Save my fish!

When you feed them, don't sprinkle the food on top as they'll swallow air that way. Feed them by placing your fingers into the water and letting the food pass into the water.
 
ive never seen them eat the food when its been resting on the top, they always seem to wait for it to drop

gonna try the pea and icecube thing

thanks guys ** ideas are a big help keep them coming
 
Phoebs said:
its only a small tank. i only have a pump and a plant for oxygen

Should be ok if you have a pump, is the tank big enough for the fish? Gulping at the surface can be a sign they aren't getting enough oxygen.
 
Phoebs said:
yeh tanks about 45cm x 25cm. they're only small and its just the 2 of them and a plant

Try the icecube trick then. The other thing you can do is take a sample of the water and take it to a pet shop. They should be able to analyse it and check if they levels are all correct.
 
Don't tap the tank you n00b, it's like an explosion in their heads

ever seen deuce bigalow?

edit: swim bladder is usually when they can't stay upright, if they're constantly at the top it's usually poor oxygen supply, replace 30% of the water with fresh stuff, and get some sort of airator (sp?) - ie a bubble machine
 
the pump produces some bubbles

tried the ice cube this morning. one fish seemed fine this morning wasnt floating at the top whereas the other was still at the top. just got bk from work and they're both at the top again.

tried the pea thing last night but they dont appear to have taken it

:(
 
crystaline said:
Get a cat, that'll discourage them from going too near the surface

Of all the people i expected to post something like that, you where the last person who came to mind = /


And yes, happens to mine all the time, they soon get over it :)
 
Phoebs said:
tried the pea thing last night but they dont appear to have taken it

:(

Mine used to take them if they were lightly cooked and slightly squashed so the skin came off easily. It quickly solved ther swim bladder problem then I put some plants in the tank and they never got it again as they chewed on the plants.
 
still at the top :(

just had a closer look at them, they appear to be growing white "mould".

any ideas?
 
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thanks guys. they dont look too healthy now. going to the pet shop tomorrow to see if they have anything. dont know if its too late though
 
Most deffinetly swim bladder as said :) You can buy several treatments but sometimes it doesn't work and they're stuck with it for the rest of their lives :( Try and feed them some more pellet food or, even better, live food (daphnia, bloodworm, brine shrimp) Good luck :)
 
Phoebs said:
still at the top :(

just had a closer look at them, they appear to be growing white "mould".

any ideas?

Sounds like velvet or fungus.

Ich is generally just small white spots.

The main problem here is poor conditions and care to start with which has caused bad health.

They're going to die of one disease or another soon by the sounds of it.
 
Kept Oranda's for a few years - they are a nightmare.

1.They are bred to have the shortest fatest body possible = all internal
organs are crushed.
2.They are prone to take in a lot of air when feeding especially if you use
flake food.
3.Keeping any fish in a tank without filtration is asking for trouble - you may
get by with a bog standard goldfish but not these ones.


Tips for Swim bladder include Peas,Epson Salts (drop a crystal in
front and try to get it to eat it) try decent size bits of worms with bits of
mud on them this will help clean them out so to speak.

Another tip is to reduce the amount of water in your tank as this will help
with the stability (pressure).


Following the thread and with my own experiance you will probably lose
these fish as the fungus is just happening because your fish are run down.

It has probably been a internal parisitic infection affecting the swim bladder - you then start getting fungus and eventually the dreaded dropsy will make an apperance.If you look down on them the scales start to come away from the body and look like a pine cone - this is caused with the higher internal pressure and fluid retention and internal organs breaking down.The eyes will also start to bulge out again with the internal pressure.

If you plan to get more you will need to research so that the water quality is
perfect.This includes testing for Nitrate,ammonia,nitrite,PH etc the water
also need to be around the same temp when doing water changes and also
conditioning the water is vital.

If you need any info / help with this just give let me know.

I used to travel from Scotland to Birmingham to buy these and have paid up
to £80.00 for some of them. :eek:

I wish you luck with your fish - also dont go throwing all sorts of chemicals
into your water.

Could you have a look at them and give an update and I will try to help a bit
more.
 
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I've always wondered what happened to our gold fish, can anyone shed some light?

One of them would always stay at the bottom completely motionless for the last few weeks of its life, I was really young at the time and my parents never thought of consulting anyone. It would just about manage to get to the food, but he would rarely swim for it. I would sometimes tap the side of the bowl for him to act lively, and he would for a few minutes, but he would then go back to the bottom. He looked quite bloated towards the end, if I can recall correctly. He wasn't even 10 years old, so natural causes couldn't have taken the little chap, could it?
 
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