# poorly goldfish



## paddyjulie (May 9, 2009)

My daughter has two goldfish, when we went downstairs this morning one of them was at the bottom of the tank sort of bent over and was not moving, my poor daughter was in hysterics about her goldfish as we thought it was dead, after a little look it started to move slightly but still tilted and bent, so i got them both out of the tank and at the moment they are in seperate bowls, i stroked the ill fish(dont know why but i remember my dad doing this years ago to one of mine and it come back to life, at that moment in time i would have done anything as i could not calm Lauren down) and it looks a lot better at the moment and is having a little swim about, they about 3 years old

Any ideas what is wrong?

Juliex


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## paddyjulie (May 9, 2009)

i'ts quite a large round glass bowl, not filtered, i did change some of the water a few days ago, the last full change was perhaps 6 week ago

julie


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## Gobaith (Jun 6, 2009)

Hmm, it may be swim bladder ?
check this link out..
Swim bladder in goldfish? - Yahoo! Answers
Swim bladder is treatable if caught in time.. x


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## paddyjulie (May 9, 2009)

she seems fine at the moment and swimming all over the bowl- do you think i caught it in time, i does sound like it could be that, i also read somewhere about changing the water can release toxins from the bottom of the tank, could this have caused it?

juliex


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

In the interim, while you're looking for a decent tank, it might be worth getting a large plastic storage box to keep the fish in on a temporary basis. That will give them more room than a bowl, and their waste will be more diluted in a bigger volume of water. 

The reason the poorly fish looks better now is because you've given it clean water, but by now the toxins will have already started to build up again, so if you want to stop any more damage being done to your fish you'll need to do large partial water changes on a daily basis. And as Fishyfins said, you really need to get a filter asap. I would also get a water test kit so you can monitor the water quality - liquid drip tests are the best, don't waste your money on the paper test strips cause they are rubbish.

Are the fish normal, single-tailed goldfish, or one of the fancy varieties? And how big are they?


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## paddyjulie (May 9, 2009)

Well thanks for some of your comments, we have been out a bought a new tank... granted not huge but it is 25 litres that is all i can fit in here ,with an air pump and an underwater gravel filter,and a light, violet at the moment is fine she is swimming up and down the tank and in the last day has started pooing again after i fed them with some peas, i will change approx 30-50% of the water every 3 days perhaps ,and i am going to get a gravel pump to clean out the bottom, surely now they must have a better chance of living a little longer than they did in their bowl fingers crossed she will be ok, i will post some pictures of them in their new tank soon, how often would you recommend a full water change?

juliex


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

Hiya 

In answer to your queston, yes your goldfish are better off in the bigger tank especially if it has a filter... but to be brutally honest, 25 litres is still not enough room for them  
I appreciate that space is an issue, but it is sooo much easier to keep goldfish alive and healthy in a big tank! Even if you keep the water pristine, in a small tank the fish will still have their growth stunted by the cramped conditions, and they will still end up dying young.

Do you know if they are fancy goldfish or commons?

As the tank and filter are new, there won't be any good bacteria built up yet to deal with the waste the fish are producing, so I'd continue with the regular partial water changes. It's generally not recommended to do a full water change, as thats a bit of a shock to the fish. 
If & when you need to clean any gunk out of the filter, make sure you rinse the sponges in old tank water as water from the tap will kill off any good bacteria that has built up


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