# Does my goldfish have swim bladder? Can I cure it?



## Chrisruptor (Mar 20, 2014)

So after changing half the water in tank (containing two goldfish and two zebrafish), the next day, one of the goldfish was floating/swimming on its side at the top. Later on it tended to be stuck at the bottom, also on its side, occassionally shuffling along the gravel. Once it appeared to be glued to the side of the filter. I have a TARDIS ornament, and last night, it had went inside it and was still in there in the same position this morning, still breathing. A little googling suggested it may have swim bladder disease.

I tried changing the water again (about 30%). I toppled the TARDIS so that it would come out (I was unsure if it was stuck or intentionally went in there to hide). I've tried feeding it peas, but not sure if it ate any as it can barely move.

I think this has probably been an issue with me changing the water. All the other fish are completely fine. I've never used water conditioner before - so I bought some today and put some in - unsure if it's helped.

The goldfish's body appears to be stuck in a bent shape, and it's certainly got weaker, as yesterday it was partially swimming, today it's just staying in the same position being slowly pushed round the tank by the water. I'm not sure what to do. Does this definitely sound like swim bladder? Can it be saved? Any ideas? I'm not an experienced aquarium owner, so any advice would be appreciated. I also don't have a pH-tester kit or thermometer.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Hi,

I don't think it is swim bladder disease. It sounds from your post that your fish has become sick after cleaning the tank and it is likely that it is related to this. 

The hiding, being on the bottom and not being able to swim properly are all symptoms of your fish being very ill. Is its dorsal fin clamped against its body too ?

If you haven't been using any water conditioner or making sure the temperature of the new water is the same as the tank water then the chloramine in your tap water ( poisonous to fish) and / or thermal shock could have affected your fish, especially if for any reason it was less healthy that the others.

Is your fishes gill flaps moving rapidly and / or is it hanging near the surface ? If so it is finding breathing dufficult and the ammonia and chlorine in the tap water may be to blame.

Get some water conditioner that works on chloramine and add some to your water. Also get a liquid test kit and measure for ammonia and nitrites. How long have you had the tank and what sort of filter do you use. Did you clean you filter in old fish water or tap water. The latter will kill the filter bacteria and cause levels of ammonia to rise which are toxic to fish.

I recommend for now you:
Get water conditioner that can treat for chloramines and add a dose to the tank now.
Get a liquid test kit and measure for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH and post back with the results.
Invest in a thermometer
Do a 50% water change using water conditioner and making sure the water is within 2 ℃ of tank water. I use boiled kettle water to add to the cold water in my bucket to bring the temp up to the correct level. Don't add directly to the tank !

Let us know if you see any spots, fungus or any other symptoms on your fish. You can also buy a general tonic for your fish like melafix to combat any diseases but I wouldn't worry about this for now as I suspect the problem is high ammonia / nitrite. If your ammonia levels are high you can also buy ammonia removal granules . Fluval and others do them, if your test kit shows that you have high ammonia.

Keeping my fingers crossed for your fishy.


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## Chrisruptor (Mar 20, 2014)

Unfortunately my fish died on Monday night, but the others are fine. I'm going to get a liquid test kit and thermoter and try to keep on top of changing the tank water from now on, and hopefully it won't happen again.


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Sorry to hear about your fish and glad the others are fine. I generally find a lot of sick fish problems originate from water quality problems. I once lost quite a few fish to whitespot when I had a powercut when I was away that killed all the filter bacteria leading to a surge in ammonia. 

The liquid test kit will give you a good idea about the health of your tank. API do a good kit. You can add colder water to some tanks at water changes but it depends how much colder and the size of your tank. With some fish it triggers spawning as it replicates the rains coming but I think it is best to keep the temps fairly similar for now.


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