Our goldfish swims upside down
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What to do when you find your goldfish swimming upside down
One of our goldfish swims upside down! The first time I knew of it I heard a little voice ask "Mummy, why is the goldfish swimming upside down?" Oh-oh. That doesn't sound good. Is it going to be tears before bedtime?
When I saw this upside down goldfish, (yes, we had a goldfish floating upside down) I thought it would be floating lifeless by the next morning. But it wasn't. Although it did not seem too uncomfortable, I assume that it must have been rather disorientating for the poor thing and me being me headed off to the PC to "Google" the phrase "upside down goldfish".
This lens discusses what I learned about swimbladder problems and upside down goldfish and how I cured my poor sick goldfish.
Lens photo reproduced under the GNU_Free_Documentation_License
by permission of Manuel Anastacio
When I saw this upside down goldfish, (yes, we had a goldfish floating upside down) I thought it would be floating lifeless by the next morning. But it wasn't. Although it did not seem too uncomfortable, I assume that it must have been rather disorientating for the poor thing and me being me headed off to the PC to "Google" the phrase "upside down goldfish".
This lens discusses what I learned about swimbladder problems and upside down goldfish and how I cured my poor sick goldfish.
Lens photo reproduced under the GNU_Free_Documentation_License
by permission of Manuel Anastacio
Contents at a Glance
Before you ask: "Why worry about a fish?"
Fish are extremely intelligent beings!
curated content from YouTube
Swimbladder problems
Why do goldfish swim upside down?
Fish losing their equilibrium and being unable to maintain their position is usually caused by swimbladder problems or swimbladder disease. This may result in the fish being unable to stay upright, swimming strangely or awkwardly and lying upside down in the bottom of the tank or in plants. Or the goldfish is floating upside down.
The swimbladder is an air-filled sack that is located just under the fish's vertebrae, just at the top of the abdominal cavity. The fish maintains its buoyancy and adjusts its position in the water by inflating and deflating the swimbladder.
The swim-bladder can be affected by various diseases or it may just play up, causing problems with over or under inflation. Anything that affects the normal functioning of the swimbladder is going to cause huge problems for the fish.
However, it's not just swimbladder disease or problems that can cause difficulties with the fish' equilibrium as there are diseases of the other organs that can also affect the fish, such as in the kidneys or the intestines. If the affected organs are swollen then they can cause pressure on the swim-bladder. This is often a problem with fancy goldfish, where the body cavity is abnormally short compared to the size of the fish.
Goldfish swimming upside down
© aj2008
The swimbladder is an air-filled sack that is located just under the fish's vertebrae, just at the top of the abdominal cavity. The fish maintains its buoyancy and adjusts its position in the water by inflating and deflating the swimbladder.
The swim-bladder can be affected by various diseases or it may just play up, causing problems with over or under inflation. Anything that affects the normal functioning of the swimbladder is going to cause huge problems for the fish.
However, it's not just swimbladder disease or problems that can cause difficulties with the fish' equilibrium as there are diseases of the other organs that can also affect the fish, such as in the kidneys or the intestines. If the affected organs are swollen then they can cause pressure on the swim-bladder. This is often a problem with fancy goldfish, where the body cavity is abnormally short compared to the size of the fish.
Two goldfish were in their tank.
One turns to the other and says:
"You man the guns, I'll drive."
Anatomy of a fish
May help you understand why you have a sick goldfish
Anatomy of a fish
reproduced under Creative Commons License Share Alike 2.5
by permission of Uwe Gille
Key to diagram
1 liver
2 stomach
3 intestine
4 heart
5 swim bladder
6 kidney
7 testicle
8 ureter
9 efferent duct
10 urinary bladder
11 gills
Possible treatments for Swimbladder
Why do goldfish swim upside down?
