# fish floats upside down?



## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

my faintail goldfish keeps swimming upside down, falls to the bottom of the tank and just doesnt seem to know which way is the right way up. its been doing it for a few months now. anyone have any ideas?


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

It has swimbladder problems. A lot of inbred fancy goldfish do. It doesn't cause them any pain I dont think, but I couldn't say its completely humane to keep it alive like that. 

Not to sound too harsh and rash,but it might be best to euthanise it, and buy a proper goldfish (normal goldfish), that dont have these problems.


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## paulchall84 (Jun 12, 2008)

violentchopper said:


> my faintail goldfish keeps swimming upside down, falls to the bottom of the tank and just doesnt seem to know which way is the right way up. its been doing it for a few months now. anyone have any ideas?


 
sound like a swim bladder problem and there is not alot you can do for the poor bugger he will not live long if it is but thay can live for a bit with it but in the end it will kill him


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

I had this a couple of years ago with one of my normal goldfish in the pond, there are a few things you can try before writing it off.

First remove it from the tank and put it in another one, or a storage tub, large bucket etc if you don't have a tank, with shallower water, not much deeper than the overall height of the fish including the fins.

For a week or so feed it nothing but peas, buy a pack of frozen petit pois and defrost a few, remove the skins and feed a couple a day.

This worked with mine, after a week it was fine and has been ever since.

Apparently adding a small amount of aquarium salt to the water can also help, I haven't tried it and I don't know how much you're supposed to add though.


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## damadwan (Mar 7, 2008)

*aquarium salt

**3oz per every gallon** for a salt bath

i give my koi a salt bath every month just to be safe 
*


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## htf666 (Jun 23, 2007)

The problem is with the breeding of short dumpy fish in which the swim bladder does nor work correctly.You will find that it will overturn after eating a lot of dried food which increases it's buoyancy.When the food digests they can usually right themselves.One solution is to feed mainly live food and very little dried food. Harry


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

Add salt to the water,feed peas and lots of live daphnia (water fleas).Once cured-(it can be!),change the inevitable flake to a sinking pellet for fancy goldfish and continue with daphnia/peas as part of the diet.Orandas suck air in when they eat flake and their deformed bodies cannot release it easily.


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## *burnleygirl* (Jun 26, 2008)

i had this prolem with my fantail and i asked a friend who knows quite alot about fish, said that it will live happily in this condition but to feed it a squashed frozen pea once every so often. I did this approx. 2 months and it sorted it out!!

:bash:


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## finsandpaws (May 14, 2008)

You can also buy swim bladder treatments from your local pet or aquatic shops. If you get stuck I will be able to supply you with it via my e-bay shop. It retails for £1.99 plus p+p. Pm me if you can't get any and I wll list it for you.


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

The best method is to place the fish into a container with shallow water. Swimbladder problems can be caused by feeding too much dry food, so make sure you feed some live or frozen foods alongside your normal dry food. Adding aquarium salt will help and also raise the water temperature to around 24 degrees and you should see some improvement.

Don't bother with over the counter swimbladder remedies as these rarely work.


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

If it's genetic, raising salinity wont help in anyway, you said fantail, so it is more likely due to inbreeding, if it struggles to feed and is obvious distress it may be better to put the fish to sleep


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## Snakes r grreat (Aug 21, 2006)

DaveM said:


> If it's genetic, raising salinity wont help in anyway, you said fantail, so it is more likely due to inbreeding, if it struggles to feed and is obvious distress it may be better to put the fish to sleep


Raising the salinity can help to reduce the stress in fish alot, its definately worth trying. There are many great suggestions above, its worth trying first before you consider putting the fish to sleep. Good luck. : victory:


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

Before considering euthanizing the fish would you please tell me what you feed your fish. As I said earlier too much dry food (especially if its fed at the surface) can spark swimbladder problems.


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

DaveM said:


> If it's genetic, raising salinity wont help in anyway, you said fantail, so it is more likely due to inbreeding, if it struggles to feed and is obvious distress it may be better to put the fish to sleep


Dangerous advice!!!!
Of course salt will help a fish with swimbladder problems,adding salt to freshwater will relieve the osmotic pressure on the fish,thus reducing stress and aiding recovery.Dont kill your fish by listening to the un-informed!


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## apes (Jun 18, 2008)

my uncles had one swimming like that for 7 years. its now darker on the top then it is on the bottom... or is that bottom and top...? hmmm.... it feeds normaly and lives normal. 

don't destory it.


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

Berber King said:


> Dangerous advice!!!!
> Of course salt will help a fish with swimbladder problems,adding salt to freshwater will relieve the osmotic pressure on the fish,thus reducing stress and aiding recovery.Dont kill your fish by listening to the un-informed!


In some cases euthanasia may be the only option if the fish really has 'gone'. Although as a fishkeeper it is his/her responsibility to ensure that they treat their fish should they succumb to disease.


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## rebecca1987 (Jun 23, 2008)

I had this problem with a fantail a couple of years ago. Have you been feeding it flake food or food that floats? Fish that eat from the surface tend to swallow some air as they suck up the food which can become trapped in them. Definitely try the fish on the pea diet, and theres every chance your fish will recover. Try using sinking pellets to avoid the air swallowing problem in future if you have been using floating food. Fan tails are bred to look fancy, so are technically not natural, this means that their organ layout out is very different to those of normal goldfish (to get that big round belly shape!), hence fan tails are more prone to things like swim bladder. Good Luck!


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