Upside Down Goldfish....

Question
Hi!



I bought a fantail goldfish recently.  He had a journey of about an hour to transfer from the shop where I bought him to my place of residence.  When I put him in the tank with the two goldfish already in there he had extreme buoyancy problems and was unable to swim the correct way round - he instead was bobbing onto his back.  The problem seemed to rectify itself and the Fantail (or Fancy Pants as I fondly named him!) was able to swim correctly.  However, since this little debacle Fancy Pants now appears to like being upside down and even though he can swim correctly I will always find him in the tank resting/floating upside down.  He is that close to the surface that I am able to stroke his undercarrige and he doesn't make much effort to get away.  As far as I can see he is breathing normally.  He eats when he should.  Is this normal or is Fancy Pants on his way to porcelain heaven????  Thanks for your help!!!!!

Answer
Well, I wish this was normal, as it would be very neat to have a goldfish that was a comedian, but sadly it is not normal. It sounds like he has a bladder problem. This is a major issue sometimes with goldfish because they eat fast and have odd bellies. There are a few things that might help him, 1. put some lettuce or broccoli in the tank for them to eat (this helps a bladder issue) 2. get an internal parasite treatment, covering bladder problems or bloat, and treat him. Use both ideas together as both will have a better chance of helping him get better. He could get better but of course with fish, especially goldfish, there are no guarantees and it all depends on how stressed he already is. Try these ideas and feel free to get back to me if he does not get better. I hope it helps and he gets better and returns to his "fancy pants" self. Let me know if you need anything else.