Goldfish Acting Strangely?

Question

One of my larger goldfish has been 'resting' on the stone slab just under the surface of the pond for the past few days. It seems OK and can swim off when it wants to. I have noticed today that one of it's eyes seems to be swollen outwards so it looks as if it has a bubble on that side of its head. It does not seem particularly distressed and the other goldfish are all perfectly well and happy about 18" to 2' down. The pond is about 3'6" deep and 8' dia with two air stones in it. Has anybody got any ideas about this fish?

Answer 1

You have two problems, swim bladder disease, and the eye problem caused by a weakend fish due to poor water quality.

Swimbladder is a disease which symptoms cause fish to become unable to swim correctly, your fish may exibit swimming toward the bottom of your tank or bowl, then floating back up, swimming in circles or laying or floating on his side....
There are three main things according to the posts and articles I've read that can lead to swimbladder disease.
Constipation due to overfeeding
Bad water quality
Bacteria
I recommend the following regimine, recommened to me over two years ago.
First, as soon as you notice signs of swimbladder do a 35% water change, taking care not to stress the fish by having the water temp as close to his tank (pond) as possible. After your water change you should not feed your fish any food for two days. On the third day feed your fish a fresh pea. Frozen peas thawed, popped out of the skin, and cut into bite size pieces. And then do another water change.
If you don't use aquarium salt this is a good addition to most tanks (pond). The recommended dose is one teaspoon per gallon, or one tablespoon per five gallons. If you have never added salt and you are unsure; you may want to first acclimate him at only 1/2 tsp per gallon. The salt will help you fish heal from the eye problem. And the break in feeding and two water changes will improve the water quality.
A

Answer 2

Sounds like he has a condition called "pop-eye", where the one or both of the fish's eyes protrude and become very lethargic.

It is a secondary result of other illnesses which is most likely due to poor water conditions.

To start you need to empty about 50% of the water out of the pond and refill with fresh water (treated with water conditioner).

After, I highly recommend you read the links I have provided below and try to find what illness is causing pop-eye in your fish:

Answer 3

This is a disease and it can be treated with a solution you can add to the water without affecting the other fish. It can get so bad that the eye comes out and obviously the fish will die. My fish had it and after treatment it did recover with the swelling going down and back to normal. I wish I could remember what it is called, but go to a specialist store and they will help you. I hope your fish recovers

Answer 4

It might be a cyst. A famous goldfish at the Royal Museum of Scotland had one removed recently,
here's a link to the news report:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=404842&in_page_id=1770

Answer 5

It has a disease. All the fish in the tank are now infected. They will die. Clean the tank and everything in it. Get new fish. The fish most likely had the disease from the pet store from where they were purchased.

Answer 6

Pop Eye. The fishes eye is bulging out of the socket. This is normally the first signs of Dropsy. You can stop it with meds.

Answer 7

The others have started to pick on the weak member of the group..soon he will die..sorry for your loss

Answer 8

It probably has an eye infection and needs drops- call an expert!

Answer 9

hes done for. just flush him down the toilet or serve him with tarter sauce

Answer 10

um call a vet ?? that doesn't sound normal ..