Oh Franklin...

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danceonwater22

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Dec 25, 2008
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Massachusetts
So I have an oranda with a swim bladder problem. Red Oranda, his name is Franklin, approximately three inches long. I've tried peas, and he LOVES THEM, but they don't seem to do much. He has trouble swimming down to the bottom; he pops right back up like a balloon. He eats, and swims around occasionally, but floats right at the water surface. Is there anything else I can do for him? Surgery at the veterinarian isn't really an option around here; I'm currently living in a small town in Maine. Is this just a 'live and let live' situation? hahaha, oh Franklin, whatever will I do with you?
 

Kashta

Always Niko's fault.....
Jun 24, 2008
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Hi dance... I'm so sorry to hear Franklin is having problems. I like the name you picked out, btw.

Surgery is a big leap anyway and certainly wouldn't be but a last resort, if it's even called for at all. Plus there's no way to tell if there's a tumor or the air bladder needing to be expanded or weighed down. Most of the time, this will clear itself -- the main thing you need to do is make the fish comfy and keep that water very clean. Most of the rest of what we do is wait.. some little things to give some relief. When a goldie is floating like this, it helps a lot to isolate him in a smaller QT tank. The shallow water makes it less stressful because he's not working so hard trying to move downward... yet not being able to. You should add salt to the water, as something of a tonic - one teaspoon per gallon, dissolved and added gradually. The peas you mentioned will help if this is related to an obstruction or constipation. But give the fish 2-3 days with no food at all. Fasting for a short time first helps reduce anything blocked inside. The fact that Franklin is still eating on his own is a positive sign, btw. Just give Franklin two weeks in a QT tank like this. Most of the time, they do all the recuperating themselves as long as we can make them comfortable and provide clean water conditions.

If he's bouyant enough that this dorsal fin and back stay above the water level, it will help to apply a little vaseline on the exposed area (once daily with a Q-tip or your finger) to keep that area from drying out.

In the meantime, let's see if we can figure out anything that may have caused or is contributing to this. What size is the tank Franklin is in? How many fish are there.. and what types? Tell us what your filtration is like. What are you feeding him/them and how often? Is the tank cycled? Do you use a liquid test kit to measure the water conditions.. and what are those results? How often do you do water changes? Do you condition the replacement water? (Lots of questions, I know.. but it gives us a better idea so we can offer more useful advice.) How long have you had Franklin and how long has this tank been set up? Have you noticed anything else unusual with your fish?

Will wait to hear back from you with a few more details. Let us know if anything changes. I really hope Franklin recovers quickly!
 

danceonwater22

AC Members
Dec 25, 2008
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Massachusetts
Thanks for the replay Kashta!

Franklin is currently the sole resident in a 5gal QT tank... The tank was cycled before I put him in there... he's been in about two weeks. I use a Tetra Whisper Filter.

I condition the water with Amquel Plus prior to any water changes. I change out 1/2 gallon every other day. He is fed crushed Tetrafin goldfish crisps; the crisps themselves were too big for him to handle. He prefers floating food (because he has to work so hard to get to the bottom!) I've offered bits of grape, orange, and lettuce, but he's not really interested. He prefers his fishy flakes. and peas.

I have three orandas in a 28 gallon; they are all babies, and I realize that as they grow they will need a larger tank. The tank is filtered with a Marineland Penguin filter.
 

Kashta

Always Niko's fault.....
Jun 24, 2008
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Thanks for the replay Kashta!

Franklin is currently the sole resident in a 5gal QT tank... The tank was cycled before I put him in there... he's been in about two weeks. I use a Tetra Whisper Filter.

I condition the water with Amquel Plus prior to any water changes. I change out 1/2 gallon every other day. He is fed crushed Tetrafin goldfish crisps; the crisps themselves were too big for him to handle. He prefers floating food (because he has to work so hard to get to the bottom!) I've offered bits of grape, orange, and lettuce, but he's not really interested. He prefers his fishy flakes. and peas.
I'm so glad you have him isolated already.. good job. You didn't mention anything about water testing and I'd say your water changes are a little small for him being in such a little (relatively unstable) QT tank right now. When I'm dealing with a sick fish like this, I'll do 30-40% water changes on a daily basis. We can't really tell for sure without accurate tests, so this gives a little more margin for error, just in case. Either way, doing 2 gallon water changes every day instead of 1/2 a gallon every other day isn't going to hurt anything.

Until Franklin fully recovers, avoid feeding any flake food whatsoever. He'll be fine with just a few peas every day. Once he's better and goes back to the main tank, switch out those dry flakes and any other floating food items for a good quality Goldfish sinking pellet food. Gulping air from the surface while feeding or ingesting dry flakes too quickly is something that often causes the exact problems he's facing right now. As you stock up on supplies again, try to get an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. That will give you reliable results when you test your water conditions going forward. Again, the addition of salt to the water right now has a very soothing effect that will make him feel much better.

I have three orandas in a 28 gallon; they are all babies, and I realize that as they grow they will need a larger tank. The tank is filtered with a Marineland Penguin filter.
For some of the larger varieties (as in comets, commons, etc.), a good estimate is about 20 gallons per fish at their adult size. For Orandas, planning something more like 15 gallons per fish would be great. A 50 gallon tank size would be perfect for these 3 as they grow up.. a 75 gallon would then give you more leeway to add another fish to the group, or some apple snails, weather loaches.. etc. If you work in some heavy duty filtering to go with weekly water changes, you'll avoid a lot of water quality complications in the future. I personally like having a combination of one canister filter rated at 2x the tank size as the main filter -- plus 1 HOB power filter that's also rated at 2x the tank size running a secondary filter. This gives you 4 times the "recommended" filtration for general community/tropical fish tanks... which works out as a good adjustment to make for such large bodied goldfish who carry a much higher bioload than other freshwater types.

The rest of what you've told us sounds really good. And I'm happy to see you're already doing a lot to help Franklin get better. Best of luck for him (and for you)!
 

Twistersmom

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Jan 17, 2009
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I have a goldfish that also suffers from swim bladder problems. He has had problems for almost a year now, but other than not being able to swim well, he is a pretty health fish.
I feed him a small amount of flakes in the morning. (he also does not like to go after the sinking food and was actually on sinking food when he developed the problem.)
I have a fake plant positioned just right, so he can lodge his body underneath to hold him under the water while he sleeps.
If you can find something to put near the top that your fish can get under to help hold it down in the water, it may help.
 

Kashta

Always Niko's fault.....
Jun 24, 2008
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Any update on how Franklin is doing, dance?
 
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