Treating a sick goldfish is extremely difficult and they often die before you have had time to diagnose the problem. The fish may be constipated and as it can hardly tell you the last time it "went", you are going to have quite a task trying to establish if it is "going" regularly. The only way you can tell if a fish may be constipated is if you see long strands of poo hanging from it.I saw one website that suggested a series of anti-biotic injections may help if it is a swimbladder disease or infection - whaaat? Can you imagine it? Working out what to put it in so you can drive it to the vet and praying that you don't have to do an emergency stop on the way!
This same website said a report suggested "wedging" the fish upright between two objects and that this report was helpful. Whaaat? (Again!)
What two objects do you wedge it with? Hang on, I'll just go and get hubby's vice out of the shed!
One of the more sensible suggestions I saw, was that if you think your goldfish is constipated then put it in a bath of Epsom salts - 70g per litre for 5 minutes, which will act as a laxative. But please remember to use water from the fish tank not the tap, or you may cure the constipation but you will kill it with the chemicals in the tap water!
The problem with that suggested treatment was we did not have any Epsom Salts in the house. Why is it whenever you need a remedy, it is midnight and all the shops are closed?
Module photo: © aj2008
Guides to keeping goldfish
How to keep your goldfish healthy
What do you call
a fish with no eyes?
A fsh
The treatment I used to help our upside down goldfish
Frozen peas
Yes, frozen peas! We always have a supply of those as it is one of the few vegetables that Lizzie will eat (dear sweet child!) All you do is run the peas under the tap to defrost them, peel off and discard the outer skin as it is too tough for the fish to be able to digest and crush them up into small pieces. Feed the peas to the fish.
The first time I "treated" our sick goldfish, it could not get to the peas as they sank to the bottom of the tank. So I got out the smaller goldfish bowl that I use to put the fish in when I am doing a major clean of their tank. As there was less water in the bowl, the fish had less buoyancy, so he was able to feed off the bottom. Once it had eaten the peas, he was fine within a couple of hours. The recovery was extremely rapid.
Why did the peas work?
The peas help because it is believed that they clear out the fish's digestive tract by removing food blockages and trapped air. The standard flaked food we give our fish has a lot of protein which can lead to goldfish constipation.
The first time I "treated" our sick goldfish, it could not get to the peas as they sank to the bottom of the tank. So I got out the smaller goldfish bowl that I use to put the fish in when I am doing a major clean of their tank. As there was less water in the bowl, the fish had less buoyancy, so he was able to feed off the bottom. Once it had eaten the peas, he was fine within a couple of hours. The recovery was extremely rapid.
The goldfish is not sick anymore!
© aj2008
Why did the peas work?
The peas help because it is believed that they clear out the fish's digestive tract by removing food blockages and trapped air. The standard flaked food we give our fish has a lot of protein which can lead to goldfish constipation.
T-Shirts for fish lovers
Preventing swimbladder problems from recurring
A varied diet is the answer
"Mum, the fish is swimming upside down again!"
Just recently, the fish started swimming upside down again. So I went back onto the net and did some more research.
I discovered that being omnivores goldfish have evolved to eat a wide variety of foods, both animal and vegetable and to thrive they need a range of foods. Fish flakes do not provide all the variety your fish needs.
Goldfish benefit from occasionally having live food such as brine shrimp or daphnia. Brine shrimps are a great source of protein; daphnia are ideal for helping goldfish avoid constipation.
To improve your fish's digestion replace a couple of meals a week with live food but switch off the tank filter before adding it, or it could be filtered before the fish can get to it. Remember to switch it back on again!
Just recently, the fish started swimming upside down again. So I went back onto the net and did some more research.
I discovered that being omnivores goldfish have evolved to eat a wide variety of foods, both animal and vegetable and to thrive they need a range of foods. Fish flakes do not provide all the variety your fish needs.
Goldfish benefit from occasionally having live food such as brine shrimp or daphnia. Brine shrimps are a great source of protein; daphnia are ideal for helping goldfish avoid constipation.
To improve your fish's digestion replace a couple of meals a week with live food but switch off the tank filter before adding it, or it could be filtered before the fish can get to it. Remember to switch it back on again!
Two fish swim into a concrete wall.
One turns to the other and says: "Dam!"
