Is my fish severely sick? Is this bloat? I heard Mushed peas is the cure?

Question

Before getting goldfish, I looked up a lot about them. The #1 thing i looked up was medical problems. Ick, Bloat, all that stuff. They said bloat is when a fish is floating on the surface, still alive. Feed them Mushed peas until they can sink back down. This morning and last night, My fish has been laying on his side breathing when he is near the surface, but can swim normally when he is near the middle of the bowl. I am going to get some peas today to try it, but my fish lives with another gold fish and i want to know if it is contagious. If it's not bloat please tell me what it is!! And what i can do!!!


Thank you so much!

Answer 1

If he is in a bowl then you didn't do enough research since goldfish need a minimum of 10 gallons each and a good filter. Bloat is different then swim bladder disorder, bloat/dropsy is when the fish is swollen and its scales are sticking out like a pine cone, swim bladder disorder is when the fish either floats or sinks and has a hard time correcting itself and that is when the peas can work. I suggest looking up more information about goldfish if you would like it to survive, here is a great website. http://kokosgoldfish.com/

Answer 2

I have never heard of "bloat", but it's not a bad description of the problem. This is what I know to be called Swim Bladder Disease. Now don't get too upset, because it really isn't a "disease", it is a "problem".

The swim bladder is the part of the fish which he uses to go up and down in the water. Pressure on certain parts will change the buoyancy of the fish's body.
When a fish has SBD, it is usually caused by either overfeeding or something stuck in his gut. It is a food passage problem that causes part of his digestive system to apply pressure to his swim bladder. VERY RARELY, this problem can be caused by an internal bacterial infection, but in such a case, you should have already seen signs of trouble.

So only in very rare cases would this be "contagious", HOWEVER, if it is due to overfeeding, it is likely you may have more than one fish having this problem.

SBD manifests in one of two ways. The fish will tend to float, floats often and has trouble going to the bottom of the tank -or- the fish will tend to sink, swims at an angle with his tail down, has trouble getting to the top of the tank and lays on the bottom a lot.

The first thing I recommend for SBD is fasting the animal for at LEAST a week, 2 weeks if he is still having trouble. Fasting an entire tank to fast the one fish will not harm any of the other fish, and will work to prevent any manifestation of SBD in the other fish.

If, after 2 weeks of fasting, he is not improved, then something is stuck in his craw somewhere. This is where the peas help. The fiber in them will "scrub out" his digestive tract.

The reason I would not try the peas first is because if overfeeding is your problem, feeding him more will only worsen the condition. And if something is stuck in his craw, it's a good idea to make sure his digestive tract is as clear as possible before putting more into it.

When you do the peas, take a FROZEN (not canned or fresh) pea, thaw it and deshell it, get that little skin off it. Then break it up some and feed it. After 2 weeks of fasting, even a carnivore (bettas tend to have this problem, which is how I know of it) will eat a pea.

Another "scrubber" I have had success with is freeze-dried daphnia. Again, fast for up to 2 weeks first. I feed it regularly as a treat to all of my smaller fish and to my ADFrogs. They all love it, and even frogs and bottom feeders (cories, kuhlis, even SNAILS) will top feed to eat FD daphnia, which is amusing to watch! An occasional pea would not be a bad occasional addition to the diet of an omnivore or herbivore.

If the problem resolves prior to the 2 weeks, it would not be a bad idea to make your first feeding one of the 2 scrubbers.

As to overfeeding, generally speaking, if you are following the directions on a container of fish food, you are most likely over feeding your fish. Very, very few fish need to be fed more than once a day (unless you want to cut your feeding amount in half). The overfeeding of fish is THE SINGLE MOST COMMON KILLER OF FISH.

If you are feeding your goldfish more than once a day, cut him/them back to once a day (after the SBD is gone). If you are feeding him once a day, cut the amount you are giving AT LEAST in half.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 3

i'm not an expert on goldfish so i'm not sure, but i would try the peas and see if it works. also to help you out go to this website: www.tetra-fish.com and sign up for tetra care. they will send you emails about how to care for your fish and offer emergency assistance with all your fish problems.
good luck.