bleeding fish please help!

Question
I have a small tank with 1 black goldfish, ive had since september 2003, theres no filter system, for the past week its been swimming on its stomach for a week and today i found that its bleeding from its stomach what could that be and what could i do? please help!!

Answer
Hi Rachel;

It could be a bacterial infection from scraping on the bottom of the tank. Being on the bottom a lot could be from an infected and/or damaged swim bladder. Change the water and clean the gravel to eliminate any excess waste and bad germs. Add aquarium salt to the tank at the rate of one teapoon per gallon. Use a medication from the fish store made for bacterial infections like "Maracyn" or "Maracyn 2". Maracyn 2 might be the best so it can also work on the possible infection that may have caused him to lose the function of his swim bladder.

Clean the tank every week to help prevent more trouble in the future.

Followups welcome.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins