Need urgent help, fish laying on bottom of tank

[Donna373]

My goldfish is laying on the bottom of the tank and barely moves. Sometimes swims an inch or two but mostly just lays there.
Tried giving it a salt bath with Epsom salt but it still just didn’t move.
Petsmart lady said it was swim bladder but I’m not sure.
It only breathes every 5 seconds or so

 

[Andy Sager]

My goldfish is laying on the bottom of the tank and barely moves. Sometimes swims an inch or two but mostly just lays there.
Tried giving it a salt bath with Epsom salt but it still just didn’t move.
Petsmart lady said it was swim bladder but I’m not sure.
It only breathes every 5 seconds or so

The first thing is always to check YOUR water parameters.
A salt bath uses non iodized salt ( sodium chloride ). Epsom salt is not a sodium product. It's magnesium sulfate so it does not have the same effect on fish. That said, neither is a remedy for swim bladder. From the pictures tho, I would not give the fish much of a chance.
Before you decide to replace the fish, what size tank do you have and what other fish are in it?

 

[Donna373]

Thanks for response! There’s one other goldfish in the tank and it’s 30 gallons.

We checked the water parameters at pet smart and they said it’s normal, but I don’t know about that since the water always seems kinda green even after we change it. To be fair we haven’t been the most consistent with water changes.

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks for response! There’s one other goldfish in the tank and it’s 30 gallons.

We checked the water parameters at pet smart and they said it’s normal, but I don’t know about that since the water always seems kinda green even after we change it. To be fair we haven’t been the most consistent with water changes.

Unfortunately besides the tank eventually being too small for full grown fantails, water changes are most important with goldfish because they are such dirty fish. They need a lot of plant based food ( they have a hard time digesting meat protein) and have no stomach per say so they can't store food in it to digest later. They are constantly digesting food which means they should be fed 3-4 or more times per day. That causes more poo which causes the water to go foul which means more frequent water changes are necessary.

In the future, when Petsmart or anyone tests your water, ask for the numbers, and don't accept "it's normal" or not. You should keep a record of these numbers because the numbers tell the story.

 

[Donna373]

Unfortunately besides the tank eventually being too small for full grown fantails, water changes are most important with goldfish because they are such dirty fish. They need a lot of plant based food ( they have a hard time digesting meat protein) and have no stomach per say so they can't store food in it to digest later. They are constantly digesting food which means they should be fed 3-4 or more times per day. That causes more poo which causes the water to go foul which means more frequent water changes are necessary.

In the future, when Petsmart or anyone tests your water, ask for the numbers, and don't accept "it's normal" or not. You should keep a record of these numbers because the numbers tell the story.

So would you say it’s probably a bacterial infection from not changing water enough?

 

[Andy Sager]

So would you say it’s probably a bacterial infection from not changing water enough?

Unfortunately, the fish appears to be too far advanced in it's decline to say positively what the actual cause is without a lot of expensive tests and cultures. What I am saying however is that the lack of clean water has very bad effects on the organs of fish which can cause a number of diseases or conditions that are either not treatable or are not conducive for a healthy life and can cause premature deaths. What you need to do is prevent "dirty" water in the aquarium by means of filtration, water changes or decor that will consume the " dirt" and turn it into non toxic byproducts. For example, the nitrifying microbes convert the toxic ammonia and turn it into less toxic nitrates. Plants take carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen. So you need to keep the fish appropriately. Live plants are not really a good thing in goldfish tanks because the goldfish will try and eat them. That means you need to supply another means of oxygenation. Goldfish are dirty fish ( as I said in my previous post) which means you should over filter the water and do more frequent water changes. That means if you have a 10 gallon tank and you see a filter that is designed for " up to 10 gallon tanks", you need to use the next size up because you need the extra filtration. With only one exception, your Nitrifying microbes are the key to success in tanks so you should do everything possible to protect them. And so on.