my goldfish always sits at the bottom of the tank & rarely moves, is it sick?

Question

it has a red ring on 1 eye. there are 4 other goldfish in the tank & they are quite active.

my fishs eye was red when we bought it & its not puffy. it swims 2 the top 2 eat & then goes back 2 the bottom. i dont think the filter is a problem, like i said the other fish r happy. & we just added an oxy shell 2 c if that helped, it didnt. now the fish just try & eat it! the ph levels r fine & my fishs fins r relaxed so i dont think it is stressed.

Answer 1

Maybe it's stressed out, which is a cause of sickness, so watch out. It may actually be sick already. Was the ring there since you bought it? Is it acting unusual in any other ways? Go check it out.

Answer 2

I have answered this question by someone very recently..and I think that the ring in your goldfishes eye is just natural..

There are many problems that would cause your goldfish to sit on the bottom of your goldfish aquarium. I will share with you the most common ones and the cures.

1# - Water Condition:
Good goldfish care means keeping the water in your goldfish aquarium perfect. High ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and a low pH will all cause your goldfish to sit on the bottom of your aquarium.

2#- Parasites:
Use Prazi-Pro for flukes. Dimlin for anchor worm and fish lice. Plus, a salt level of .3% for the small parasites, will solve your problem.

3#- Strong Water Current:
Good goldfish care means taking that extra step.
Here's a problem very few Goldfish Collectors check. A strong water current in your goldfish aquarium will cause your goldfish to stay on the bottom of your goldfish aquarium. They do not like a strong current, it would be like putting you on a treadmill 24 hours a day!!. Here's the best way to check the water current in your goldfish aquarium. Tie a button on an end of a thread and drop the button into your goldfish aquarium. This will show you where the strongest water current is in your goldfish aquarium. Just by moving the direction of the outlet of your filter can make a great improvement with the activity of your goldfish.

4#- Swim Bladder:
If your goldfish has a malfunction of its swim bladder, it will cause your goldfish to sit on the bottom. There is not much you can do to help a goldfish with a bad swim bladder.

However, people who suspect their fishes to have swim bladder problems, 98% of their goldfish do not have a bad swim bladder. Something else is causing the problem, it is not the swim bladder.

Good goldfish care means not over treating. The worst thing you can do is start treating your goldfish with all kinds of medications before you rule out the above causes first.

Hope my info helps you, if you need any other information or suggn, feel free to write to me.

Answer 3

you probibly have too many fish for the tank....any moving H2O? how about bubblers? filters? I think goldfish take 1 cubed foot of H2O per fish.(thats 1 foot wide by 1 ft. tall by one foot long)we tend to over fill an aquarium w/ fish. the red ring is probibly natural... but its behavior is not... how is it feeding? is it flapping its gill covers? is the dorsal fin up or relaxed against its body?

Answer 4

Is the eye puffy at all? There is a condition called pop-eye in which pressure from inside the eye causes it to push outward. See photos in this link: http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#Popeye

Your fish might be in the beginning stages of this. You can treat this by using Maracyn and Maracin 2 together. Without knowing which bacteria caused the infection, this covers both gram positive and negative types.

Also, please read this link:
http://www.goldfishconnection.com/articles/details.php?articleId=145&parentId=12