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My Calico goldfish keeps floating to the top belly up. It seems that if he trys to swim he can, but it looks like he is fighting to stay down. What is wrong with him, and how do I cure him, and is it contagious to my other fish?

How big is the tank, can you post test results in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, what filter do you use,and how many fish are in the tank, it sounds like swim bladder you can only save the fish if the swim bladder desease isn't fairly progressed, try a shelled pea for now, good luck.

Last edited by kitty163 at 01-Oct-2004 13:36

Hi, it sounds like swimbladder, its not contagious, I believe that a poor diet is the main cause.
Feed live bloodworm or daph, also if feeding flake try to release the flke under the water so it doesnt just float on top thus the fish takes in excess air when feeding. hope this helps
cheers

I'll agree with the swimbladder, however if it's as bad as it sounds it may be too far along to cure.

Shelled pea:
Works to move things along in the digestive track. Take a pea from the freezer warm it between your fingers, then pop it from the outer skill or shell. It will split in two halves, take the halves and mush them a bit (make sure they're body temp) then ofer them to the goldfish. Hold off on regular feedings for now, just offer a few peas for the next few days.

Slowly re-introduce foods after a few days, if all goes well. Goldfish will get swim bladder from being stunted...which happens to fish kept in too small of a tank. Fancy goldfish need the space of a 55 gallon tank as a minimum, really should be in a 75 gallon simply because they grow so large. When kept in smaller tanks their outside stops growing but the insides continue, which causes it to press up against the swim bladder (the organ that keeps the fish oriented in the water).

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig line Restoration*