my goldfish started swimming upside down and just floates theres but i know its alive.
2007-01-07 10:09:07 · 16 answers · asked by jedi_knight 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
if he isn't struggling to breathe or anything he is most likely not dying. I would say it has swim bladder disorder. there are many causes for this such as ingesting air, over feeding, bad water...
to treat, do a quick salt dip, about 1 or 2 tablespoons of freshwater aquarium salt per gallon, depending on fish size. if he's small go with 1 tabelspoon, if he's big go with 2 tablespoons. keep him in for about 5 to 10 mins. take him out at ANY signs of stress. have 2 or 3 containers set up to put him in next with salt free water that has been conditioned. put him in eaach for about 15 or 20 mins to make sure the salt is out of his system without entering the water agian. then put him back in his tank. after this feed him a frozen pea that has been thawed. soak the frozen pea in warm water. this helps if he is constipated. also try feeding him less, you may be over feeding.
if it is caused by poor water quality these won't help, make sure your tank is right for him. a young goldfish needs 10gallons at least to himself, an adult needs aobut 20 or 30. goldfish produce a lot of waste and need lots of roomm and good filters.
2007-01-07 17:03:41 · answer #1 · answered by Kylie Anne 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like it may be a bladder infection. This is when the boyancy of the fish is defective, causing the fish to become unbalanced. Here is a quick test to make sure it is actually bladder infection..: Try to touch it with your finger, or grab it with the net, and if the fish swims down to the bottom of the tank, then it floats back up. If this happens, it's bladder infection. Possible treatments are, EPSON salt dips, or baths. Learn more information from google, or yahoo search engines about how to correctly perform an EPSON salt dip or bath. Good luck.
2007-01-07 10:52:03 · answer #2 · answered by Flames Fan 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
try adding a pinch of salt to the water. it might help, i'm not sure why, but it worked for me.
is it alone in the tank? if it's got company, it may have gotten it's fins nipped, affecting it's balance.
goldfish are notorious for swallowing the gravel on the bottom of the tank. if he does that, he could be getting air in his stomach, throwing off the balance in his swimbladder (the little organ that is full of air that keeps him upright). feed him a piece of unhusked corn or unhusked pea. it might help the constipation, and help get the air out of his stomach.
if he's younger than 4 or 5 years old, he's not dying of old age. goldfish can live up to 20 years. there's somthing causing it. check the water perameters, do a test on the water. you can bottle it and take it to petsmar and they'll test it for you for free.
good luck, and don't ever flush a live fish!! that's mean!! if you hace to euthanize your fish, then put it in a ziploc baggie full of water and put it inthe freezer. that's the most humane way to put a fish down. in nature, the sick fish float to the top of the streams, and then the water freezes over, killing it.
good luck.
2007-01-07 10:23:12 · answer #3 · answered by Silver Thunderbird 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If it's a goldfish, and it's starting to turn belly up and swim still. It's dying. I'm sorry to break it to you. Goldfish come in the plenty. I would start looking for anew one and make sure you use spring water when you change the water and not tap water. Chlorine usually kills the fish. Goldfish die very easily. When they start tot turn upside down, they are going to die within the next few days.
2007-01-07 10:17:48 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Sounds like he is having a problem with his swim bladder. This alone might not kill them, but the fact that sometimes they can't eat will do them in in most cases. I have seen some fish live like that for quite a while, but i have never seen one fully recover to swim normally again.
2007-01-07 11:27:18 · answer #5 · answered by Mr.Robot 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your fish is in his final stages of dying. I would prepare the toilet for your goldfish's final journey...
He's alive but he's most likely suffering because he is probably struggling to breathe and he most likely can't eat anymore. When fish get that bad I generally put them out of their misery. Euthanasia isn't bad when the little guy is gonna kick the bucket anyway...
2007-01-07 10:38:16 · answer #6 · answered by Cute But Evil 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Sorry to tell you but your fish is dying, mine did the same thing so it'll probably be dead in a couple of days.
2007-01-07 10:20:44 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
i had a guppy who started doing that and i didn't really mind it...hours later it died. im sorry but you're fish is dying.
2007-01-07 12:58:49 · answer #8 · answered by :)dreamer. 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My gold fish did that before he died so your fish might die.
2007-01-07 10:52:59 · answer #9 · answered by ~Latin Bella~ 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your fish may be dieing. Sorry!
2007-01-07 10:16:20 · answer #10 · answered by Pamela V 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