Thank you!

Question
Hi!
Thank you very much for your advice!  It was very helpful.  I managed to find a 10 gallon tank that a friend of my sister's will let me use, and I got that set up tonight.  I also bought some testing strips to check ammonia, pH, nitrate, etc in the tank, and the old water WAS pretty poor, so I checked the new water quality (in the 10 gallon), and it was much better, so we put my fish in it, and almost instantaneously he was swimming around like normal and back to his perky self!  I hadn't heard of feeding my fish peas before, but it makes sense, and it's a nice, simple, free way to help them out, so I'll keep your advice in mind!  Thank you again very much for your time and concern!

         ~Rebecca Swanson





-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
Hi!  
I bought a fan-tailed goldfish about a year ago that has been the healthiest, happiest fish I have ever owned, and it has never caused me problems yet until now.  Currently it is about 5 inches long (it's pretty big!), but only in a 5 gallon tank (which I cleaned yesterday), though I had been planning to transition it to my 10 gallon sometime today.  The filter in the 5 gallon stopped working yesterday, so I just unplugged it, and when I woke up this morning, my fish was floating belly-up, but still alive and breathing.  Appearance-wise it looks okay, but is it just bloated, or is there something I can buy medication for?  
Answer -
Hi Rebecca;

Change his water again to get the toxins out of the water and give him green peas to eat. Cook a few, cool them and pop them out of their little round shells for him to eat. If his intestines have gas, the peas should help him expel it. If he doesn't eat, he may be experiencing the effects of oxygen deprivation. Get the filter working as soon as possible. Make sure you rinse it out before turning it on. Letting a filter sit can cause nasty toxins to build up in the standing water.

He really needs a much bigger tank. A 55 is more appropriate for larger goldfish like him. They can't be physically fit if they get no exercise. That may be one of the reasons he got sick so easily. Without a strong body he just couldn't tolerate the stress.

Hoping for the best for your friend........

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!

Answer
Hi Rebecca;

You are very welcome! I am glad I have had the opportunity to help.

Peas and other green foods like chopped spinach and romaine lettuce are very helpful to goldfish. It just kinda keeps 'em "regular" (if ya know what I mean)......

Take care and God Bless.....

Chris Robbins