Floaty Bloaty Goldfish  2/2/08
Dear sir,
I have a shubunkin gold fish, and has a very bloated body, he/she has had this aliment for the last six months, but no one can give me any advice about how to cure him. The fish is in a 8x12x4ft outside pool, he feds well, and has koi, and other gold fish in with him and seems healthy except for his rather bloated appearance and his scales are sticking out. Your article suggests that it could be the food I am giving him , can you suggest a food or a treatment I could give him hope you can help john
<Hello John. Plenty of advice on treatment and options for food here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm
Note the generous use of plant foods rather than pellets. Very important. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Floaty Bloaty Goldfish   2/3/08
Neale, thank you for your reply, feeding my fish Epsom salts is going to be fun , I can not catch the little b thanks john
<John, you don't feed them Epsom salts! You put Epsom salts in the water! You feed them pondweed, tinned peas, Sushi Nori, live Daphnia, and other high fibre foods. You *stop* feeding them low fibre foods like flake and pellets. The Epsom salts in the water act as a mild muscle relaxant, helping the laxatives in the foods listed in doing the job of clearing out the insides of the Goldfish. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: bloated goldfish 12/3/07
Hi! My fish has finally had a poo! It was the thickness of my little finger- poor thing! Bloating gone now- thank God. Back to normal. I have learnt a lot. Do I do a water change due to the Epsom salts? or can I leave the water as it is? Thanx
<I'd personally keep adding Epsom salt to the water changes you do over the next week or two, and then stop. Do keep using plant foods and/or live daphnia exclusively for the next few weeks as well. Together, this will give your fish the equivalent of a Hollywood-style colonic irrigation! And, once the fish are certified A-1 healthy, make sure you keep the diet nicely balanced with green foods from here onwards. Cheers, Neale.>

Re: save my black Moor please!  10/19/07
Hi again! This is a follow up question from a while back ago. I have read the goldfish malnutrition page, and cut pellet food from my black Moor's diet. Now all he eats are blanched peas/lettuce/spinach. I have even used the special salt, and my black Moor is still floating upside down. I'm really confused now, and I just don't know what to do for my black Moor.
Sincerely,
Jennifer
<Hi Jennifer. As far as the floating goldfish goes, you have to be patient. It will take a few days for things to go back to normal. Which salt are you using? Make 100% sure you are using Epsom Salt. Some people seem to use "aquarium salt" instead because their aquarium shop says that's all they have in stock. ONLY EPSOM SALT will work; it's a muscle relaxant, and that's how it works. It's "saltiness" has nothing much to do with the cure! If you can't find Epsom salt in your aquarium shop, any drugstore or pharmacy will have it. In the meantime, keep up with feeding the plant foods to the goldfish, and look to see how things progress. Cheers, Neale.>

Goldfish bloat... likely env.   9/1/07
I have a 30 gallon tank with 4 peppered Corys and 2 bronze Corys. I also have 2 black moors 1's pretty big and the others just a baby.
i have a calico fantail (medium size) and a little orange and white fantail.
<Too crowded...>
I use to have a really big orange 1 but he died at the end of June. now 2 days ago i lost another goldfish (bubble eyed) to bloat. he was acting weird for like a week and then his scales started popping up so i really didn't try to save him because i tried really hard to save my other 1 but it was impossible. I have read that it can be spread to other fish. but how do they get dropsy???? i feed them at 3:00pm some peas, a little frozen brine shrimp block, and a little bit of flaked food. I put the food in the water not on top because i heard that that gives them bloat too.
thanks ,Brittany
<Your goldfish need more room than this my young friend... Likely the mal-affects of poor water quality and psychological lack of space are at root/cause... Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Upside down goldfish after 100% water change   7/22/07
Hi.
<<Hello, Laura. Tom here.>>
I have read through several of your responses but can't find quite what I am looking for.
<<Lets’ add yours to the FAQ’s and perhaps it will help others down the road.>>
My husband recently did a full water change because we have been having problems keeping our tank clean and our sucker mysteriously disappeared.
