Hello this is probably an old thread but it is something that I wanted to weigh in on. First off I don't actually believe that stunted goldfish with organs continuing to grow will burst out the side. However swim bladder issues and constipation are very common and serious life threatening issues in goldfish. What I have begun to wonder is could disproportionate organ growth in stunted goldfish be a contributing factor to these two ailments. I don't keep fancy goldfish but I know some of the breeds seem to have rather large mid sections and those breeds have very common issues with swim bladder and constipation. I have 10 goldfish that are a mix of common and comet goldfish. They were all purchased as feeder fish and I have had them 9mths. I have been upgrading their aquarium as they grow. What I have noticed over the past 2mths is thst constipation is causing swim bladder issues in some of the goldfish. The pattern I'm seeing is the ones are growing remain healthy and are not getting bloated mid sections and the ones some seem "stuck" in their growth are getting bloated and sick. I am going to increase water changes to twice a week to reduce growth inhibition hormone in the water to see if I can get the smaller ones to start growing as well as I have their next aquarium almost ready to tide them over till we set up their forever home. I will report back to see if this corrects the issue if it does then it would at least give some anecdotal evidence of the excessive organ growth claims.
