Goldfish not looking so great.

Question
Hey Chloe, my names Lauren and I'm 16. This is my first tank and im trying my best to keep my little fishies happy and healthy. I half clean the tank every few days and fully clean once a week. I feed them flakes once a day and they are kept in a reasonable sized tank for 3 fish.

Unfortunatly one fish, Ricochet, seems unable to control his buoyancy in the water. He (or she..) floats to the top and struggles to swim to the bottom, sometimes having to swim vertically to go a few inches down. He has been acting differently, not as lively as usual and the problem has recently seemed to get alot worse, its heartbreaking to watch.

The other 2 fish in the tank seem perfectly fine however. He really doesn't seem like hes going to last long.
I'm just wondering if there is something I could do to help the little guy?

Thank you so much for reading this,
Lauren

Answer
Hi Lauren,
This is probably swim bladder disease. I would recommend feeding shelled peas to your fish for a few days. Sometimes feeding flake foods can swell inside the abdomen of the fish which can cause swimbladder problems. You should also do daily water changes of about 30% as this may help him recover quickly.

Good luck!
Chloe.