<<Full water changes are occasionally in order, Laura, but almost always these are needed when water parameters have “gone South”. When general housekeeping is the problem, smaller, more frequent changes are a better way to go, by far.>>
Well, all of the fish have been fine except one. She/He is upside down the majority of the time. I've read up on this and have been feeding him and the others the insides of peas and have been gently wedging the goldfish between the side of the glass and a net for a period of time, as I read that sometimes helps. The fish doesn't seem to be upset by this...seems almost relieved.
<<Okay. The shelled peas are a good idea, by the way.>>
We added the stuff to take out the chemicals with the new water and understand that the change probably stressed him out.
<<A likely possibility, Laura, but not the only one. Sounds to me like there’s something more afoot here, however. An otherwise healthy fish that becomes stressed by a such a change usually displays a different style of stressed behavior like uncharacteristically hiding or not eating.>>
He's one of those fatter-in-the-stomach orange goldfish.
<<One of the “fancy” varieties. Okay.>>
There are 2 others but they are much smaller and have not been affected. So, will wedging him really help him get his equilibrium back?
<<I’d hold off on doing this for the time being, Laura. Since the change in behavior was set off by the water change, constipation doesn’t strike me as a probable cause. If the diet of shelled peas and whatever “wedging” you’ve done hasn’t started the ball rolling to get your Goldfish eliminating waste, I don’t think continuing this will be of much help and may do some harm.>>
Should we not ever do the 100% water change, even once a year?
<<If water changes are performed on a regular basis at appropriate intervals a 100% change should never be necessary, not even once a year. The goal is to maintain stability in the tank at all times. Small changes not exceeding 30% help to keep the tank stable, i.e. whatever the fish have become accustomed/acclimated to. These also supplement the water with trace elements that have been lost over time. A full-scale change, however, can be overwhelming even if it appears to fly in the face of logic to us.>>
They already eat the sinking pellets because this fish became bloated once before.
<<Bloat or constipation isn’t uncommon for these fish which is why diet is so important. Not a bad idea, once things have settled out, to keep up a regular regimen of the peas (spinach, zucchini and brine shrimp also are good) to keep the fish “regular”. If you go with processed foods, make sure to stick with high-quality foods formulated for Goldfish and avoid “Tropical” flakes or pellets. The protein content of the latter foods may be to high for Goldfish to assimilate properly. They’re just not built to digest proteins well.>>
But it appears to be because of the water change. Happened almost immediately. Unless this fish ate the sucker and that has caused it.
<<Here is where I really get suspicious, Laura. Though you’re not specific about the species of “sucker” that you had, I would offer that a small species such as an Otocinclus could have been a temptation to your Goldfish if the Oto became weakened, or even died, as a result of the water change. Goldfish feed primarily on algae in the wild but are opportunistic when it comes to eating. Frankly, they don’t have the common sense that the good Lord gave dirt when it comes to feeding and are not above swallowing, or attempting to swallow, a small tank mate that might be found floating about. If such was the case, your Goldfish became impacted and little, if anything, may be passing through its system. Putting the whole picture together, this seems, in my opinion, to be the most likely scenario.>>
Anyway, don't really know what immediate things to do or continue doing or if the fish is just basically going to die.
<<What I would recommend is to remove the Goldfish to a suitably large container and prepare a bath with Epsom salts. The salts have a natural laxative effect and might very well provide some relief for your pet. Now, if what I think happened did, in fact, happen, there are no guarantees that the impaction will clear itself. Time to keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best. Stick with the types of foods I suggested earlier for all of your fish to avoid potentially complicating the situation.>>
Thanks for any feedback.
<<You’re quite welcome and best of luck. Tom>>

Re: upside down goldfish after 100% water change  - 7/23/07
Hi.
<<Afternoon, Laura. Tom again.>>
Thanks so much for your quick response.
<<Glad to do it.>>
I have learned tons from reading your website.
