goldfish swimming head down

[D&RW]

Hi everyone,

recently aquired two large white goldfish, maybe 7-8 inches each. One, the female, has been swimming head down and seems to have a hard time bringing her head up to level except to gobble up some food. She is eating, but what gives with the apparent handicap?

Pond is 2700 gallons with 4700gph pump and EasyPro Aquafalls filter, EasyPro skimmer and Aqua UV filter. Have bottom drain and skimmer. Other fish are gold gold fish and shubunkins--about 15 total, all much smaller.

Any ideas, experience or help are most welcome

Rick,
Salem, OR

 

[cashb]

Possible swim bladder disorder? Can you post your water parameters? Did you quarantine the new fish? How do other fish look? How long have they been in the pond? Good luck, as you post more info, people can attempt to help. Any chance of pictures?

 

[D&RW]

I confess I haven't tested the water. I will now. I used to when I had an aquarium. No quarantine to new fish--reputable dealer. Other fish, including her mate, appear fine without any problems. The two big fish have been in the pond about 10 days. Once before I posted when I was building the pond and was asked for pictures. I was way too busy to figure out how to post them, but I will try again this weekend. I have a new job and will be pretty busy again.

thank you so much for the reply. my wife and i feel a strong sense of stewardship for our animal friends and birds.

Rick,
Salem, OR

 

[bunnymp]

The swimbladder is the organ responsible for buoyancy and when there is a problem with it, a fish can have difficulty rising to the surface ("sinker"), difficulty swimming to the bottom ("floater"), swims on its’ side or swims in the nose down vertical position. Constipation is the number one cause of Swim Bladder Disorder. Do some internet research for treatment.

 

[cashb]

Another cause of SBD is a bacterial problem in the pond... which is why you need to test your water to see if you have an issue. Are the other fish flashing or isolating? Any fin rot or lesions, ulcers, etc? I had a shubunkin that floated head up for months and finally died. It is painful to watch but there are things to try. One possible help is to salt. It is soothing and may create a better equilibrium. How does she look today?

 

[DrDave]

I had several Koi from last years crop that did that. Expert opinions fom known sources told me that the swim bladder can be damaged by a fish getting too close to a water inlet and that it is permanent. I waited several months before putting the fish down. What really sucks, is you can tell the fish is fighting for it's life and has plenty of energy.

 

[D&RW]

This evening she's eating vigorously. Swimming vigorously, but when she slows down still goes head down.

I've ordered 16 oz. melafix and primafix and will put it in the pond on arrival. I haven't seen any evidence of fin rot or white spots or other problem behaviors in the other fish. Seems isolated to her. BTW, the two big white fish are named Oscar and Wilde (pronounced willdee)

Dr. Dave pegged it--it really sucks because she's having to work her ass off to eat, but is eager and has plenty of energy. It's funny how one can develop an attachment to a fish so quickly.

I'll buy a test kit this weekend and test as thoroughly as I can. I don't guess you can test for bacterial contamination without a microscope, etc.

I will check the internet for solutions to contipation in fish. Thanks very much for all your concern. I'll keep you posted and try to post pictures this weekend.

Rick,
Salem,

 

[D&RW]

Actually quite a bit about swim bladder problems and also about constipation. Water quality is said to be primary cause of bladder issues while lack of food variety, dry food and types of food can lead to constipation. feeding frozen peas is one answer, another is soaking food in castor oil before feeding.

i'm going to try quarantining her in a smaller tank, primarily for a rest and feeding her flake and frozen live food plus peas for relief.

also will check water this weekend. more to follow.

 

[bunnymp]

Test the water as soon as you can.
Melafix and Primafix are not going to help if it is swim bladder. Actually their use is quite limited.

