Oranda floating upside down

Question
I have an Oranda floating upside down, so I searched on Google and found a message from Celeste. I guess Mopsy pulled through this, but I can't find a link to tell me how. What do I do?

Answer
Dear Richard,
I'm glad you found this site, I will do my best to help!
Mopsy did pull through a terrible bout of Swim bladder but not without plenty of patience and good care.

The most common cause of goldfish losing their equilibrium and loss of swimming control is due to Swim bladder disorder. Nearly 100% of the time, this is caused by improper diet. Sometimes too much dry food (especially pellets but often even flake food) or not enough variety can cause this condition. Often constipation results in interfering with the swim bladder's normal function and the best remedy to this is to try thawing and shelling some green peas to give to him/her. Green peas are well-known for clearing blockages in the goldfishes digestive tract and can help speed the healing. Many fish can recover on their own and it is usually not life-threatening. If the poor fish is being whipped around by the tank's current then sometimes it really helps to isolate the poor fish by keeping him in a special box shaped net called a 'breeder net' which is made to house livebearing fish when they are ready to drop their babies, but it works well for goldfish whom cannot control their own movements or who are being picked on by other fish. It allows them to rest and recover better.

You may want to try fasting (not feeding) your Oranda for at least 1 day to try to clear his system and if not improved, feeding a pea or two may help. As always, insure the water quality is excellent as poor water conditions are worsens this problem.

I really hope this helps! Once your Oranda is recovered, be sure to pre-soak all dry foods before feeding and be sure to include plenty of variety in the form of frozen and freeze dried foods like Brine shrimp, daphnia, mosquito larvae, worms, and even krill pieces. Algae foods and fish foods derived from vegetable matter are very important to a goldfishes diet. Also, vegetables like zuchinni, romain lettuce, spinach and of course green peas also add good nutrition to your goldfish's diet.

I really hope this helps and feel free to let me know how your Oranda is doing or if you have anymore questions...

Best wishes and happy Holidays!
Karen~