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55gal, 0 A, 0 Trite, 40 Trate, 7.2 ph, 74 deg., (2) AquaClear 70's. Three Oranda goldfish approx. 3" body ea. Two fold problem. First, for three days now they've been floating on the top. One, belly up. They try to swim around but when they stop, they float back up. Other than that they look healthy. Second and maybe related? There's hundreds of little white thread like worms about 1/32" long all over the inside of the glass. I changed 20 gal & added Melafix & salt. (because that's what I had). It didn't help the fish or get rid of the worms. What can I do to save the fish and avoid tearing everything down and soaking in bleach.

Sounds like they're having swim bladder trouble - often a sign of digestive problems. The site linked to below suggests changing their diet to something more digestable than what they're getting now. You may want to try feeding them some shelled peas. if that doesn't work it could also be bacterial etc. but since this sort of thing is common in goldies it may be the former.

http://www.fishpalace.org/Disease.html#Swimbladder

As for the little white worms, sounds like planaria. Pretty sure they're harmless to fish, but they're a sign of overfeeding, lack of gravel vacumming and poor water quality. 50% water changes once per week, or 25% twice a week is a good start, goldfish produce a ton of waste, it's important to vacuum that all up at least once a week.

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks Nowherman. I went to your link. Says it could just be diet. I've been feeding them TetraMin Tropical flakes, algae wafers & an occasional orange slice. Maybe that's no good for Goldies? Strange that it happens now. The orange is the only new thing in their diet.

I know it's expensive, but you may want to try something like New Life Spectrum goldfish formula. It's very concentrated stuff, known for its digestability, so you dont need to feed a lot. In other words, it costs a lot but it lasts long, and it's really good stuff for your fish. Tetramin flakes and the like are filled with a lot of ash and fish meal. Omegaone flakes are also very good, made with fresh fish etc.

But for now some shelled peas may help in the short term.

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Back in the saddle!

Overdoing the orange could increase the amount of fructose (fruit sugars) in the water and the ph of the fruit could also affect the water quality. Now might be the time to get more rigourous on the water changes. The planaria in the water could be a sign that the fruit sugars are causing a radical upturn of nutrients, protiens and acids in the water.