my goldfish likes to lay on his back and stay at the top of the tank he swims every now and then and he is fat

Answer 1

flush him let him be free

Answer 2

Sounds like a problem with the swim bladder (not dropsy). The swim bladder is what helps a fish control their swimming under water. When something is wrong with it, they are helpless.

There are two possibilities if it is, one of which is treatable. Goldfish are seriously prone to constipation problems to the extent that it puts pressure on the swim bladder. The best way to help a constipated goldfish is with shelled cooked peas. Get some frozen peas and defrost them then remove the shell, give about 2 peas per fish. This helps move things through their system and clean them out quicker. You also might want to not feed him/her anything else for a day. It won't hurt your fish to go a day without being fed as long as you don't make a habit of it.

The other possibility is a swim bladder infection. There is nothing you can do if that's the case. On rare occasions, a fish will recover from a swim bladder infection if there hasn't been any permanent damage but it's not common.

Let's hope for the best, give your fish a couple of shelled, cooked peas, and hope it gets better.

Answer 3

Your goldfish might have bladder stones. When goldfish get bladder stones there stomach becomes heavy causing them to turn over and float at the top of the tank occasionaly swimming around. If you are serious about making you goldfish happy (which you should be) your vet can help you out with a treatment but whatever you do don't flush the fish!!

Answer 4

It sounds like he might be dying.

On a positive note, it might be SBD, or Swim Bladder Disorder.

If you could give us more information, such as what type of tank he's in, what filter, what ornaments he has in the tank, and all water parameters, we could probably help you more.

Please look at the link in the sources.

Answer 5

Um, that isn't good.
Like Kevin S said, your fish probably has dropsy, which is a fatal illness due to an inbalance in the swim-bladder, which, funnily enough, helps them swim.

Because there is an inbalance, instead of staying where he wants to, your fish will, as you said, lie on his back then float up to the top.

As far as I know there is no cure for dropsy, many of my fish have died from it, but a lot are fine. Is he an Oranda or a Ryukin? They suffer from it a lot, due to their large stomach and overall body-shape. Here's a picture of a Ryukin, if you aren't sure:
http://www.goldfishpages.com/Red-&-White-Ryukin-2-Midwes.gif

Hope I helped!

Answer 6

Change your food! The food goes old causes this.
Higher nitrates than 20 ppm can eventually cause this too. Don't medicate until you get some good fresh food. If you are using the same old flakes you've had for months you are killing your fish with rotten food!

Answer 7

you are over feeding it, follow package directions, fat floats, his natural buoyancy is out of whack. is he in a bowl or a tank w/a filter? give it a filtered tank and a few roommates to keep active with.

Answer 8

He's dying. He probably has dropsy or some other kind of infection. Put him out of his misery.

As for you, well you should probably not keep fish anymore.

Answer 9

Your goldfish is sick, i would get rid of it, before it contaminates ur tank.

Answer 10

I say take away his internet and X-Box privileges till he exercises !

Answer 11

either let him enjoy life or buy a fish book and investigate this activity please check out this site:
www.petlibrary.com/goldfish/goldfish.html