How To Treat Early Signs Of Swim Bladder Disease In Goldfish

HI I have an oranda named Lucky. Before I received Lucky he was at petsmart and seemed very obvious that he had a behavior problem of going to the surface constantly in search of food. He does it whether I’m near the tank or not. I believe that because of this he has shown signs of swim bladder disease.
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Can’t post a video so he’s basically at the surface(usually I push him back down to try and stop him I don’t know if I’m just making this worse or not). So right now it’s minor, he will be at the surface and like he will bounce back and forth at times. He also is showing major signs of struggle to stay underwater so he’s just floating at the surface.
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How do I break his habit of going up the surface and gulping in air?

How do I treat it?
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My water parameters
JUNE 26 18 @8:56pm

High range ph 8.0 (****)
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
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My tank is 10 gallons housing 2 fish Lucky and Lash a common. Yes I already know they shouldn’t be housed together. I also have 2 filters, temp guage (77 F), and an air stone. I am working on getting them separate and much larger tanks. Right now they are small and both doing fine, except for Lucky’s problem.

 

Is your tank cycled. I’ve never seen a goldie tank with 0 nitrates? That could be some of the problem. Try feeding him a pea and then don’t feed him anything for a couple of days. I’m worried about that nitrate issue though. I’m lucky to keep my nitrates around 40. Oh, temp is too high too. Do you have a heater in it or is that just normal room temp? Goldies don’t normally hang at the top of the tank so there is definitely an issue.

 

Is your tank cycled. I’ve never seen a goldie tank with 0 nitrates? That could be some of the problem. Try feeding him a pea and then don’t feed him anything for a couple of days. I’m worried about that nitrate issue though. I’m lucky to keep my nitrates around 40.

Yes my tank is cycled had them for a couple months now. Wait are my nitrates levels incorrect? I always thought they needed to be at 0.

 

Yes my tank is cycled had them for a couple months now. Wait are my nitrates levels incorrect? I always thought they needed to be at 0.

You should shoot for 5 or 10ppm for nitrates. I just don’t see anyway for 2 Goldie’s to have 0 nitrates though. Goldies have high bio-loads and usually always measure nitrates in the tank. How did you cycle your tank?

 

I have no heater in the tank it’s at room temp I did but my fan on which always seems to help. I do have a lid on but always keep it halfway on so it’s never closed.

 

I’m more concerned about the tank possibly not being cycled. If that’s the case, the toxins in the water could be poisoning your fish. Have you ever measured nitrates? Did you do a fish in or fishless cycle?

 

You should shoot for 5 or 10ppm for nitrates. I just don’t see anyway for 2 Goldie’s to have 0 nitrates though. Goldies have high bio-loads and usually always measure nitrates in the tank. How did you cycle your tank?

I didn’t cycle my tank properly. My common was a rescue from a school fundraiser I attended. Lucky was a unexpected surprise. So basically I cycled by having them in the tank checking daily on water parameters, I did partial water changes every 3 days. Then I just waited until the water parameters were all good(except for my nitrates now).

 

Did you ever have nitrates and are you cleaning your filter? I have a feeling you have an uncycled tank. That is dangerous to your fish. What you need to do it get some Seachem Prime and use it daily until your tank cycles. It will prevent the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates from poisoning your fish while the tank cycles. Don’t do any water changes unless your ammonia goes over 2 ppm. Don’t clean your filter either. You should start seeing some ammonia, which will soon go down and nitrites will rise. Let them climb. If they get higher than 4 ppm, do a pwc. Eventually, after about 2 weeks, the nitrites will start dropping and you will see nitrates. Once ammonia and nitrites drop to 0 and you are showing some nitrates, your tank will be cycled. Remember to keep using the Prime daily during the cycle period. I have a feeling that with you frequently cleaning your tank it never had a chance to grow the necessary ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates to start the cycle. Please read on fish in cycling. Keep us posted.

 

Did you ever have nitrates?

Yes at a point for a while but because I didn’t know they needed them I got rid of them on accident.

 

Did you ever have nitrates and are you cleaning your filter?

Also I wanted to ask how to I increase my nitrate levels, and because of them having no nitrate presence does it harm my fish?

 

Also I wanted to ask how to I increase my nitrate levels, and because of them having no nitrate presence does it harm my fish?

Please see above. I edited my last post.

 

Also, once your tank is cycled you only need to clean your filter media when it gets really dirty. Never clean it with chlorinated tap water as it will kill your beneficial bacteria. Only wash it with tank water.

 

Did you ever have nitrates and are you cleaning your filter? I have a feeling you have an uncycled tank. That is dangerous to your fish. What you need to do it get some Seachem Prime and use it daily until your tank cycles. It will prevent the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates from poisoning your fish while the tank cycles. Don’t do any water changes unless your ammonia goes over 2 ppm. Don’t clean your filter either. You should start seeing some ammonia, which will soon go down and nitrites will rise. Let them climb. If they get higher than 4 ppm, do a pwc. Eventually, after about 2 weeks, the nitrites will start dropping and you will see nitrates. Once ammonia and nitrites drop to 0 and you are showing some nitrates, your tank will be cycled. Remember to keep using the Prime daily during the cycle period. I have a feeling that with you frequently cleaning your tank it never had a chance to grow the necessary ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates to start the cycle. Please read on fish in cycling. Keep us posted.

Okay thank u, I have already been using seachem prime to condition water. Also besides the tank cycling do u have any ideas on breaking Lucky’s habit of going to the surface.

 

Okay thank u, I have already been using seachem prime to condition water. Also besides the tank cycling do u have any ideas on breaking Lucky’s habit of going to the surface.

I think that may be related to the water quality. You can give ahead and feed a pea to see if he’s constipated. That can cause swim bladder. Otherwise, let’s get the tank cycled and see how he does then. You can also fast them for a couple of days after the pea. This will sometimes correct swim bladder issues. Afterwards, Feed pellets very sparingly and push them down to sink. If it’s a behavioral issue, he will learn that the food is at the bottom of the tank and it may encourage him to stay down there. Don’t use flakes. Good luck!

 

I think that may be related to the water quality. You can give ahead and feed a pea to see if he’s constipated. That can cause swim bladder. Otherwise, let’s get the tank cycled and see how he does then. You can also fast them for a couple of days after the pea. This will sometimes correct swim bladder issues. Afterwards, Feed pellets very sparingly and push them down to sink. If it’s a behavioral issue, he will learn that the food is at the bottom of the tank and it may encourage him to stay down there. Don’t use flakes. Good luck!

Okay thank u!! I’ve been thinking this whole time my tank was cycled. I’m very grateful you pointed out it wasn’t. Love my fishes so again thx for helping.

 

Okay thank u!! I’ve been thinking this whole time my tank was cycled. I’m very grateful you pointed out it wasn’t. Love my fishes so again thx for helping.

That’s what we’re here for. Ask questions if you need help. I think this will make the fish much healthier.

 

Just wanted to update last night Lucky took a massive and seems to be a lot better. I am getting peas today and feeding them it just to make sure everything is gone. His behavior with going to the surface is not as frequent as before but still improvements are improvements. Now he just sticks his little wen out of the water and the occasional gulping.

 

Just wanted to update last night Lucky took a massive and seems to be a lot better. I am getting peas today and feeding them it just to make sure everything is gone. His behavior with going to the surface is not as frequent as before but still improvements are improvements. Now he just sticks his little wen out of the water and the occasional gulping.

Glad to hear that things are improving!