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Question
i've just noticed that my red cap oranda, who i've had for a little more than a year, seems to be having a little trouble swimming around at night. like, he has some trouble turning and floats at the surface, only at night. in the morning & afternoon he seems to swima round ok.

i feed him 3 soaked pellets in the morning and in the afternoon too. and i made sure the water quality is good too. and i feed him boiled peas about every 2 days in the afternoon.

so, what do you think is wrong and sould i be concerned ?

thank you

Answer
Hi Mel,

I'm not sure why your oranda would have difficulty swimming at night and not in the daytime. Look at the nutritional breakdown on the pellets and make sure that fat is around 5% and protein is no higher than 40%, mid 30s would be better.

Try expanding the diet so that it includes other vegetables for grazing. Cukes & zukes, yellow squash, leaves of spinach and romaine are all usually accepted by fancy goldfish and can be easily prepared by slicing the veg and weighing it down with a magnetic clip. Keep an eye on the feces of your red cap that appears to be floaty and bloaty at night. If you see white, stringy feces then medicate with a flake or pellet containing Metronidazole as the active ingredient.

Oh! Something did just occur to me. Is there a temperature drop at night? This can indeed cause buoyancy issues. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature during the daytime and then monitor it at night. If there's a significant drop, there's your trouble! Use a heater to maintain the temperature the same at night as it is in the daytime.

Hope that helps! Take care.
Nicole