Repeated Swim Bladder Problems

[newgirl]

So I have four common goldfish and one comet. They have all been fine until the last two weeks where my comet seems to have problems sinking after he eats. I feed sinking pellets and a pinch twice a day (the fish are about 2-3 inches long).

When I give him an unshelled pea he is better but when I give him his regular food again he floats again (thankfully upright) he does dive but when he stops swimming he floats up to the surface.

I can keep giving the peas and/or fast them for a while but will eventually have to feed them again. I am not sure that peas alone will give them everything they need.

Be grateful for any thoughts or advice.

Tank parameters are good - they are in a 90 gallon with Eheim 2217 cannister filter.

 

[newgirl]

Just an update - duckweed seems to be solving the problem temporarily - will need to put them back on the pellets eventually but the duckweed is working great so far.

 

[yahooandgoogle]

I'm sorry to hear you have a swim bladder problem :-/ I had a fancy breed goldfish she was beautiful she suffered from this really bad. I tried heaps of things to help her. I found soaking her food helped a bit, peas did for a while, fasting for a couple of days. It was awful to watch the vet suggested talking her out and having her in a bowl with a wide space area and having a fan blow on the water with an air bubbler going.
Unfortunately I made the decision to put her to sleep as hard as it was I took her to the vet. I hope your little guy gets better


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[enrgizerbunny]

I feed sinking pellets and a pinch twice a day (the fish are about 2-3 inches long).

When I give him an unshelled pea he is better but when I give him his regular food again he floats again (thankfully upright) he does dive but when he stops swimming he floats up to the surface.

Tank parameters are good - they are in a 90 gallon with Eheim 2217 cannister filter.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is a food issue. What pinch do you feed? Flakes? Stay away from the flakes in general with goldies.

The fact that the peas help and when you return to pellets it returns identifies the food as the problem. I would feed peas heavily with the pellets until you can get a higher quality foods like omega one or new life spectrum. Soaking the pellets a little before feeding can help too. If that fails you may have to feed gel foods to keep him from floating.

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[newgirl]

Thanks for the tip might try the gel food. I feed Omega One sinking pellets.

 

[jlk]

Thanks for the tip might try the gel food. I feed Omega One sinking pellets.

Definitely give gelfood a try but introduce it gradually to see how it affects him. In addition to the plants, I would really focus on offering a variety of veggies daily.

Goldfish in natural environments consume on average 80% of their diets in vegetative matter. Fancies are at an even greater disadvantage due to their physical build so trying to mimic natural feeding habits (frequent, small meals) and diet heavy in veggie matter is beneficial across the board.


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[newgirl]

Thanks for the info - the duckweed seems to be working well and soaking the veggie based pellets as well. Fingers crossed it was just the dry pellets expanding that was causing the issue.