Goldfish seems to like to float as anyone heard of this?

Question

For about three weeks now our goldfish that we have had for about 5 years seems to like to float now. At first I thought it was sick, but everytime I checked on him and tapped on the glass he will take off swimming like crazy. Still eating really good. This morning he was floating at the top but when I stuck my finger in the water, he took off. He will rest right by the side of the bowl without swimimng or anything. As anyone heard of this? Do goldfish sometimes rest by not swimming around. He always was swimming around until the last month or so.
Thanks,

Answer 1

Yes it could be one of two things or both. First check Nitrate levels, if these are above 40ppm then that could be it. Simply do some water changing. I like to do a 100% water change 2 times a year as well as 50% every 3 weeks or so. Make sure the temp of the water remains the same as well as Ph. The other thing it may be is OLD food. Flake food goes bad very quickly. You also may be overfeeding a little. Make sure you get new food once a month and toss out the old stuff. You wouldn't eat a salmon steak that has been left out for months would you? Try using fresh peas out of their shell for a couple of days. Then switch to a better quality food ie. one that does not have ANY corn product in it. Frozen blood worm or brine shrimp will not make them float. If you don't correct it the fish will eventually be so stressed it dies. I suggest change food and water and see if the fish doesn't straiten out in a week or so. Also try skipping feeding for 2 or 3 days to see if he comes off of the top, then change to the new diet. Don't medicate no matter what the pet store tells you. They are in the market to sell stuff and more fish, and won't hesitate to sell you something that will kill your fish. They will tell you its swim bladder disease, and it could be but not as likely as the other two things I mentioned so try this first. Don't expect immediate results, things in a fish world happen slowly so give it at least two weeks to resolve it self with my advice before you conclude its swim bladder problem and medicate. Get professional advice if you suspect swim bladder problem, (not Petco or Petsmart), try a aquarium specialty store, or check the internet (goldfish connection is a good site with lots of info). Good luck!

Answer 2

Amlee is right. You are doing alot of damage if you have a goldfish in a bowl. These fish create alot of waste and ammonia and can easily die in an unfiltered container. Get it into a tank! As for floating, it sounds like he may have a swim bladder infection, and probably due to lack of filtration, aeration, and overall oxygen consumption. Get a tank and a filter and take care of your pet!

Answer 3

Beware of ammonia levels in aquarium, goldfish especially put off extra amounts of ammonia through normal respiration, signs of high ammonia levels in aquarium include fish "treading" the surface of the water, (because ammonia burns the gills and prevents oxygen absorption) and the fish are trying to obtain oxygen. Lethargic, sluggish behavior of fish. Sudden change in fish external coloration, (usually turns bleached white). Sudden massive fish death in community aquarium, some fish will survive a ammonia spike, but some fish are more susceptible to ammonia than others. Best advise in a ammonia spike is to change at least 50% of aquarium water and monitor ammonia daily with a test kit. If you need further information research
"New Tank Syndrome" or "New Aquarium Syndrome"

Hope this helps!
Take care of our swimming pets!

Answer 4

first of all, if you have a 5 year old goldfish, and it's in a bowl, you need to get him into a tank asap. no fish deserves to be in a fishbowl. Chinese emporors used to put fish in fish bowls as decoration, and they didn't care how long they lived.

a full grown goldfish needs at least 15 gallons PER FISH..... an adolecent goldfish (yours) needs at least 10 gallons with proper filtration and air bubbler. you can get the whole setup at petsmart or walmart for 40-60 bucks, and it includes everything you need. if he's by himself, and no othe fish, you might be able to get by with a 5 gallon bow front tank, but i wouldn't recommend leaving him in there for more than a few months. just till you get something bigger. goldfish will grow to their surroundings, true, but if they can't grow becuase their surroundings are too small, then it will stunt them and they will die much sooner than they should.

if you dont want to put him in a bigger tank, take him to a pet store and see if they could sell him to someone else that has a bigger tank.

he needs more air, more room to swim.

goood luck.... i'd take him if you want...... just send me an email.

Answer 5

Fish noramally get like this when they have a problem with their swim bladder, it is hard to actually do anything for, but a pet store might have suggestions, a bigger tank will help. I know at Petlands in newyork they sell 10 gal tanks full kit for 12-23 dollars.

Answer 6

I don;t know if they rest like that ,but I had a giant goldfish that would do that allot for about 6 Mt's and it died, ask the people at the pet store maybe they can recommend some medicine or something ,good luck,

Answer 7

They do like to take in oxygen occasionaly, but they don't float do do that. Your fish unfortunately has some sort of disease, mine was the same way. I got an antibiotic serum from the pet shop for him, you are supposed to mix a teaspoon with a galon of clean water. It prolonged my fish's life for about two months but unfortunately it no longer worked after that. Don't get too terribly upset though, your pet might get better. Try the serum, i dont remember what its called, but it has a blue fish dressed up like a doctor on the outside.

Answer 8

This has happened to me and i know why! Well, every fish ecept for Betta Fish need air bubble breathers. It's a type of machine that blowns in air bubbles into the fish tank, the truth is taht some fish breath in oxygen! They take in a bit, many books, people, and fish owners have told me about this when it happened to my fish. You can purchace this devise at Petco or Petsmart, i recommemnd petsmart though, they have more items.

Answer 9

My best friend had two goldfish, they sleep like this, it is normal, dont worry about your goldfish too much, they did the same thing.