Upsidedown motionless

Stanzo13 · May 29, 2019

My brother has had one goldfish in a planted tank for a while and out of no where it's floating upsidedown completely motionless... I mentioned to him that his goldfish is dead... He says no it's fine... Pokes it.. and it seems normal for a few minutes and back to pretty much dead...

samnaz · May 29, 2019

I have no experience with planted tanks or goldfish but floating upside down motionless, I’m guessing, means something is seriously wrong and the fish is close to death.

Stanzo13 · May 29, 2019

samnaz said:
I have no experience with planted tanks or goldfish but floating upside down motionless, I’m guessing, means something is seriously wrong and the fish is close to death.

Thanks, couldn't have guessed

4FordFamily · May 29, 2019

Sometimes goldfish get swim bladder infections that swell up their abdomens and make them overly buoyant -- they tend to sit on the surface and tire from trying to swim down.

This can be "lanced" with a small needle to release the pressure. A video would be helpful.

reefer2000 · May 29, 2019

Stanzo13 said:
My brother has had one goldfish in a planted tank for a while and out of no where it's floating upsidedown completely motionless... I mentioned to him that his goldfish is dead... He says no it's fine... Pokes it.. and it seems normal for a few minutes and back to pretty much dead...

When i used to keep freshwater goldfish the same thing hapened to me. The simple answer is overfeeding. I overfed the poor guy and it did the exact thing . I stoped feeding it for 3 days and it came back to normal. So just stop feeding for 3-5 days and it will do just fine.

Hermie · May 29, 2019

reefer2000 said:
When i used to keep freshwater goldfish the same thing hapened to me. The simple answer is overfeeding. I overfed the poor guy and it did the exact thing . I stoped feeding it for 3 days and it came back to normal. So just stop feeding for 3-5 days and it will do just fine.

I am definitely guilty of overfeeding, in fact I contributed to the death of one of my favorite fish because of it... but it's why I got a puffer... it's really, really hard to overfeed a puffer

reefer2000 · May 29, 2019

NotASpammerDude said:
I am definitely guilty of overfeeding, in fact I contributed to the death of one of my favorite fish because of it... but it's why I got a puffer... it's really, really hard to overfeed a puffer

Sorry to hear that but my advice would be , from my expiriance . Is when you overfeed and the fish feels sick is tto cut the feeding for 3 days straight and then start feeding then slowly and in small doses. Hope this helps

vetteguy53081 · May 29, 2019

I agree with FordFamily. Very common in goldfish is swimbladder disease.
Amoxycillin will treat it and you can add aquarium not sea salt to tank

Stanzo13 · May 30, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
I agree with FordFamily. Very common in goldfish is swimbladder disease.
Amoxycillin will treat it and you can add aquarium not sea salt to tank

Are you saying both or simply one or the other, I just told my brother to stop feeding

Stanzo13 · May 30, 2019

And thanks for all the responses everyone

Stanzo13 · May 30, 2019

He just told me he feeds it about once a week

Hermie · May 30, 2019

Stanzo13 said:
He just told me he feeds it about once a week

that's really bad...

vetteguy53081 · May 31, 2019

Once a week not enough as goldfish are scavengers. Medication and aquarium salt can be used at same time.

MnFish1 · May 31, 2019

You can also try Epsom salts - sometimes constipation or intestinal blockages can results in swim bladder issues - Epsom salts supposedly helps constipation. https://www.cuteness.com/article/use-epsom-salts-fish-aquariums

vetteguy53081 · May 31, 2019

MnFish1 said:
You can also try Epsom salts - sometimes constipation or intestinal blockages can results in swim bladder issues - Epsom salts supposedly helps constipation. https://www.cuteness.com/article/use-epsom-salts-fish-aquariums

Epsom salt and aquarium salt is practically identical. Also similar is canning salt. I mentioned aquarium salt as not much is needed and readily available at Walmart for pennies.

MnFish1 · May 31, 2019

vetteguy53081 said:
Epsom salt and aquarium salt is practically identical. Also similar is canning salt. I mentioned aquarium salt as not much is needed and readily available at Walmart for pennies.

Epsom salts are Magnesium Sulfate - I believe aquarium salts are mostly sodium chloride depending on the brand. Epsom salts are also available at Walmart (pharmacy) for a very low cost.

Canning salt is also NaCl with possibly some CaCl2 (calcium chloride) - so in fact they are totally different.