fish illness

Question
Hi I have got 2 fancy goldfishes in a bowl for about 4 months now.one of them has suddenly started acting weird.It is feeding normaly and sometimes seems alright but most of the time it is floating on one of its sides and with no movement at all.it looks like dead.and  when it tries to swim it is not able to keep its balance.I have changed some water and planning to remove one live plant which has been there for couple of months now.I am really not sure.pls advice.thanks & regards

Answer
Hi There!

Ok first... Goldfish are very messy fish, and release a lot of ammonia into the water.  They can also get very large - some of the fancy types with bodies as large as softballs!  So a bowl, while seemingly large enough for young goldfish, is actually an unsuitable home.  Fish need at least a gallon of water per inch of fish.  Goldfish also need a lot of air in their water, so an air stone or bubble wand is a good thing to have as well.

What I think is wrong with your fish is swim bladder disorder.  The swim bladder is an organ in the fish that regulates the boyancy, allowing it to move up and down in the water.  This can become damaged several ways, such as an illness or parasite inside them, or feeding them too many dry foods, or too much food in general, causing constipation.  As well, it's a common problem in fancy goldfish, due to their body shape creating extra pressure on the organ.

Treatment for this is catch and miss, as knowing the exact cause of the issue is nearly impossible.  I recommend doubling the treatments, to reduce the ammount of time the fish can be affected.

To begin, I would slowly raise the temperature of the tank by 4 or 5 degrees(a degree every 12 hours).  Epsom salts are also beneficial, I would start adding these as well, an 8th of a teaspoon per 5g of water.  Depending on the size of your bowl, I would perform a 50% water change every other day(5g+) or do a 50% daily(less than 5g), using only aged, dechlored water.  

To treat for constipation, you need to fast the fish for three days, then blanch(half cook) a frozen/fresh pea, take the skin off, and crumble and feed this.  There are also anti-biotic foods and water medication that may also help.

Unfortunately, sometimes nothing can be done for fish with SBD.  Then you need to decide if the fish has an alright quality of life, and is still able to thrive, rather than just survive.  If the condition is too severe, people choose to euthanize the fish rather than make him suffer.

I hope you find this helpful!  I need to admit that I don't know much about fancy goldfish in specific, and looked it up to be sure I was advising the correct treatment.  I used several sites, but found this most informative - http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/Swim%20Bladder%20Disorder.html - you can go there to read more about the disorder and possible routes of treatment.