Buoyancy - Why can't my Oranda sink?

[Sati]

I have 3 Oranda. It all started with Monster. He's the largest. Then we got him two little buddies. Monster looks the same as always, but he floats like a friggin beach ball now. He used to be able to swim all over the tank comfortably, but now it takes a lot of effort for him to move anywhere except the top of the tank. He floats there all the time, because he has to use a lot of energy to push through the force of the water that's trying to shoot him out of the water like a torpedo. Meanwhile his two buds can lay on the bottom of the tank and rest effortlessly if they want to. I feed sinking food as I always have and Monster will push through the water to get a bite, then stop fighting it and shoot to the top of the tank, butt first. Today I noticed he's really getting tired of this. He only ate a few bites and gave up trying to go down for more. Normally he's a big fat pig. I'm worried about him. Do any of you have any idea what's wrong?

Here's monster with his little bud, trying to eat:

Here's the poor guy just floating at the top of the tank as usual:

Here are his 2 friends:
http://www.ourglasshouse.com/holly/fish/Mini-me.jpg
http://www.ourglasshouse.com/holly/fish/Cali_left.jpg
http://www.ourglasshouse.com/holly/fish/Cali_right.jpg

 

[astroguy]

Sati: based on your "status" here at AA, I assume you know about fishes quite well. Something I did not understand is why the water flow seems so strong. Do you have a powerhead? Are you feeding the fishes a lot? What about ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? How big is the tank?

 

[William]

Could be a swimbladder infection.. if fish float oddly thats usually the case..

 

[Sati]

That's got to be it, William. Thank you. Fortunately I haven't had to deal with fish illness in my tanks beyong the stupid mistakes I made when I was new to the hobby. Now I just have to figure out what's causing it. I think I'll start feeding frozen first off and see if that doesn't help.

astroguy, there is not an extreme amount of waterflow. I'm not sure how you got that idea. No powerhead, the fish are not overfed, I'm unable to test the water right now but I will this evening. I'm sure it's the same good params as usual. The tank is a 29g with an Eclipse 3 hood and that's it. No heater, the water stays steady in the low 70's without one.

 

[Guest]

He floats there all the time, because he has to use a lot of energy to push through the force of the water that's trying to shoot him out of the water like a torpedo

I'm guessing that this is what astroguy homed in on, though I didn't read it that way.

I agree with William, it is almost certainly a swim bladder problem. I think that is fairly common in Orandas and other fancy strains of goldfish. I'll see if I can get you more info later, at work now.

 

[Guest]

http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/articles_details.php?article_id=149&category=17&name=Diseases

This should help, looks like a good article, I just skimmed it. Treatment options near the bottom. Good Luck with Monster!

 

[Sati]

Thank you, corvuscorax I think I'll try the peas, then fast everybody. After that I'm switching to frozen krill with the occasional treat of soaked pellets!

 

[krap101]

i heard if you just feed him dry foods hell be fine but im not so sure though... it might work but im sure ur feeding him dry foods now. I thought my fish died from swim bladder but it turned out to be ammonia..
ever since im only using drinking water my ph of tap is like 7.4 and everything else is okay i think but my gh for my tap is off the charts

 

[Sati]

I am feeding him dry pellets that the lfs clerk recommended. I thought that she having 10+ fancy goldfish herself would mean she was qualified to tell me what was best. I've never had Oranda before, but I should have known better to research more. I didn't think about anything being wrong until Monster started exhibiting problems He's a very active, happy fish until now. Poor guy... I'll get him better though. I want these guys to be around another 20 years at least

 

[jsoong]

NO, no.... Dry food is one of the cause of swimbladder prob in goldies.

I had a bout of this a couple of months ago, almost exactedly as Sati described.

Fancy goldies are prone to swimbladder problems due to the egg shaped bodies. Although swimbladder prob can be an infection, more common is some sort of intestinal bloating causing obstruction of swimbladder.

Dry food (esp. the floating kind) swells in the gut of goldies, and this can give them swimbladder prob. Also, if they have insufficient fresh green vegetable matter, fancy goldies get constipated, giving the same prob.

I think you are doing the right thing by feeding peas. Mine were better after 3 days of peas & nothing else. If your goldie is finding it difficult to get at the peas (they sink), you can try hand feeding them - mine will swim right up to the surface & eat off my finger. A more drastic method if peas don't work is to use epsom salt. You can put the fish in an epsom salt bath OR feed it one grain of epsom salt (put inside a pea) if he will feed off your hand.

In addition to Koivet.com, I find this site good on goldie info (including swimbladder disorder): puregold.aquaria.net

 

[Sati]

Did you guys pray for my fish? I woke up this morning and Monster was free swimming! I'm so excited. I was expecting to fast him a good 5 days. I'm still going to give him another day, but wow... Check out these photos, ALL taken first thing this morning

http://www.ourglasshouse.com/holly/fish/Oranda/

Thank you all for the help, now I know what to watch for. From now on I'll be taking preventative measures. I think I'll feed peas at least once a week as well

 

[grimlock3000]

damn those look cute, makes me want goldfish... :?

 

[Sati]

grimlock, they're great fish. They're so active and outgoing. I don't think anything could ever scare these fish. They're a lot of fun

A lot of people think Oranda golfish are ugly though

 

[Guest]

Hey cool! Glad he's better.

 

[Sati]

Me too! Thank you again