My fish is behaving oddly.

Question
QUESTION: I have three fish sharing a cold water 10 gallon tank. I have one Black Moor
(2-3inches long) and two fantails; one is white/translucent (1 inch long) and
one is bright gold (1 1/2 inches). The gold one is "Figi". I just came back from
a week long business trip (they have an automaatic feeder) and noticed that
Figi is struggling to keep himself level in the water. I noticed that when he
stops to float or glide through the water, he begins to sharply tip up on his
nose and then has to start swimming again so he doesn't flip over completely.
I seperated it from the other two fish in a 1 gallon fishbowl with some of the
larger tank's water, rocks, and one fake plant. I tested the water in the large
tank - everything was normal and in a safe range. After I seperated him, I
noticed he was wedging himself under the plant leaves so he could rest while
the plant held him in a level position. By the next morning, he was either
floating at the top, sitting at the bottom, or swimming erractically around and
around the bowl. Still a slight buoyancy problem. What is causing this, how
do I help him, when will I know he's okay enough to put back in with my other
fish? Thank you ahead of time for answering my questions! I really will
appreciate it.

ANSWER: Hi Monica:  I would suspect an intestinal blockage with Figi.  I would feed him nothing but brine shrimp for the next few days to see if the brine shrimp can help him to pass his blockage.  If this does not work then please let me know because he may have a swim bladder issue and I can recommend medication at that time.... dave

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

QUESTION: Hi Dave- I don't have a car, so I looked online for brine shrimp, but wasn't
finding anything that could be shipped overnite, and so then I had to find a
ride to the closest pet store which is 40 minutes away. I just got the shrimp
last night and into the tank. It was a frozen cube variety.  Since my last
question, I have noticed a few other things: Figi's fishbowl is getting very
slimy - like overnite. The first day I saw this, I completely changed the water
and rinsed off all the rocks and the plant. I also have put a new bubble stone
in there with him. The tank has lots of little bubbles on the sides of the
fishbowl now and the water is getting cloudy. I've not done anything to the
water since then. Except I removed the plant, since I read somewhere that
they are a breeding ground for bacteria.  Figi does't seem to be eating
anything. He sits at the bottom of the bowl and only if I bother him or get real
close will he swim erractically around the bowl and then go to the bottom
again. The other really odd thing I've noticed, is that Figi had a line of red
spots on his scales, in a row, all the way down his body on both sides. At first
I thought that this must be part of his natural markings and then the next day
I noticed that it had moved further down his body. I can't find anything online
about this so far. What do you think about it? Oh and I noticed last night that
my Moor, Mombo, has a small white spot in between her eyes, just above her
nose. It doesn't look like a garin of salt to me, just a soft white patch. She
also has a similar line of dots down her sides, but on her they are black-
looking not red. She's always been slower than the other two fish, but I think
she's spending more time resting in the back corner or under the filter than
usual. Her current tank mate (the other fantail) is Cheeky, who over the past
few months has been getting a yellow stained look on his head, back and tail
fins. I read somewhere that color change was normal for a goldfish, so I
wasn't worried about it. But now I'm wondering if every little thing is a bad
sign or symptom. Also I feel like I should mention that about a month ago I
was having problems with the larger tank's Nitrate and Nitrite levels. They
were both in the danger range and I could not get it corrected with additions
of chemicals and such. So I did a complete 95% water change, rinsing all the
rocks from the bottom, the plants, and their caves. I usually only do a 25 -
50% water change and a carbon filter replacement once a month. Since then
the water quality has been great. Please tell me what I should do next? How
long do I need to wait for the shrimp to work? Can I put Figi back in with the
other fish yet? I don't like keeping him cramped up in that little fishbowl.
Thank you for you 1st quick response. I really am thankful to you for listening
to my Goldies woes.

Answer
I would  put him back with the other fish and feed them all the brine. The white spot on Mombo is probably just a scrape... nothing to worry about unless it starts to grow.  The goal with Figi is to get him to eat...if he can eat I am pretty sure he will be ok...  The red spots may be a form of septicemia you can look that up on the Internet and see pictures of it. Usually it presents with blood in the fins.  If you think that they have septicemia then  you will need to get antibiotics for them.  I am fond of the Mardel produts Myacyn and Myacyn 2....  keep me posted... dave