Goldfish laying sideways?

Question

one gold fish with 4 other koi. that have been living together for along time. but today i found BJ (goldfish) laying sideways. i took him out and put him into a little bowel to make sure it was not sick. he is still breathing but sideways on the rocks. i tested the ammonia and it is find at 0ppm. is there anything you can help me with.

Answer 1

Your goldfish may have swim bladder disease.

Answer 2

Do you have results for nitrite and nitrate as well? And any of these could be the problem, including too high of a temperature (leads to too little dissolved oxygen). Did you put tank water in the bowl, or use fresh (if there's a problem with too much of one of the nitrogen cycle compounds, using new water, with dechlorinator, will be more help for him to recover, but only change about 1/2 of the water). Also, are you sure the ammonia results are correct? Test strips can go bad quickly when exposed to humidity or handled improperly, liquid test chemicals go bad after about 4-5 years. Goldfish and koi do tend to produce a lot of ammonia in their wastes, so unless you have a very large tank and these are small fish, I would have a store or other source test a sample to confirm your results.

Answer 3

do you have an air pump in his little bowl? if not you should get one, if he is sick it would make his recovery time shorter. goldfish need a lot of oxygen, and him sitting in a little bowl with nothing will only make him worse.
1. he could be stressed. if you have a goldfish and 4 koi, they would need a HUGE tank. koi can get over 3 feet, and some goldfish could easily get to a foot. the lack of space could be hurting him.
2. did you ever use soap on or around the tank? the soapy residue would cause him to lie at the bottom gasping for air and ultimately kill him.
3. is the water at the right temp? even off by a few degress can cause stress.
4. test the nitrites, and nitrates as well. nitrate over 40, or nitrite over .25 could cause harm.
5. it might be swimbladder disease. this is uncurable, but sometimes goes away on its own. the swimbladder keeps the fish straight and sort of hovering in the water. keeps them from sinking or floating to the top. if it is, give it time. you should consider getting a hospital tank, not bowl. equipped with heater (to keep temp stable at 65), filter, air pump, etc. always good for emergencies and sudden illness.

Answer 4

Swimming sideways means he probably has swimbladder disease. I found this to help:

Buy a package of frozen peas, or search in your freezer for the bag you bought two years ago. They are rockhard by now, so defrost them.

Take one or two peas and make sure they are nice and defrosted. Squeeze them a little bit to break the skin.
Put the pea(s) in the goldfish's tank.

If the fish doesn't eat the pea immediately, remove it and try again later. The fish will eat the pea eventually, as all goldfish are perpetually hungry, and require a certain amount of greens in their diet for optimum nutrition. Until the fish eats the pea, withhold all other foods.

Alternatively, try feeding live daphnia to the goldfish.
The fish should be swimming upright in no time.

Answer 5

When fish suffer swim bladder damage as a result of injury, or, more commonly, bacterial infection, they cannot regulate their ability to swim and become "belly sliders." This is likely what has happened to your goldfish. Swim bladder infection can sometimes be treated with a wide-spectrum antibiotic like Kanamycin, however, by the time they're sick enough to be down on their sides, they're usually too far gone to save. My apologies. But in the event you see other fish swimming irregularly for no apparent reason, it's sometimes a good idea to run a week's treatment to be safe.

Answer 6

I've kept a lot of fish... and sorry to say this, but I've only once seen one recover from what you describe. The one that recovered was accidentally dropped into ice-cold water and went over immediately on his side and sunk to the bottom. I grabbed him out, (with my hand because I wasn't holding a net) and returned him to some warmer water. He recovered. But if the fish just started laying sideways for no reason, I think he'll probably be dead in a day or two. Sorry.

Answer 7

Hi, First off-check your other parameters are fine. If BJ exhibits no other odd appearance or strange behaviour other than laying on his side it could simply be a lack of oxygen so increase the filter output if possible & additional air stones may help, if you are talking about a pond here make sure you have a strong pump or fountain which creates plenty of surface disturbance.

Answer 8

He is definitly sick. Goldfish are suseptible to ick. Look for white spots on fins or damaged fins. If it is a parasite such as ick, add a drop of ick away and a drop of melafix. Wait several hours and then change the water. Repeat for a few days until he gets better.

Answer 9

He could have contracted some type of infection or disease or he could have been injured by running into something.

In the event he contracted something that might be contageous, its best to leave him isolated from the rest for now.

Pet stores have medication for those types of things and they cover a range of diseases, if that's what it is.

Usually, if they are on their side for a while like that, they are, sadly, on their way out.

Answer 10

He is deffinitly very sick. My fish did that then died. If you quickly change the water and clean everything out it might stop it. Fish death is ususaly caused by some kind of infection in the water. good luck and i am sorry!!!

Answer 11

It could be lots of things. When my bubble eye does this it is because he ate too much too fast and as he digests he goes back to normal. It could be a swim bladder thing and will take time. Good Luck!