whats up with my little goldie?

[erin14]

My little comet goldie is acting strangely. Its hard to describe but i fed them a little bit and they ate all of it so i fed them a little bit more but this time he just hung out at the top but appeared to struggle swimming. He really had to put his back into it (literally). Now looking at him he seems to be acting normal again (swimming around the bottom and poking at the gravel). I'm not sure if its just me being paranoid but his body looks a little deformed. Hes got a big head and then his body is just skinny. i've had him for about 2 months now so hes not a new fish. He is a rescued feeder and is only about 1.5 inches long. I know that feeders can sometimes have defects but hes really nice looking and i would hope for him to survive, even if he is a bit deformed. Hes in a 40g. tub with an aqua tech 30-40 pump (i think) with 3 other 1.5inch comet goldfish. I got them so they could go in the pond in the summer so its not a permanent home. ph -7.3, trites-0, trates-5, amm-0. all the other fish are fine and now he appears to be okay to. Maybe it was just that one time he was acting strangely. Any ideas? He looks completely fine, no fungus or any visible abnormalities.

 

[Lupin]

Do you have pictures of the fish, Erin? What food did you use? What size is the tank? I'm confused. Is this fish, a comet or a shubunkin?

 

[erin14]

Nope, no pics. He seems to be okay now, hes a comet (about 2 inches), sorry, i know my signature is a little confusing, haven't updated it. Ummm, hes in a 35-40g. rubbermaid tub, you know those huge ones that you can get at walmart. It has a brace on it though, was bowing a little bit. He shares it with 3 other same sized comets. The shubunkin is in the 10g. by itself. I know, its not big enough but shes only in there for about 5 months, its not permanent, and neither is the tub for the comets. They're just in there until summer and then they'll join the shub. in the pond. They were rescues as they were going to be fed to hungry oscars, i was like "NO! I'll take them, don't feed them to the oscars!!". So yeah, i came home with 3 little goldies and no where to put them, thats why they're in the tub. Its filtered, as mentioned in my first post. I feed them wardley GF flakes and um, those little crisps (can't remember what they're called, don't have the food with me). 30-40% wc's every sunday. Anyway, i think hes alright now, but i was/am still a little worried. Hes swimming now but i wonder if it might happen again when i feed them. Guess we'll find out, if anything does happen, i'll post it. Thanks.

 

[~Kswords~]

Try feeding some mushed up de-shelled peas. This would help prevent any future possible stomach problems. Also be sure that he is going potty okay. This will also tell you if everything is okay or not.

 

[Dangerdoll]

I think I remember the story about when you got these comets. It sounds to me that he may have had a quick swim bladder issue but also sounds like he may be on the stunted side. If his eyes are looking weirdly large for his body, this could be the case. With feeders, they are often mishandled and kept in shocking conditions.

 

[erin14]

Yeah, they were rescued. But i dont think they're stunted. They came from a 30g. tank at work and now they're in a 40g. and they're only like 2" max. They are also locally bred from a guy who breeds swordtails, mollies, guppies, goldfish etc. and they came from his pond...sooo however big that is? His eyes don't look to big for his body its just that his head looks a little on the big side but it could just be me because i'm all paranoid hes slightly deformed. Hes pretty skinny, but i've been feeding them everyday and i see him eat, and once he goes into the pond he'll bulk up a little bit i would think. He seems to swim okay now, so i don't think its a swim bladder thing, last night was the first i'd ever seen him do that. Even now when i look at them they swim up to me and hes right at the front, so hes lively and everything. I'll keep an eye on him and if he does what he did last night i'll post it. I can try to take a picture of him, but no promises.

 

[Firebelly__girl]

Its definatly swim blatter, it would happen to my one fan tail instantly as he started eating. I soaked the flakes first to and he still floated for an hour + over a few flakes, but then it went back to normal and he swam normal untill the next feeding.

 

[erin14]

Really? So whats going to happen to him then? Will I lose him? Every other time I fed him he was fine, he never did this before and i've fed them numerous times. This was the first time he did it. What should I do, I could try the pea thing, not sure if they'd eat it or not.

 

[Firebelly__girl]

I never tried the pea thing, i never really researched it untill after he died. (from a disease from a new goldfish)
You could try it though, thats the only real suggestion ive found online. Hopefully he doesnt get it like mine did though, its so frustrating to see them like that.
This is kind of like what my fantail looked like, except my fish floated all the way to the top really really fast, like he was lauched or something lol

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tc-gDiQ1-Bc&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tc-gDiQ1-Bc&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

 

[Firebelly__girl]

oops that didnt work .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-gDiQ1-Bc&feature=related