this, except it is usually in the mornings. This might sound like a stupid question, but could he be sleeping like that? What could the problem be?

 

[BeavisMom62]

Another question, same fish. About a month ago, I upgraded from a 30 to a 55 gal. I have two Aqua-Tech filters in new tank, a 30-60 and a 20-40 (I plan to replace this with another 30-60, but at the moment my spare 30-60 has a leak around the impeller that I need to fix). The 30-60 and its media was immediately switched from the old tank and I also had some seasoned sponges from filters on other tanks which were added to the 20-40 since this filter wasn't on the old tank, to preserve/quickly cycle the new tank. I've tested the water frequently and other than the first two days with a little bit of ammonia, the tank is cycled now. But since I've moved the fish to the new tank, in addition to some of his "floating mornings", now on occasion I'll find him laying on the bottom! Again, the other fish don't do this and since I test the water frequently (and its fine), I don't see how it could be a water quality problem. Aaaahhhh.....

In between floating or laying, he always acts and looks fine and healthy. Eats well, swims well, interacts with the other fish. I have no idea what could be causing him to do this. Thankfully the other fish aren't affected but I just can't figure this out. I doubt that this has anything to do with anything, but this oranda was bought at a ma and pa lfs and when I first brought him home, he developed ich, but it was quickly cured. Never had another problem since. The other two fish were bought at Petco and I've never had one bit of problem with them.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? What could it be? Anything I could try to rule out some things? I'm stumped.

 

[jsoong]

Fancy goldfish are prone to either swimbladder or gut problem, due to their squished shape. What you are describing is a reasonably mild case of this. The fish basically can correct for the buoyancy problem with little effort, but when he sleeps, he flips over.

It seems you have ruled out the most common causes of the problem - diet & water. There are only a couple things you can try:
1. A totally "natural" diet. Some goldfish fanatics will cook for their fish using all fresh ingredients. You might want to try that to see if it makes a difference. Some really sensitive fish get gas in the stomach even with good quality pellets & can only eat "whole food".
This is a recipe source (click on the recipe name for full instructions):
Gel Food Recipes

2. Try increasing the temp if it is low. Higher temp (say mid to high 70's) improves circulation & sometimes helps SB disorder. <Of course, you would need good aeration if you raise the temp.> Try monitoring the tank temp, esp. if you don't have a heater. If your tank is colder at night, the temp difference might account for the fish getting better by midday.

Some fish are simply genetically predisposed to having SB problems, others might have had permanent SB damage from a past infection. There is not much you can do about that. If the fish are happy & healthy, they can live with mild SB & buoyancy issues. In extreme cases, people have resorted to surgery (implanting a stainless steel weight in the belly), and I have read of people using a swimming prosthetic. <A tiny jacket with weights that people make their fish wear!>

 

[BeavisMom62]

thanks jsoong. I've always considered making gel food or something but I can barely cook for myself! LOL. Not one of my talents but of course we'll do anything for the goldies, eh?

The temp in the tank is 75-76, I do use a heater. Even though I live in FL, I figure its important to keep the temp stable so I use one. At the moment, I only have a small bubbler in there. I need to get something larger, the one that I have is mostly decorative. Although with the two filters spilling in there, I guess it is creating some bubbles.

Being a fat round fish, I'm sorta figuring he's just predisposed to it. He doesn't seem distressed or anything and as I've said he can right himself. I just hope it doesn't get worse as he gets older. LOL, I've heard of the little jackets. That just sounds so cute. I've heard of surgery but didn't know it entailed inserting a weight. Interesting.