Tropical Fish Keeping banner

Upside Down Goldfish - Rapidly Deteriorating HELP!

3K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  aquakid 
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

First time poster here. My goldfish has been swimming upside down all day. He's never done this before, but this morning we found him upside down. He's stopped swimming, and is just floating. His breathing has slowed. What do we do? We tried feeding him a pea but the pea sinks, and he's floating, so he can't eat it. When we put it in front of his mouth, he doesn't want it.

People say to make the goldfish fast, which we'll do, but I don't see him lasting much longer if his breathing has already slowed down and he isn't trying to flip himself over anymore.

We've moved him to a .3 gallon tupperware. The pet store tested our water and said pH was low so we raised it. We also added some aquariums salt.

Any suggestions? I've read people post about how their fist have been upside down for long periods of time. So, it seems like we detected this early, but then again, he's rapidly deteriorating.

Thanks!!!!!

Details:
He was originally in a 2.5 gallon aquarium which he shared with a bottom feeder.
The aquarium is freshwater.
The aquarium has been set up for about 2 months.
There is one live plant in the aquarium.
We have a whisper filter.
The tank gets natural sunlight during the day.
Last water change was last night, about a quarter of the tank.
We use a small lightbulb during the day, turning it off at night.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
You have tried just about everything you should do. Depending on how attached to the fish you are you may want to try a rare surgical procedure. You may place an anesthetic on the fish and try puncuring the swim bladder with a needle. WARNING!! THE CHANCES OF SURVIVAL OF THE FISH AFTER THE PROCEDURE ARE 20% Chance of living V.S. 80% Chance of death. If you don't conduct the procedure the fish will most likely end up dead. Oh Yeah You may purchase a special brace that is supposed to hold fish down with swimbladder issues. Send me a private message to let me know how it went. GOOD LUCK! :|
 
#4 ·
either way, he won't survive in a 2.5 gal aquarium for very long. That probably what caused this condition in the first place. The bottom feeder, what ever it is, I doubt will live much longer either. That tank is WAY to small.

Minimum for a fancy goldfish is 30gal, the 25 cent feeders goldfish need ponds as they can get up to two feed.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top