sick fish.. sitting at bottom

Question
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Followup To
Question -
We've got two goldfish...

Answer -
Hi Scott;

It sounds like they are just acting their age.....senior citizens. Goldfish live to be about 10 years old. Since yours are approaching that age now, they will not be as strong and can't fight off environmental stresses as a young fish could.

The first step is making frequent partial water changes. Remove 25% of the tank water at least once a week while vacuuming the gravel. Remember to use water conditioner when adding back the clean water. Good water chemistry will be the natural result. The fish will have healthier immune systems because of it.

Another step you can take is with their diet. Peas are a very good food for goldfish. Feed them after they have been cooked, cooled and popped from their tiny round shells. Break them a little bit to bite-size chunks. Chopped spinach, frozen brine shrimp, and live plants like anacharis, duckweed, cabomba, hornwort, etc., are also good things to have available to them. There are lots of healthy nutrients available in them that will help their immune systems.

I can't say that any of these measures will improve the swim bladder problem, but both fish should at least be a bit stronger for it.

You can join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://forums.about.com/ab-freshaquaria/start

There is a wealth of information there. My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Thanks for actually responding!  I didn't think I'd get an answer out of anyone.. anyways, I think the silver one (the older of the two by about a year) is OK for now at least.. but the orange one seems to be worse than I had originally thought.. he's almost falling over backwards, and his mouth is wide open... the tank was cleaned and water was changed a few weeks ago.. if/when they do die, and we get new fish, do you have a recommended diet that you'd feed them?  Right now we just give them wardleys goldfish flakes once a day.. my dad always fed them like that, and they seemed to be fine for a while.. anyways, should we try pellets?  or just continue with the flakes?

Also, a couple months ago, the orange one got stuck in an ornament we had in our tank.. he got scraped up really badly and almost lost a couple of fins.. he lost almost all the scales on one side of his body and was bleeding a lot.. before today, he seemed to have basically recovered fine from it.. that might have had something to do with it..

oh, yeah and i tried to register for the forums but it said the site was down..  

Answer
Hi Scott;

I think the orange one may be ready to go. Once they start acting that way there really isn't much you can do. I'm so sorry. Wish I had better news.

If the food you feed works well, just keep using it. Add the extra things to it for extra vitamins.

I noticed the site was down too. Try again in the morning and it may be up by then. They are doing maintenance or something.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins