Why does my fish......?

Question

Keep floating upside down to the top of the tank after being fed? Its done it every day for the past few weeks now **confused**

Ive heard about something called swim bladder... Could this be the problem?

I dont feed them much, only a very very small pinch of food.

Its not dead... cos after about half hour of floating upside down its fine again... lol

Answer 1

Hello Miss Lolo, I had a similar "confused" fantail goldfish who had exactly the same back-swimming 'thing'. My Granny of all people said "Maybe it's not well, give it some medicine brandy." ......................I put one drop of the hard stuff into the tank............................would you believe it went La La , Boom Boom,Twannggg..............jumping and swimming really fast in its tank.................after a while it calmed down ...........the fallowing day , it swam on its back again.................I repeated the prescription and had the same results..................This went on for five and a half years till it reached its demise. Was it due to liver failure or alcohol poisoning I don't know ......................But thanks to you Miss Lolo it brought back that happy memory...incadently that was way back in my child-hood some 50 years ago , and would you beleive I still have and love goldfish..........Cheers.

Answer 2

It sounds like it's very poorly - there's usually not a lot you can do if they've been like it for a while, but it would be worth your going to a pet shop and getting some medicine - either a generic goldfish medicine (if it's a goldfish) or an anti-internal bacteria medicine if it's a fancy goldfish or tropical fish.... change half the water in your tank (use a water safe treatment when you refill) add some aquarium salt (not table salt and careful to use the correct dose for the size of your tank) and add the medicine. Also, talk to pet shop staff or go to a vet.... DONT GIVE IT ALCOHOL!!!!

Answer 3

i got a sucker fish that does that now i thought they just sucked the glass and cleaned the bottom of the tank, but mine feeds from the top like normal fish but he does this upside down then he stays there for bout 15 Min's just floating but hes not ill or dead. Who knows why he does this if you have a sucker fish perhaps they all do that x

Answer 4

Sounds like swim bladder, give him a water clean, and don't feed him for a day or two, then give him a bit of fresh pea, with the skin taken off, see how he goes after the peas and then start with the fish food again...

Answer 5

If it happens after feeding, it's most likely gas in the GI tract from the food you're feeding. Typically from Soy or other grains. You should also be seeing floaty poop.

1) check your water and make sure it's happy.
see: http://thegab.org/Articles/WaterQuality.html

2) switch to fresh foods that don't contain grains. e.g. shrimp, green beans, peas, greens, squash, etc

3) rule out bacterial or parasite issues.

Here's an article on buoyancy issuses with fancy goldfish that may also help.
http://thegab.org/Articles/Buoyancy.html

Answer 6

Talk to a fish person, or even someone in a pet store. I think it may be his food. I doubt he has swim bladder.

Answer 7

It might be sick!

But I had a fish that didn't know if it wanted to die yet and kept on floating. lol

Answer 8

you can treat swim bladder with treatment from pet shops but your fish might have bloat and this can be treated with treatmet too.

Answer 9

might be swallowing air try sinking food although most sinking food is hard i tried it for my guppys and htey cant swallow it so depend sonthe kind of fish i guess

Answer 10

maybe it swallowed a pebble. I had one to do that, it had swallowed a pebble in the bottom of the tank. It died in a month or so.