My Goldfish are actimg wierd what should I do?

Question

My Goldfish is floating on it's side since last November and won't swim straight, sometimes she just floats on her side.I,ve cleaned the tank and salted it everytime I cleaned it and still no improvement and she won't eat at all.I recently noticed she is breathing rapidly and my other 2 fish are breathing fine. My Male fish keeps bashing the bottom of the tank with his head is there something wrong with him too?My Red Comet Goldfish is Healthy
I received these fish from my Brother which he got from a friend his friend has had them for 5 years before giving them to him then he had them for 3 years and gave them to me They are rather large 5inches to 6 inches long could it be they are old fish? I don't know if there was another owner before his friend he doesn't know.He never asked to find out how old they are. Now I'm stuck with half dead fish.

Answer 1

The goldfish are not too old, they should live for more then 20 years. Yours are at least 8 years old and are only 5-6 inches, they are stunted, probably from being kept in a tank that is way too small, which can cause the fish to die too soon. Comets should grow 12-18 inches and need a minimum of 20 gallons each when babies and really should be in a pond when they are adults.

The one that is floating on its side sounds like it has swim bladder disorder, it can be caused by a few things like taking in too much air while eating, eating too much or the stunting could be causing it. Try feeding it a deshelled pea and see if that helps, it may need to be feed that for a couple days for it to work, but since it has been like this since November it may not work at all and you should of looked for help sooner.

The one that bashes its head on the bottom of the tank could have some sort of parasite or be responding to unsafe water which could be poisoning him.

Answer 2

You have bad food and bad water. Sick fish are the result of not keeping the tank clean enough. For goldfish you need to do either 25% water change (clean the gravel too)
once a week OR 50% every 2 to 3 weeks. Twice a year the tank needs to be broken down and cleaned and 100% water replaced. Make sure the water you put in is no more than 2 degrees off of the water the fish is in. Filter needs to be seviced once a month, that means clean it out, rinse the bio media (pads or ceramic beads) in tank water. Replace carbon once a month. The water needs to be decloronated and rid of chloromines and the same Ph as the water they came in. Food needs to be replaced every month NO EXCEPTIONS. You wouldn't eat a salmon steak that had been left out for months would you? It would make you sick and it has made your fish sick. Flakes are notorius for going bad quickly. I think its the main reason why fish float. If the fish is curling it is moribound. If not and just floating upside down or side ways then it can be saved with a little fresh food. Try Hiriki frozen brine shrimp and peas popped out of the shell for a month and see if there are any changes. Frozen food will last in the freezer for as long as you have it. It's the flakes and pellets that need to be replaced often. I bet they didn't tell you that at the petstore did they? The better quality fish food will have no corn product in it. GF cannot digest corn (neither can you!) so it just makes waste in the tank. Good food is hard to find but if you take a while at your local pet store they should offer a few better choices. Don't be afraid to look at tropical fish food, sometimes its better quality and GF will thrive on it. I feed mine Super Soft Spiralina and Super Soft Tropical both are made by HBH. Omega One is also a good brand. Hiriki frozen (not freeze dried) blood worms and brine shrimp are readily accepted and will help color and growth. www.goldfishconnection.com has an amazing medicated food called Medi-Gold that works miracles on sick fish. BUT the water must be corrected or the fish will continue to get ill. Correct water for GF (in my opinion) is 78 degrees (heater to maintain constant temp) Ph 6.8 to 7.2 (neutral basically). Ammonia= Zero Nitrite= Zero, Nitrate= <20 ppm. Salt is unnessary unless used as a medicine. Green water is good water. Green stuff on all sides except front glass is a plus. Remember green=good and brown (gold, purple, red)= BAD. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

First thing to do is have the water chemistry checked. Most pet shops will do this for free or a small charge. If that is okay you may need to change the way you are feeding. Many types of goldfish today are man developed into non-natural shapes. This has forced internal organs (the air bladders) into odd positions.If they eat too much food in one feeding it puts pressure internally on the bladders making them tilt. The fish doesn't know whats wrong so it panics. Try feeding 3-4 times a day but very little food. this causes less internal pressure

Answer 4

I agree with taking the fish out of the tank. I'm not sure why you are "salting" the water...goldfish are freshwater fish.

Have you de-chlorinated the water?

Goldfish cost like.. 50 cents at Wal-Mart! Sounds like these guys might just be too old. I was trying to do your math here...he had them for five years and then you had them for three? That means they are 8? That's pretty old for a goldfish!

Answer 5

you goldfish most likey ruptured it's swim bladder which throws off the equilibrium of a fish and thats what causes it to swim funny. It's like a human having an inner ear infection. This is very common in goldfish as they are typically inbred and have poor immune systems. sorry.

Answer 6

Strange. Possibly air in the swim bladder of the one on it's side. Think the one that keeps bashing the bottom of the tank is either mad or planning an escape attempt.

Answer 7

i have goldfish, and one started acting weird like that. if you have any other fish in the tank, i suggest you extract him out into a seperate container. For a while, he was part-dead, but maybe after 2 days he was fine again. When I put him back into the tank, he died a few days later.

Answer 8

that's extremely severe it had got here approximately to my goldfish till now it grows from with interior the fish then attaches it self to the comparable fish or a diverse fish yet those little pests suck the fishes blood yet regrettably they somewhat merely bread. so i propose you do away with any seen one and do a a hundred% water exchange yet their would be some on your fish extraordinarily the single with blood streaks. the only thank you to get them of is keeping apart your fish a million at a time then you definately will want some tweezers, (you already know the place this is going do no longer you) then take the pest off that's demanding yet its the only thank you to do it yet after that do it to all your fish merely in case by skill of ways they are able to be everywhere on your fish. although after the gruesome section you want a medicine which will permit your fish recover from this organism a inner medicine including inter-puppy 9. with a bit of luck this could on no account got here approximately returned yet merely be weary that there long previous. thank you and sturdy luck.

Answer 9

fan-tails with fat bodies often get swim bladder if they eat too much. try feeding him boiled peas popped out of the shell and chopped. try feeding them peas once a week and it should keep them from getting it. goldfish often smash into stuff. they aren't the most graceful of fish -- that is why they are entertaining to watch. i wouldn't worry about the one knocking himself upside the head too much unless he looks like he is scratching himself. then he might have parasites he is trying to scratch off.
goldfish live a long time. old goldfish records are around 40 yrs. average is about 1/2 that.

Answer 10

first of all gfisg are FRESHWATER not SALT WATER. obviously they will die. and the one with swimming problems has a swim blader prob.