 

[D&RW]

Well, Wilde seems to be swimming better with less of a tendency to go head down. It's hard to tell though because she's zooming around hoping for food. Still does seem to be some tendency toward head down though. We decided not to feed them today and tomorrow we may not do so as well. Then we'll convert to flakes and maybe some freeze dried worms. Meanwhile,

I added salt per dosing instructions. I added some Cycle to try and boost the bacterial action a bit too. The water test came out as follows: Ammonia 0.5, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, pH 6.8, alkalinity 100, hardness 75, chlorine/chloramine 0, and I didn't test temp or have a way to test O2. I'll test the ammonia again in a few days. I'll keep you posted on Wilde's condition and try to post some flicks this weekend

 

[cashb]

Rick, do you do regular water changes? I think I would include a 25% water change and attempt to eliminate any ammonia. Of course you would replace salt lost... Glad she seems a little better and your idea to not feed is probably a good one. You said you had not tested before and I wonder if you have had ammonia before, and if your ph has been steady. I believe if the pond is cycled there should be no ammonia and there is usually a trace of nitrates. It is good she is eating, I wonder if medicated food would help if it is indeed a bacterial infection?? Anyone have any success feeding med food?

 

[bunnymp]

Look into why your amm is 0.5 and not 0. Are you overstocked? Overfeeding? Is there a lot of debris rotting at the bottom? I suggest a water change.

 

[D&RW]

This pond has been going for about 6-7 weeks.

We built the pond for Koi. It's 32 in deep at one end and 42 in deep at the skimmer/bottom drain end. I estimate the gallons at 2700 (avg 7ft wide by 17 ft long). We have about 17 fish, 10-11 are 2 in. Shubunkins, 4 are fancytail goldfish (about 4-5in each) and then the two large white goldfish.

Late last week I did a 15-20% water change and I cleaned out the Aquafalls filter box and filters (5 layers of varying matala filter media). I probably cleaned out a lot if not all of whatever helpful bacteria had colonized as well.

The reason I did the clean out is because when we were finalizing the pond I built a deck/walkway along one side to provide access to the plumbing and for a place to sit and watch the fish. I used regular wood and carefully coated it with Australian Timber Oil (a petroleum product). None went in the pond, but damned if it didn't rain (from sunny to rain in 1 hour) and a small amount of the oil went into the water.

I immediately flushed the pond by flooding it and washing down the lillies and water hyacinths. I pulled all the filters including those in the skimmer and flushed them as well. Since that time I've flooded it twice to try and remove any traces of the oil.

When I did this recent water change and cleaned all the filters and filter box I did it to check for any more oil. There was still a small (6 cm diameter) circle of oil on the remaining water in the filter box. I suctioned this out and flushed it thoroughly. I added a large jug of stress coat after the water change.

I feel really, really stupid about the oil contamination. I thought it was a natural product and was in such a hurry to finish up I didn't check. I don't think it hurt the fish because it floated and I flushed the pond thorougly. But I do think it killed the water hyacinths which turned yellow a few weeks later. The lillies and other plants are fine.

So, 40 lashes for sure. I think it's possible the ammonia is because I wiped out the beneficials with the last cleaning. Since then I've added a jar of Microblift and a bottle of Cycle. I'll do another water change soon.

As for Wilde, she seems even better today. I'll hold off the food until tomorrow and then I'll soak it first before feeding.

Rick,
Salem

 

[bunnymp]

Sounds reasonable. Keep us posted.

 

[DrDave]

I think you may have just identified the problem. The oil may have been ingested by the affected fish.

One of my prized Koi, developed a crooked spine shortly after my wife sprayed around the pond with malathion. I found out that malation can cause the condition my Koi had.

Oil is lighter than water and a droplet could have attached itself to a pellet that was eaten by this Koi.

If this is the case, your Koi may never fully recover but still might live a long life. I'm betting it is only one fish that has this problem, am I right? I may be wrong but before you medicate this fish to death consider the facts.

This part is for everyone on the Forum...​

Why does it always take so long to get all the facts? People, when you have a sick fish, gather everything you can think of before you panic and ask everyone for help. Some of the answers you get might kill your fish if all the facts are not known.