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I have two goldies. I have been observing them each day and have noticed that they swimwith their pectorial fins up and down but sometimes pull them into a sideways position ? One of them seems to jerk backward and forward when slowly swimming. Is this normal ?

we'll need a little more info, jerking back and forth while slowly swimming isn't normal, and could be from all sorts of things... (parasites, water quality etc...) What size is the tank, how many fish are in the tank? What kind of fish are they? What is the temp, PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings? When was your last water change... A lot more information will help.

well i started off with teo commons in a 3 gallon but i am looking around for really cheap bigger tanks for them
and i changed the water a day or two ago.
this may be why ?

Common goldfish needs ponds....not tanks. They're likely very stressed from high nitrAte levels...as well as being stunted (the insides grow but the outsides don't causing the innards to press against the swim bladder as well as other problems).... A two year old goldfish can reach 9 inches when in the proper living environment.

If you cannot get them in a pond, I'd highly suggest returning them to the store. If you are planning on keeping them they'd need a 75 gallon tank with plans for a pond soon.

You can try looking @stock tanks....they have a larger footprint then most glass tanks, and are also cheaper...

^_^

mmmmmmmm dunno if i can afford that and i have no where to put a pond

then you can't afford to keep common goldies I know, it's sad. But you wouldn't want to basically torture your fish to death, would you? You could keep a great dane in a cardboard box, and scoop the poop out every day, but the dog would still suffer, you know?

LOL ya thats true.