My fish is having problems. For some odd reason, my fish stays upside down, but is not dead.?

Question

My fish won't do it all the time, but every so often, I will find it upside down just "sitting" there. If I tap the tank, it will move again, but I'm afraid that it's something worse. Help?

By the way, it's a gold fish.

Answer 1

What kind of fish is it?

There is a such thing as an "upside down catfish" they do that.

Bettas sleep on the surface and often look dead.

Answer 2

I am going to assume you have a goldfish since this is common. I answer this at least 4 times a day. High nitrates and old poor quality food are to blame. Toss out your food on a monthly basis, it gets bacteria growing in it causing gas in the gut. Start looking for a good food, one that has no corn, gluten meal, soy bean meal, or wheat in it. Those are cheap fillers that cannot be digested by fish and have no nutritional value. It only creates waste which adds to the second half of the problem, soaring nitrates. Nitrates are often over looked because someone at sometime said they were harmless. They are not, high nitrates cause stress, poor growth and unhealthy goldfish. I would consider any reading over 20 ppm too high. Change water daily until nitrates are under 20 ppm.
For now this is the solution.
Change 50% of the water. Fast the fish for 4 days. Feed for a week only thawed peas popped out of the shell and frozen brine shrimp to clear the gut. If you replace food often and use high quality food, and keep those nitrates under control your fish will not float upside down anymore.

Answer 3

I was just asking about my fish. this person gave me this websit. I think it will help you. http://www.fishlore.com/Disease.htm
Swim Bladder Disease -Fish have a difficult time staying upright and may hang in the water. -Goldfish are especially prone to problems with the swim bladder. Some hobbyists feed their fish peas to treat this infection. Perhaps this works by helping in the digestion process. Try this: stop feeding the fish for a few days, give the fish optimal water conditions by performing frequent small water changes (10% every week) and see if the problem clears up.

Answer 4

Depending on the type of fish it is, it might just have that "odd" habit. For some types, it could be a swim bladder infection or even a deformity. (A swim bladder is an organ that holds air and stabilizes the fish.)
I would suggest to research the type of fish a little more. (Or let us know on here.)
Hopefully that helps.

Answer 5

Well it all depends on the species of the fish. My pleco hangs upside down and so does my knife fish sometimes. Rarely my barbs will do it. As long as the fish looks health, is eating, and swims regularly i wouldn't worry to much about it.

Answer 6

OK,your fish is most likely bloated.He might be getting too much air in his stomach .if it's flake food your giving him than soak it in water before giving it to him,so he doesn't have to swim to the top and swallow all that air.
Hope It Helps,

P.S.do some tests on your tank ,just to make sure.

Answer 7

Well I had a beta years ago that started doing that, but it was often. He was kind of sick and his colors were more pale, and I had to get him slime coating stuff (drops in a bottle) and also I had to make sure he had enough chlorine drops in his water... after he got all that he got better.

Answer 8

It has SWIM BLADDER DISEASE. Its Swim Bladder is useless now unless you called a vet right from the start.

Answer 9

My gold fish does that. I think it's cause it has too much air in its belly. It goes away on its own.

Answer 10

I think it has a bladder disease. Goodluck, i hope your fish survives!!! :)