Goldfish floating upside down?

 All goldfish but more often than not the ornamental or fancy goldfish are prone to swim bladder.

 To achieve the beautiful traits we want in fancy Goldfish, we have changed their body shape, which places excessive pressure on the Swim Bladder, making it harder for the Fish to regulate their gas content and their level of neutral buoyancy.

 When there is too much gas in the Bladder the fish turns upside down. If there's too little gas the density of the fish's tissues is not counteracted and the fish continually sinks.

Golf ball pearl scales fancy goldfish, these guys are bred for this shape and are not affected by swim bladder. but could be if not kept in the right conditions and fed the right foods.

Swim bladder disorders are complex and it is unlikely that a single type of treatment could bring about a cure in all circumstances.

  Animal husbandry is very important when managing swimbladder problems. Optimum water quality should be

 *zero ammonia and nitrite.* pH stable between 7.0 and 8.5.* A well aerated aquarium.* stable temperature.

 *quality nutrition.

Ranchu fancy goldfish who wouldn't love this face

how to treat swim bladder disease

The swimbladder in goldfish is connected to the oesophagous, via a small tube called the pneumatic duct. Continued feeding of any dry foods might eventually block this duct, hampering the fish's ability to regulate the gas content of the swim bladder.

feeding a wide variety of foods including frozen fish food, spirulina pellets , protein pellets , a great food for goldfish is live plants that you buy at the aquarium and bugs that you would find in your backyard such as mosquito wrigglers, earth worms, grass hoppers etc.

If you feel you have been feeding too much protein to your fish, such as dry pellet food or flake only. then change the diet to fibre based only for a least two weeks. feed a combination of frozen green peas and live plant.

Thaw the peas and cut up, goldfish love them so feeding wont be a problem. live plants such as wisteria, duck weed or lace plant are good plants for them to eat. You can buy them at Windsor Fish Hatchery or your local aquarium.

In some fish this small change will fix the problem.If after two weeks you fish is doing better, keep this diet going only feeding protein twice a week.

How ever if after two weeks the fish is no better,fasting ( not feeding the fish for a week or two)  when buoyancy problems arise, this is often seen as one of the most effective ways to manage the problem.

At the Windsor fish hatchery we are always saying its all about the water, and in this case, you can cure this problem by paying attention to your water parameters and your feeding habits of the fish.

If your fish is spending a lot of time on the bottom of the aquarium, its likely that organisms that usually feed on rotting organic matter in the tank have opportunistically found their way onto the fish and are infecting its fins where there's a reduced covering of protective mucous.

 You will see small white patches on the fins, that are like lesions, these can be easily treated with a broad -spectrum aquarium anti-parasitic medication.

 Again the best water quality will help in this situation, make sure you siphon the gravel weekly to remove as much organic muck as possible, then do a 25% water change, treat with the anti-parasitic medication as directed.

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