swim bladder disease

Question
QUESTION: i have a goldfish. He recently started lying at the bottom of the 2  gallon tank. Hes 1 1/2  inches. He is in an arch shape. He also refuses to eat. After i cleaned the tank he lookked better, but the day after he got sucked to my filter. I unplugged it immediately. He also has a white spot and red tail streaking. He will not eat any peas or flakes. He is alive but barely moves. Please help ! I love him!

ANSWER: Hi Bekka,
Sorry to hear that!

A 2-gallon is very small for a goldfish. They are big waste producers and quickly pollute their own tank in just a very short amount of time. Furthermore, if the tank hasn't grown a 'biofilter' which is a name for special good bacteria that develop to help control the ammonia all fish produce then the situation gets even worse.

If the tank cleaning routine involves scrubbing everything or rinsing the tank out then that would be wiping out the good bacteria in the tank. You may already do this but its best to use a gravel siphon to clean fishtanks. Just siphon waste from the bottom and you won't harm the biofilter so much.

Water changes are the best thing you can do for your fish.

You did the right thing by cleaning his tank. Just be careful of overdoing it with the cleaning. Make sure to try to match the temp of the new water with the temp of his old water as best you can and always use water conditioner.

The white spot could be an injury site. Often these will appear as smooth marks or even a bump on the fish that will heal with time in most cases. The red streaking could be damage or it could be ammonia poisoning. Goldfish are notorious for showing the red streaking in their fin rays especially if the water quality is very poor.

The best thing you can do is make sure his water is clean and treated with a water conditioner and you might want to use an ammonia neutralizer like 'Ammo-lock' to help. Some water conditioners do also neutralize ammonia as well like amquel+ or prime.

The poor guy has been through a lot it sounds like. I can't guarantee he will pull through. But at least you are trying to help the little goldfish.

Hope this helps!
Susan~



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks! I always seiphon! I am setting up a much latger tank i will clean also! How long until i can put him in the larger tank if he lives?

Answer
Hi Bekka,
Good to hear you do siphon the tank! :)

If your goldie lives then I would put him in the bigger tank as soon as you have the equipment running smoothly (filter and the water has settled) which could be in about 2-3 hours. Even though the bigger tank won't be cycled right away its much better for him to be in a bigger tank that can handle a little more pollution than stay in a small tank that gets polluted very quickly. Either way he is at risk, but much less so in a larger tank.

Be sure and try to do 50% water changes on the new tank while the goldfish is in there (if he lives) to avoid any drastic pollution buildup until the tank has cycled (in about 4-6 weeks)
Doing these big water changes every 2-3 days would be great.

I hope this helps and good luck!
Susan~