Fancy gold fish upside down

HI not sure if this is the right place for this ?
My brother has a 40 liter tank with a large fancy gold fish (lion head I think )
I went up yesterday to see if I could do anything to help . On arrival the poor fish was upside down sitting on the bottom with his big black eyes following me .
I tested the water ammonia 0 , nitrite 0 , nitrates over 20 . I did a 50 % water change and added some salts . and put him some small pieces of pea in the bottom . The tank floor was littered with uneaten food and my brother had no siphon or net not even a bucket . I suspect my brother does not de -chlorinate the water or add bacteria , just adds fish flakes .
I should also add that I added some warm water to the tank and suggested he buy a heater and change the fishes diet if he survives.
Apart from the poor conditions that he is kept in (he`s now 8 !!) I think the fish is constipated and is full of air ?? .
It makes me very angry to think that people keep fish with such ignorance !!

 

are you familiar with sswI'm bladder disease ? I not very knowledgeable at that but dose sound like a swim bladder issue to me

 

poor fishy

Well done on the intervention

Sounds like his tank is cycled which is a start!

My suggestion (I'm not hugely experienced, just first on the scene as it were) would be to keep on the lines you are doing - large water changes either daily or bi-daily. a mixture of peas and fasting to clear him out and hope it isn't too impacted. Frozen (not freeze dried - I'm told they swell in the gut!) daphnia are a good laxative too, and a bit of a treat for a sad fish.

Fancy goldfish are particularly prone to constipation and swim baldder issues as they have such a short digestive tract, and flakes tend to compound that. Sinking pellets are a must. I use Tetra gold japan for mine, which are designed for keeping fancy goldy gust moving, and they go crazy for them.

I'd also provide your brother with net, siphon, bucket, conditioner and lessons in how to use them (how you reinforce that is up to you )

Once fishy (does he have a name?) is feeling better then tank size etc can be addressed. You don't need a heater though.

 

How long ago did you do all of that and is the fish still acting the same?

 

I did this yesterday not heard from my brother and had offered to go over and buy all the equipment for him to keep the fish healthy . I get the impression the fish has been in this state for sometime it was very sad to see him in this state his big eyes following me , as I tried to help him . I only hope I can get him better then find him a nice new home his tank is way to small !!

 

Thanks I was under the impression that a heater might help with keeping his bowels regular?

 

Poor fishy Very kind of you to offer to help him so much!! and I agree with Octo's advice I don't know much about goldies just that they are swim bladder prone and need sinking pellets and don't need a heater but Octo has covered all those bases

 

Goldfish are happy even in lower temperatures, so assuming the tank is in the house, that should be just fine.

I would definitely invest in a bucket and a hose (Home Depot has 5 gallon buckets for about $2, and you can get some 1/4" airline tubing for a few bucks too..the attachment to put on the end to widen the diameter is a bit more (I've only seen them with the hose for about $10) but it isn't really mandatory.

It sounds like with water changes and peas you are on the right track. I would be sure to check up periodically, and try an educate him about proper goldfish care.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Will do and thanks !

 

My brother called me today still has not treated the fish for swim bladder . he did another water change and cleaned the gravel but did not treat the water . Now is wondering why the fishes fins are going red almost purple and the tank is smelling .
I am thinking now that I should go over and bring the fish home with me it can `t be anymore stressful than what it is going through now .
Because my brother has cared for the fish for 8 years he does not see anything wrong with what he is doing and thinks the fish has a tumor like the one he lost two years ago with the same complaint (swI'm bladder ) Has anyone any idea how long fancy goldfish live ?

 

The fins will change colour if they become inflamed from poor conditions, septicaemia I believe. If the tank is smelling it most certainly needs attention, and it might well be worth rinsing the filter media in tank water during the next change. If your brother will let you bring him home with you it is probably the fish's best chance; he needs water changes and lots of them!

As far as I know fancy goldies live as long as "normal" goldfish, which is to say usually in excess of 10yrs. I believe Gremlin has one that is over 26!

That said, your brother's fish has done remarkably well under such poor conditions, but it will probably significantly reduce his lifespan.

 

Thanks I am seriously thinking about bringing him here I just need to find him a forever home when and if he gets better . A couple of years in a pond would be marvelous for him compared to his life now !

 

As far as I know fancy goldies live as long as "normal" goldfish, which is to say usually in excess of 10yrs. I believe Gremlin has one that is over 26!

Yes, my big black goldfish is one I bought in 1985. He is still swimming around my pond just fine. I also have an orange and white female that I have had almost as long.