Goldfish also enjoy salad
Greens in their diet can help their colouring
reproduced under Creative Commons License Share Alike 2.5
by permission of OpenCage
Goldfish also enjoy lettuce leaves and fresh spinach. Rinse in clean water, then cut into small pieces and drop them in the tank.
These leaves are a good source of the vitamins and minerals your fish need. They also contain carotenoids. These red and yellow plant pigments may also improve the colouring of your goldfish!
The Goldfish Doctor
A step-by-step guide to the diagnosis, treatment and cure of sick goldfish
The Goldfish Doctor
Diagnosing health problems in Goldfish can be tricky!
The Goldfish Doctor is a step by step guide tells you
how to diagnose and cure sick Goldfish.
There's charts that help you lookup the symptoms, you follow the steps to treat the symptoms and then just as important there's help to identify the causes,
so you can eliminate them and keep your fish healthy.
Buy and Dowload The Goldfish Doctor NOW!
Goldfish Care
More info about keeping and caring for Goldfish
Sources of information about keeping Goldfish, plus links to more help and downloads
- Fish doc
- Fish Disease diagnosis & fish disease treatments
- Goldfish info.com
- Diagnostic guide to identifying disease among goldfish
- The Goldfish Doctor
- Now you can help your goldfish back to health, and help ensure it stays that way.
- Fishkeeping.co
- Fishkeeping - Keeping Goldfish - The Right Way - Coldwater Articles - Articles
- Pets at home
- Guide to keeping a Goldfish
- Golden Rules for Keeping Goldfish
- Information on the history and development of goldfish, goldfish breeding, and the golden rules for keeping goldfish
- Oneliners and jokes
- Goldfish jokes. All puns intended!
- Fishkeeping Forums
- Advice for tropical, coldwater and marine fishkeeping. Fish, tanks, plants - your questions answered.
- Animal Jokes
- Goldfish jokes and other animal jokes.
Goldfish on Zazzle
Pearlscale Goldfish Mousepad by twopurringcats
Create your own custom mousepads on zazzle.com
RIP
Upsidedown Goldfish
07 June 2010
Today our goldfish passed away.
We had kept him upright, apart from some brief occasional relapses,
for three years following his first upside down episode.
We had him/her for around 10 years.
Not bad for an upside down goldfish!
Did this page help your upside down Goldfish?
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Have you ever managed to successfully treat a sick goldfish?
Have you ever found your goldfish swimming upside down?
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AnnaleeBlysse
Feb 12, 2012 @ 10:53 pm | delete
- I never did get very good with goldfish. I used to have a tank of them. Then I agreed to take care of my friend's cat.
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debnet
Feb 2, 2012 @ 12:54 pm | delete
- Isn't it amazing what you can use frozen peas for?? Sorry to hear the fish has now gone to a greater pool in the sky. ~~Blessed~~
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elizathielker
Jan 27, 2012 @ 5:14 pm | delete
- This is amazing! And useful. My niece is always having trouble with her fish. After reading this page I'm thinking of buying a goldfish for myself, now that I know how to keep it healthy. Upside down fish. Wow/
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lorindaleigh
Jan 24, 2012 @ 10:53 pm | delete
- The pea method worked miracles for my mollies and bettas!
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kathysart
Jan 23, 2012 @ 1:27 pm | delete
- Yes, I've "tried".. so this is great lens with wonderful info! Angel blessed too!
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Edutopia
Jan 15, 2012 @ 4:13 pm | delete
- huh, this is more about Goldfish than I ever thought I'd know. Was an interesting lens though, good job and keep up the good work!
