goldfish not moving its tail

Question
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Followup To
Question -
I have a goldfish that is not moving its tail.
It is a three year old pet store quailty fantail that I got for .75 cents and I have grown rather attached to the little guy.
Water quality is good, no ammonia, no nitrates, good ph, good water hardness. Fish has been eating and pooping.  Fish eats anything from Pro gold food to oranges, with live plants inbetween.  Fish seem happy, can swim upright, just seems like its lost the use of its tail.
Fish acts like it was shocked, but it was not.
No known diseases, is in a hospital tank as of this time.
Has had this problem for about a week, no change in its condition.
I have run out of answers, HELP!
Nathan
Answer -
Hi Nathan;

Is he able to swim up in the water normally or does he seem to only be able to sit on the bottom of the tank?

Chris Robbins


With the exception that he doesn't use his tail at all, he swims normally.  He seems to like the middle level of the tank, he just hovers there, doesn't sit on the bottom, nor float at the top.
I can't say that he swims normally however, he only uses his pect to propel himself

Answer
Hi Nathan;

That's very strange. At least he can still maintain his buoyancy. You might try feeding peas to clear his digestion. Sometimes digestive trouble can make fish have trouble with their back end.

Post your question over on the freshwater fish forum. There might be someone there who has seen this before. You can post our entire correspondence if you want to. It might help them to know what we both said. The address is below my signature;

Followups Welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!