 

Thanks for all the advise unfortunately my brother did not follow my advise and sadly the fish has now died . Perhaps I should have taken over earlier! My brother was most concerned as to why the fish had its mouth wide open . I suspect it was open after experiencing a long and painful death . I will certainly not be encouraging him keep anymore fish ......

 

fancy gold fish is upside down with a now red belly have tried peas not helping

 

Welcome to the forum

Upside down, either floating at the top or resting on the bottom, is a swim bladder issue - peas will not help. It's something that the fancy goldfish are prone to, because of their deformity. I have not been able to cure this, but maybe someone else has. Swim bladder issues can be a bacterial infection - I've tried antibiotics without success. In my cases, I believe it was a result of the fish becoming too fat, and the fact that antibiotics did nothing supports that notion.

I wish you luck, but in my experience there's no coming back from that. Perhaps someone else will have something to tell you that may help.

 

Another cause of swim bladder issues is allergies to something in their food. Usually wheat and corn products. This not proven, but when nothing else works, sometimes changing to a better food or even making your own food helps.

 

ty all wait to see if anyone might have something

 

If it's still eating, and mine did till the end, changing foods is absolutely worth a shot.

How long have you had it and how long has there been a problem? The problem did not kill my fish - they lived for a while like that. It was a quality of life decision for me.

 

over a year and has been sick off and on for the last 2 months

 

It's possible she has a bacterial infection, and something is wrong with her swim bladder. What size tank do you have? What's the water quality? What is it stocked with?

 

over a year and has been sick off and on for the last 2 months

When you say sick, you mean this swim bladder problem?

 

only 2 in a 20 gallon the fancy and a gold fish. we have a under gravel filter and a over the back filter.

yes but not with the blood red belly like now

 

Is it floating or sinking?

Could you post a picture - that could be of significant help.

 

20g is too small for two goldfish (of any type) except if they happen to be very young. You need to get a liquid water testing kit (they sell the whole kit at Petco and Petsmart, it's by API) and test your water. It's possible that you have high ammonia even with both filters going.

What do you feed them? The floating goldfish flakes will cause problems like this, as will floating pellets. You need to buy something like NLS sinking goldfish pellets.

 

we will get a kit. we have been feeding them peas, gold fish crisps, tank nibblers tuna and veggie.

floating. not shure how to post a pic.

 

Those goldfish crisps have a lot of dyes. Definitely don't feed that anymore, just throw it away. Tank nibblers aren't really for goldfish though I've used them for other fish, so as treats they would probably be okay as long as they don't contain a lot of wheat.

Buy NLS goldfish formula and stop feeding everything else until this is resolved. Test the water, and in the meantime do a 25% water change with pretreated water.

 

we are changing the water once a week, is this ok. and we will get nls today.

 

floating. not shure how to post a pic.

The swim bladder allows a fish to regulate it's depth in the water, so floating means it has too much air in it. Sinking means not enough. Floating could be a result of eating from the surface, though my floater ate nothing but NLS sinking pellets.

The pic would help to diagnose the redness problem you are mentioning. If you took a picture with your phone, you can email it to yourself, then save it to the computer. There is an icon of a picture in the toolbar of the dialog box that will take you through the steps of uploading the picture. It's third to the right, from the left (the caption icon).

 

Once a week water changes should be fine, especially considering the tank size, as long as the water was treated with water conditioner. A picture would definitely help! I was googling the problem for you and came across some people whose goldfish had red bellies from scraping hard gravel, what type of substrate do you have? (Though I think it might be bacterial given the floating. So hard to be sure.)

 

My sinker developed an ulcer (or something) on it's side from the constant contact with the substrate/glass (in the hospital tank). Does it look like an abrasion?

 

ok took a pic waiting for software to download

no it looks like blood

 

no it looks like blood

Like its pooling under the scales? around the perimeter of the scales? Are there red streaks in the fins?

I know you're uploading a pic, but answers to these questions may help us when looking at the pics. Pics don't always capture everything like we see it.

 

still waiting on download for pic

 

Just waiting for the pic, but I'm still here. Can't give much more input without more info.

 

like a pool on the belly part that is sticking up out of the water.

still working on pics

 

like a pool on the belly part that is sticking up out of the water.

Perhaps it's a circulatory issue. That's just a guess. Secondary problems can arise.

 

Still having pic trouble?

 

vista crashed and I can't email or download pics will keep working on it

 

Good luck