Swim Bladder damage in fantail

Question

Tommy the upside down   Dear Jaymie,

I have a fantail goldfish that showed signs of swim bladder disease about a year ago. I gave him medications and changed the water and things went back to normal. Several months after that, it showed up again. I have kept my water clean and filtrated, I have given him medications, and I have fed him peas and other fresh food (I even tried frozen blood worms for a while) on and off with their (I have several goldfish in the same tank) regular flakes. He seems healthy in all other aspects but he can't keep himself upright unless he's swimming around the tank looking for food. For the most part he gets lazy and just floats (until it's time to eat). He has always been an aggressive eater which may be part of his problem. Tommy has been like this for quite a few months now (I'd say a little over 4 now) and nothing seems to be changing no matter what I try. I've been feeding them mostly peas lately and sometimes I have them fast for a day or two but he still floats.

My first question would be, how safe is it to feed them nothing but shelled peas (and maybe some grape pieces) for an extended amount of time? Will they get the nutrition they need if I stop alternating between flakes and peas and give them only peas and other fresh foods for a couple of weeks straight? What other fresh foods can I feed them?

The other question I have would be, is it possible he has permanent damage to his swim bladder? If so, what can I do to help him? I had a large decoration in the tank that he could swim into for relief but apparently he is just a bit too fat for it because he got stuck in there once and needed some help getting un-stuck so I had to take it out. Would it be a good idea to get one a little bigger and try again?

I have come across a few illnesses in my time owning goldfish and I've even had a fish that was miraculously cured (with medication of course) of some kind of tumor that she had growing out of her head, yet I can't seem to cure Tommy this time. I don't know if this is a battle that can still be fought and won or if the damage has been done and it's just a matter of making sure Tommy stays happy and gets some relief. He's a happy fish (as long as he gets to eat) and I love him to death despite his handicap, I just feel bad that he has to hang around upside down all the time. If you have any ideas please let me know. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Breanna

P.S. In the picture the water is a tad dirty cause I've had them on a medication that required me to take the carbon out but it's not yellow, my wall is yellow (just so you know ha ha). :)Also, Tommy has some red streaks in his tail. I've treated him for this before and I've been trying some different medications over the last few weeks (with water changes between each medication of course) but they aren't gone yet so I don't know if the two problems are tied together or not.

Answer
Breanna,
There are a couple of reasons a goldfish, or any fish, will float upside down. On being swim bladder disease and another being constipation. I will cover Constipation first. Sometime, their digestive tract will get clogged. To help with this problem, you fast your fish for 2 days. On day 3, you feed the cooked, shelled pea and then fast again for 2 days. Make sure the pea is cooked. I would suggest feeding the brine shrimp at least once a day. This will help prevent constipation. The problem that I think your fish is having is swim bladder disease. This is a little more complicated, but it is still curable. The most common reason a goldfish gets swim bladder disease, is food. When they go to the surface of the water to grab the food, they grab air as well. Once the swim bladder is full of air, the fish will flip over. The best way to try to prevent this problem is to make sure you feed them pellets made for goldfish and koi that sinks. Never feed goldfish food that floats When you feed them, make sure you drop the food near the filter's air flow. This is the water coming out of the filter. When you drop the food there, the out flow shoots the food to the bottom of the tank. I would not recommend feeding them only peas for a long period of time. It is best to feed them food that is made for them. I think that once you do the cooked pea as mentioned earlier, and try the new food, your fish should start to get better.