Oranda low on oxygen?

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Liz2021

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Aug 2, 2021
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Hi everyone! Looking for some opinions on my Oranda. She is in a 20 gallon take that gets a 20% water change weekly and is tested regularly. Water levels are all normal and this is a relatively new issue so I don’t think that that is the issue here (ammonia is 0ppm, pH 7.5/8, nitrates are 20ppm and nitrites are 0ppm. Carbonate hardness is 80 and general hardness is 30). She does seem to be prone to some buoyancy problems with her swim bladder as most fancy goldfish are, however she triggers it by gulping air. I feed her sinking pellets, fast her once a week and feed her peas once a week all to avoid her becoming a balloon. I thought maybe the gulping air was an oxygen problem so I lowered my water level slightly so as to create more water movement from the filter. Any thoughts on why she else might be gulping air and/or how to stop it from happening?
 
I’ve looked for signs of poor water quality, parasites and/or bacterial infection but I can’t see any physical or behavioural signs of illness, besides of course a prolonged gulping of air. The temp typically sits around 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit - though it’s been sitting on the higher end of that scale lately due to heat waves in my province. It’s just difficult to keep the water cooler than the surrounding environment.
 
I think thats the obvious things covered.

Has lowering the water level helped? Have you tried anything to get the water temp down? (Take off the lid, turn off the lights, run a fan over the water surface to promote evaporation....).
 
I will try lowering the temperature a few degrees and see if that helps her. Thank you for all your help :)
 
Try pre-soaking foods before feeding, the bloating is probably caused by the food.

Alternatively try a strict frozen or live food diet and see if things improve.
 
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