So you could just avoid fancy goldfish altogether and instead keep hardier, more natural goldfish! It seems that only the fat-bodied, fancy goldfish varieties experience this inconvenience, while the more slender, single-tailed Common goldfish, Comets, and Shubunkins don’t suffer. After that only offer sinking foods like Tetra Gold Japan, Hikari Lionhead and Saki Hikari, and lots of frozen foods like bloodworm, Daphnia and brineshrimp. As a result of the many times we’ve experienced this you’ll find that when it isn’t fed, the fish doesn’t float. The real remedy is not to feed for 24 hours. As mentioned it’s not a treatable disease, merely a result of short-bodied fish with bent swimbladders accumulating air. Both are administered, yet weeks later the problem persists. Next step is to seek a remedy and these are often available as a treatment for swimbladder disease, and the advice given is to add some salt. In the fish world upside down often means dead, so naturally it’s assumed that even though it is still breathing it is close to death. The natural reaction of the goldfish keeper is panic. The result is a fish looking as if it has a giant air bubble as it floats to the surface and then can’t right itself. Within their bodies the swimbladder, which controls buoyancy, is bent, so doesn’t work as well as it should.įeed them foods that contain air, like flake, floating sticks or floating pellets, and the fish take in air as well as food. Instead, it’s caused by one thing - food.įancy goldfish aren’t great swimmers, due to their double tail fins and short, fat bodies. It will be swimming on its side or often upside down at the surface, but, apart from that, appear healthy.Īlthough frequently referred to as swimbladder disease, few if any floaty goldfish have anything terminal. A goldfish suffering from a swimbladder disorder will be floating at the surface and not able to dive.
What is this problem and how can I identify it? Take our advice to find out what to do if your goldfish starts to turn upside down. One of the most visible goldfish health problems has a very common cause.