|  |  | 
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Bum
| Turning upside-down and floating :((
Hi,
Caligo (my oranda goldfish) is turning upside-down and floating periodically... she rights herself if I tap on the glass and swims 5-10 minutes and then floats again... I seem to notice she starts acting funny like this after water changes... I don't understand what is happening... I tested the water, the pH is 7, there's little nitrates (by the dip test) and I used aquasafe like always... What could be wrong??  ( 
Ps. I did a 50 % water change yesterday and another 50 today after I saw she kept floating... | 
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Mentor
| I'm sorry your goldie isn't feeling well.
I don't know much about goldfish, but I'll send you my get-well fish wishes! | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Master
| im sorry shes not feeling well can you get a liquid test kit and get the ammonia readings? test strips are very unreliable and she could have an ammonia/ nitrite poisoning going on .... are you still using the stress zyme? | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Bum
| I just did a water test on the ammonia b/c I thought maybe I cleaned it too much since I gravel vacc'ed and changed the filter cartriges at the same time but it didn't show any ammonia, it was in the yellow.
Thanks for your well-wishes, I hope she comes around. It seems this type of thing has happened before but only within the last few months... something must be stressing her.
She's eating and swimming but floats every so often and goes upside down and then rights herself. I wonder if it's some kind of swim bladder thing, but IDK why if it was it would only happen after water changes. 
I just tested the Ph again with the water kit instead of the strip and it gave a different reading... so I just added a little buffer. hopefully that will help.
Last edited by Caligo'sKeeper; October 13th, 2009 at 03:30 PM.
Reason: Update | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Master
| Are you aging the water before adding it? If not, this is most likey the problem...Non aged water can cause swim bladder symptoms....They go away after the water has been in the tank a while.... | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Bum
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinismommy  Are you aging the water before adding it? If not, this is most likey the problem...Non aged water can cause swim bladder symptoms....They go away after the water has been in the tank a while.... | No, I haven't. I never did that before... should I leave it out in a bucket for a while or something? I figured the 2 bubble bars and filter would oxygenate it. Thanks for the advice  | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Master
| It should be aged for a couple of days before adding it to the tank....I have this problem here with my Bettas when I forget to set the water out....They do exactly what you described following a water change...You may want to try doing it and see if you have positive results..... | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Master
| It sounds like swim bladder to me... what do you feed her? Swim bladder is caused when over feeding, which presses on their balance nerve ( what helps them stay upright) causing them to waddle around. The stomach is right next to this organ, so thats why it messes it up when they get fat or bloated. If you fast her and feed her deshelled peas, it should help. | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Bum
| I rotate flake food and freeze dried brine shrimp with spirulina as well as thawed peas. She had a problem where she would sit on the bottom all day after eating when she had pellets. I used to give her slow sinking discs until that happened. I don't know if it may be part of the same issue... she did start to float after I fed her the brine shrimp cube this AM. She's also about 6 1/2 years old, so I don't know if that is a factor... maybe she isn't able to deal with certain types of food anymore... I'll try giving her some peas, she hasn't had any in a few days. | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Caligo'sKeeper I just did a water test on the ammonia b/c I thought maybe I cleaned it too much since I gravel vacc'ed and changed the filter cartriges at the same time but it didn't show any ammonia, it was in the yellow.
Thanks for your well-wishes, I hope she comes around. It seems this type of thing has happened before but only within the last few months... something must be stressing her.
She's eating and swimming but floats every so often and goes upside down and then rights herself. I wonder if it's some kind of swim bladder thing, but IDK why if it was it would only happen after water changes.
I just tested the Ph again with the water kit instead of the strip and it gave a different reading... so I just added a little buffer. hopefully that will help. | whats the ph of your tank? and whats the ph of your tap water? adding buffers is more harmful as its too drastic of a change too fast....if you didnt have a reliable ammonia /nitrite test kit or test prior to changing her water, you really dont know what it was before such huge changes.....I wouldnt recommend the use of buffers anymore..... Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinismommy Are you aging the water before adding it? If not, this is most likey the problem...Non aged water can cause swim bladder symptoms....They go away after the water has been in the tank a while.... | ive also never done this so unless there is a HUGE difference in ph , I dont think after this much time it would play effect.....the only time thats really needed is if your tap is much different than your tank ph when coming directly out of the tap......leaving water out to age gives you a true reading of ph ..... | |
| | |
October 13th, 2009
|
| | Fish Mentor
| I know freeze dried foods have a tendency to cause problems for a lot of different fish (particularly constipation, bloating, etc.), so maybe that's attributing to the swim bladder problem that Tony mentioned.
I definitely agree that chemical buffers can cause more damage than good with most fish.
*Keeping my fins crossed for goldy* | |
| | |
October 14th, 2009
|
| | Fish Bum
| Thanks everyone!
I definetly think it's swim bladder related, I fed her last night and she seemed worse immedately after and kept the food (it was peas) in her mouth for like 20 min and then spit it out... I haven't fed her yet this AM, she looks better and is upright so I might wait a bit before giving her some peas, I think I might avoid the freeze dried in the future too! Thanks for the advice on the buffer, I don't think I'll use that again either. My BIL suggested it and I used to use it a long time ago but my pH for Caligo's tank is generally stable I think since it's in the 120-180 range. I just paniced about pH b/c of the water change. :P Thanks All!  I'll keep you updated after she eats! | |
| | |
October 14th, 2009
|
| | Fish Master
| thats great! glad she´s doing better! I would fast her another 2 days, so she can fully recover. Then, cut the deshelled pea to the size of her eye, dip in garlic juice and feed. The juice will make her want to eat it keep an eye o her for poop. Has she been pooping regularly? | |
| | |
October 16th, 2009
|
| | Fish Bum
| I have three goldfish and one of mine ALWAYS does this after a feed. I think that he eats more than the others, I try to limit the amount of food but he still gets to it all before the other two can.
I figure if he wants to be a little piggy then he has to be upside down all day LOL
(I don't really think that btw I have tried to fix it but he won't stop eating it all!) | |
| | | |
Similar Aquarium Fish Forum Threads 