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nora kiwikiwi
Dec 30, 2011 @ 5:58 am | delete
- i was in such a panic coz my 10 year old fish died of the same thing...this is such a help. coz fishes are fish who would have thought there would be cure for such small creation. I went the aquarium store and bought medicine and i am hoping it will work..my fish has made some improvement but at the same time i am worrying about my other goldfish that is happily swimming around. will try the pea and hope it will survive. so dont want him 2 go but what can u do when u cannot save your fish
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di
Dec 29, 2011 @ 5:53 am | delete
- Hi there, Goldie the goldfish has been alive and well for 12 years now, my son says 13...great fish, lives alone in his tank but just recently been noticing odd behavior of being at corner of the tank fin up, head down and my son noticed that tonight he was upside down, looks like sleeping but breathing. I read your responses and will try the peas tmwr..but what about lettuce? I have that and was going to put some tiny pieces in there maybe just 1 or 2. I changed the tank water and lowered it about 1/2...Goldie who is 12 years old never had any filtration system by the way, just kept expanding the tank. For being 12 years old, not bad!
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adamfader
Dec 29, 2011 @ 12:41 am | delete
- Cool lens! I had a goldfish swimming on its side all of a sudden and figured it was done for, but the next day it was still alive. It ended up living for about 2 more years. I guess it had some bladder issues.
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jadehorseshoe
Dec 23, 2011 @ 1:43 pm | delete
- USEFUL Lens!
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Michael
Dec 5, 2011 @ 9:29 pm | delete
- Thank You for your advice on constipated Goldfish one of our fish has had those strings hang for months and today he was upside down. Everywhere I went this was said to be a bladder problem when I read your site and it mentioned constipation it made sense. So off to the drug store I went and bought regular epsom salt did as advised. Put the fish back into the tank at which time it was not moving. I thought maybe I had killed it. I started moving it around the tank wiith hand hand slowly it started to move. I kept moving it around when I walked by and see it wasn't moving. Now 3 hours later it is swimming as if there was never a problem. I have now add aquarium salt to the tank as I understand constipation is a common problem with goldfish and the salt helps them to digest better. Thanks Again my children are jumping for joy!!
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aj2008
Dec 6, 2011 @ 3:53 am | delete
- So pleased to see a happy ending to this story :)
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Lissa
Dec 8, 2011 @ 8:31 pm | delete
- How much salt and what size bowl do you use? How long do you leave the fish in the salt water? He has been upside down since Dec 5. I tried to feed him the peas but he is still upside down and our other gold fish is darting back and forth. Please help
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aj2008
Dec 9, 2011 @ 4:37 am | delete
- I would NOT use Epsom Salts at this stage. Put the fish in another bowl with some water from its normal fish tank.
Use just enough water so that there's approx an inch of water above the fish. The water needs to be as shallow as possible to allow the fish to swim around. The shallow water will make it more likely for the fish to be able to stay upright - when a fish has swim bladder problems, the deep water in the tank makes it even more difficult for the fish to stay upright.
Then feed the peas. If the fish cannot stay upright in order to be able to pick up the peas from the bottom of the bowl then make sure you have crushed the peas into as tiny pieces as possible and hand feed it a small piece at a time. Just hold the piece of pea as close to the front of its mouth as you can and let the fish take it - dont force feed it.
Just feed a small amount at a time. Then leave it for awhile and see if it will take more.
Wash your hands and rinse them thoroughly before you do this, to make sure there's nothing on your hands that is toxic to the fish.
Once the fish is able to stay upright, add some more water from the tank to make the water deeper. If it is still upright then you can return the fish to the tank. Keep feeding peas on a regular basis.
If the fish needs to stay in the separate bowl for more than a day, change the water with more water from the tank so the water is not fouled.
If you read through this page you will see I never gave our Fish Epsom Salts so I do not know what measurements to use.
I hope this helps.
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Lissa Leslie
Dec 9, 2011 @ 9:35 pm | delete
- He was at the bottom of the tank this morning I just read your email at 9pm I took him out from the bottom and put him in a small bowl with an inch of water over him. I tried to feed the peas but he seems so lifeless now. He is on his side instead of upside down! That should be a sign of some sort. His breathing is shallow . I had read michaels post that mentioned the salt. I am not going to add any!! I just want him to live. Thank you so much! God bless you for helping us. We are at his bedside now. Lissa
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AJ is Always Juggling
But every so often she drops the balls!
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