Strange Swim Bladder Cause by Excitement?

[MaffooJ]

Hello! I have had a Ryukin goldfish for about 2 years now, and it seem it always tries to almost swim backwards, lift up its rear end, then be doing a headstand for a second, then swim and go back to normal. It does this about every minute when i'm in the room, but when i'm not, it just swims normally with no swimming issues. It usually happens when i feed them. It is in a 55 gallon with a blackmoor and a baby lion head (finally got the comet into a pond!!). I feed them sinking pellets, blood worms, and peas. Any help on whats going on would be appreciated!!!

 

[jlk]

Great job with the comet!!! This should help your tank out quite a bit!

Ok, in respect to his headstanding/backflips. Do you mean he is doing this while eating or is this behavior you see after he has eaten? This will tell us if its a food related issue. Also, what type of pellets (brand) are they? Do you soak them at all before feeding?

 

[MaffooJ]

The ryukin normally does it at anytime. It can be when I lift up the lid, while the food is falling, when I walk in to see how they are. It just seems to be something he practices daily. I feed them aqueon pellets and I don't soak them before feeding. Most of the pellets sink, and some stay at the top where my blackamoor feeds.

 

[MaffooJ]

So I've done some observing and is doesn't seem to happen when he is bottom feeding, playing tag and what not with other fish, or just plain floating. It's only when i'm present in the room making foot steps, lifting lid, feeding, and looking at them. I don't turn on any other lights when I walk in, and he still seems to do it. Is it just a special hello?

 

[jlk]

Hmm... bit odd but I guess this is his normal way of showing excitement or being startled by noise? My best guess but I am bit concerned that it may become a more permanent occurrence. Buoyancy issues are a big problem with ryukins due to their physical build (short, deep round body) and they can become more apparent as they grow. Of all the breeds I have kept, they seem to have the biggest issues with buoyancy. It would not hurt to switch these guys over to an all or part gelfood diet now in addition to increasing veggies. At the very least, try soaking their food briefly before feeding to limit their intake of air. Please keep us posted if this becomes a bigger concern!

 

[MaffooJ]

Thank you for the advice. It has been doing it for about a year now and I have not seen it get much worse, but I will definitely try to get him a healthy diet so he doesn't end up like one of my previous fish.