Oranda swimming upside down

Question
Hi Karen, This evening my Oranda began swimming upside down - I tried feeding it a few flakes to see if he would eat them and he did. Called the pet store and was told to change the water. Did that but it didn't help although he does seem to right himself for a bit and then is upside down again. Then I googled the problem and found your site. I had some frozen peas and took the skin off two of them and put them in the water. He's been nibbling on one but basically it is still there. I saw your suggestion to try fasting for a day and I will try that tomorrow. Kip is in about a gallon size bowl and has been very frisky and healthy up until about an hour ago...I am heartsick about this as he is a friendly little guy always swimming to the side of his bowl and doing "tricks" to let me know it is feeding time...I never even knew Oranda's were so smart. Do you have any ideas of other things I can do? Would Melafix help at all?  Thank you so much for anything at all you could suggest.

Answer
Hi Cheryl,
Orandas are quite endearing creatures with their friendly personalities.

I'm glad you did some research and found this site!

I am quite certain he does indeed have a swim bladder problem. Its important to understand "swim bladder disorder" is not a disease, but a condition usually related to problems varying from their diet to even genetic problems. Problems with their diet is the most common cause. Due to the shortened bodies of fancy goldfish like Orandas, their internal organs are much more crowded together, which makes them more susceptible to having things go wrong with their swim bladder.

Problems like feeding too much food at one time can end up putting pressure on the swim bladder causing him to loose equilibrium.

If the Oranda swallows food that is still dry like flakes or pellets. The food can swell with water in his intestines and put pressure on the swim bladder.

Some sources say that goldfish gobbling food from the surface swallow too much air and therefore have problems swimming due to trapped air. While this may be true to some extent or more so with only a few individual goldfish. I do observe when goldfish feed in this way, they seem to "burp" a bubble or two a few seconds afterward. Regardless, it is better to sink any dry food like flakes below the surface.

Constipation is common in fancy goldfish and can cause sluggish behavior and swimming problems as well. The thing to do is offer more greens in their diet on a daily basis and cut back on protein-rich food.


One thing to be very careful about (I'm sure you are aware of it too) is because your Oranda is living in such a small volume of water, he can pollute it very fast and create a very risky environment that could cause bacterial infections, ammonia burns on his fins and body, and even trouble breathing properly. Frequent water changes are vital for keeping him healthy longterm. And a larger aquarium would be a much better environment for him. Even an upgrade to a filtered 10-gallon aquarium would be wonderful.

For now, just make sure to keep the water clean as best you can. Changing about 50% or more of the water every day and removing uneaten food.

Have you tried mashing the peas well and then offering them? Usually whole peas are harder for fish to eat and mashing them up makes them much more easy to swallow.

See how holding off from his regular food goes and let him have plenty of greens in his diet.

If you'd like much more goldfish info, please visit this great goldfish website -

www.thegab.org

I hope this helps and best of luck!
Karen~