My red oranda which has the occasional bout of swim bladder problems but then gets over it is constantly glugging water at the top of his tank which i know will mean that tomorrow he will be floating at the top, this is very distressing to watch ,why does he do this ?
2007-03-04 04:59:42 · 4 answers · asked by ANN B 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
Check your nitrates they should be under 20 ppm. If not start changing the water. Also old rancid food and poor diet can cause this behavior. My guess is its a combination of both. Change the food and the water first and don't medicate. Its is usually not swim bladder. Rule out the first two by not feeding for a few days, if the fish comes down and swims normally its the food. High nitrates will cause the same thing, It may be time to do a 100% water change.
Choose a food that actually has seafood in it. Even if you have to go with a tropical fish food. I'll tell you that 95% of the food on the petstore shelf is no good. Flakes are the worst. HBH makes good food as well as Omega One. Try Hiriki frozen brine shrimp and blood worms. There should be no corn product in the food, its a cheap filler and indicates you are buying cheap food. People on this board will tell you that you are over feeding, and that may be true but GF eat almost constantly in a natuaral environment. They are eating machines! Replace your fish food monthly and very the diet some more and you will see no floaty problems, I promise!
2007-03-06 05:06:37 · answer #1 · answered by Sunday P 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Plain and simple, he's suffocating. He's at the top of the water desperately trying to get enough air to breath. In the meantime, he's sucking in too much air into his stomach and giving himself swim bladder disease. You obviously recognize the connection; that he gets swim bladder from gulping water, so correct the problem. Get adequate filtration and you should see the problem go away. A goldfish needs 10x the water pumped as the size of the tank. So, let's say this is a 10 gallon tank, which is the smallest size tank an oranda should be in, you should have a filter that pumps 100 gallons of water per hour. An air pump is insufficient. The oxygen doesn't get properly circulated. The filter is also necessary because of the high levels of ammonia goldfish produce. If you get a good filter installed, your fish's air gulping problems should go away.
2007-03-04 05:08:10 · answer #2 · answered by Venice Girl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ok there are servel reasons he might do this one he could have gas how long has he done this you can try giving him peas just a few and if hes got gas it will help him because golish gulp air now if it is a swim bladder problem you can try a few thingsbut theres no gartees if it will help you can try antibotics or just leave him alone sometimes they can live along time with it or he can die now .. be pepared .... for a new fish and just wait give him sinking pellets fish food but theres not much else can be done
2007-03-04 10:24:53 · answer #3 · answered by davanna m 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would suggest an air pump and air stone to pot more oxygen in the water so he can breath easier in the water. Also make sure you have good filtration.
2007-03-04 05:16:09 · answer #4 · answered by drwebster93 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