hello, 29 gallon tank. Five...

Question
hello, 29 gallon tank. Five Goldfish,1 snail, 1 frog.
Filter system for 40 gallon tank,and air stone for more bubbles. Water is good                                               
        My wonderful big Oranda Goldfish has been staying at the bottom and not eating,or swimming for the past 2 days. I tryed putting in lettuce, and spinach but he wont eat that. I want to try hard to keep him alive.I don't know what to do? He kind of squirms around on  the bottom. He wants to swim, but he just can't. How do you treat a sick fish? Please help if you can. Thank you so much.......Barbie

Answer
Hi Barbie;

He has a swim bladder malfunction I think. The swim bladder is a hollow organ just below the spine inside of him. It controls buoyancy by deflating and inflating with blood gasses as needed. When it fails the swim bladder can't hold in the gasses that help him to float up anymore. It is deflated, often permanently. Sometimes it fails from infection or from a sudden drop in temperature. It can be from a genetic deformity too. There really isn't a cure for a failed swim bladder. You just have to wait for it to heal if it is going to. It is best to isolate the fish to a hospital tank, especially if he can't get enough food or the other fish are bothering him.

You can try treating him with antibiotics in case it was caused by infection. The trick is to give an antibiotic that gets inside the fish where infection is instead of treating the outside like other meds do. There are two that I know of so use the one you are able to find. They are "Kanacyn" by Aquatronics and "Maracyn 2" by Mardel. Use one or the other. Having to use medication is another good reason to use a hospital tank. Medications can foul the water after they are finished doing their work and a hospital tank is much easier to clean up after this. Your hospital tank should be 5 or 10 gallons and have no gravel and no filter, just an air pump that powers an airstone (bubbler) for oxygen. Since he is a goldfish he doesn't need a heater either. You will need to change 50% of the water in the hospital tank every other day. Antibiotics decay and become useless after 24 hours in the water, so it is okay to do the changes, just do them right before the next dose of medicine. The changes will help prevent the water from becoming so full of waste and decayed medicine that it makes him even more sick.

You can also try feeding peas to him. It may help his swim bladder to clear itself out as the medicine works. Goldfish have a unique digestive system. Their swim bladder is kind of tied in to their digestive systems. If they have intestinal trouble it can affect the swim bladder, and trouble in the swim bladder can affect the digestion. The peas act as a laxative so the intestines can work more freely. Remove any uneaten food from the tank right away so it doesn't poison the water.

Followups Welcome

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Chris Robbins

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