: Is my fish going to die? My redcap orlanda seems to be in fairly critical condition, he just floats up and torpedoes to the bottom, then floats at the top for a while, his gills are still moving and he is still trying to

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

Fancy goldfish are prone to swim bladder issues related to several different causes... some minor, some more serious. The wrong foods can cause digestive bloating and/or constipation and this can put pressure on either of the swim bladders or the lines leading to them and this prevents the fish from being able to control their swim bladders. Try feeding green pea (pinch the shells off and discard the shells.. then mash the meat a little if your fish are really small. This will help cure constipation issues.

Other causes can be internal bacterial or parasitic issues causing inflammation of digestive tract or other organs causing the same pressure on the lines or swim bladders.

Fancy goldfish are prone to this because of the inbreeding that took place to create the deformities and mutations you can see on the outside also can cause deformities and mutations to internal organs as well. Further, their two swim bladders, which are normally spread out far away from each other in normal goldfish, are all crammed together in fancy goldfish due to their compacted and round body shape.

Start doing daily 25% PWC's (partial water changes) as dirty water will also cause fish to get sick much faster so giving them clean water will help them get well faster.