<<Happy to hear it, Laura, and thank you.>>
Since sending off this email below and before receiving your response I read about salt from your website. So I added 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt one time for my 10 gallon tank as specified on the box. And up until reading your response this morning was still feeding my "fancy" upside down goldfish the peas and gently wedging her between the net and side of tank - she seems to have gained an affection for the net.
<<Who wouldn’t? :) >>
Basically is still upside down. Se eats great and seems ravenous when the food is near - though I really have to work with her to find it at first. However it does not appear that she is emptying herself after eating.
<<What goes in must come out…or should, anyway. Therein lies our problem.>>
So a couple more questions. I am going to put her in another bowl by herself...with the salt treatment. Should I continue to feed only peas or soak some sinking pellet food first or not feed her anything for a period of time?
<<I would refrain from feeding her for a least a couple of days, Laura. Her digestive system needs to “catch up” and, right now, this doesn’t seem to be happening.>>
Also, my main confusion is whether there is a difference between Aquarium salt and Epsom salt.
<<Two different critters all together, Laura. Aquarium salt is pure sodium chloride. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate. (The latter was tagged ‘Epsom’ salt based on the location (Epsom, England) where its medicinal qualities first gained popularity/fame.)
I have the aquarium salt and will head straight to the store to get the Epsom salt if that has some different helping aid.
<<The aquarium salt will have far less benefit than the Epsom salt would in this context. We want to get your fish “cleaned out” and the Epsom salt is fairly effective as a saline laxative.>>
Also, while my fish is in another bowl how often should I do the salt treatment and for how many days before she goes back in the big tank.
<<You can add the salt, via a water change with the salt mixed in with the fresh water, to the bowl and let things take their course. No real time limit here except that “bowl”, to me, equates to ‘small’. Therefore, you’re going to have to stay on top of water changes to make sure that we don’t leave her swimming around in “sewage”. If the Epsom salt is going to work its magic, you’ll see some results in a day or so. Right now, I don’t suspect anything wrong with your Goldfish that might be passed to the other fish. The “catch” is that it’s more efficient to treat her separately than trying to treat the display tank for something no one else has. Not good form, if you see what I’m getting at.>>
As for my comments below about our sucker fish dying. He came up missing at least 2-3 weeks before we did the complete water change.
<<Still doesn’t negate my supposition, Laura. I had an Oto that I couldn’t find for a week and a half that suddenly reappeared one day. The little devils have a knack for going MIA on us. (Mine showed back up with a silly grin, a tattoo and a T-shirt saying “I love Daytona”. Needless to say, he’s grounded. :) ) Seriously, it does happen.>>
Unfortunately, we did not know how much work was actually needed in keeping an aquarium. I had no understanding of water changes, vacuuming and so on. So this has been a LONG learning process.
<<I’ll let you in on a secret, Laura. The more you learn, the less “work” it is. There isn’t a hobby, that I’m aware of, that isn’t a “hands on” activity to one degree or another. To me, if keeping an aquarium didn’t require any effort on my part, it would be boring. As for the learning process, you’re writing to me and there isn’t something new that I don’t learn nearly every day. That part of the hobby never ends. Quite honestly, I hope it never does. ;) >>
So, the water change was more because the tank had just gotten out of our control and we didn't know what else to do to get the water clean quick - though all of the fish were acting normal.
<<A tip? Don’t ever go for “quick” unless your fish are going to die without it, i.e. an ammonia/nitrite spike, etc. Fish are more adaptable than we give them credit for. Change their environment too quickly, even when it’s for the better, and you run a risk.>>
Funny thing is that it was actually better right before the sucker died - he was one of the cheap little suckers - not the kind that grow to 18-24". Anyway, he came up missing the next day after my husband vacuumed and cleaned the tank (this cleaning was about 3 weeks before the 100% tank change) and it seemed like the tank went downhill quickly after that. We figured it was because the sucker wasn't there to eat the algae.
<<Sounds like something else may have happened, Laura. I’ve seen/owned some voracious “algae eaters” but have never seen a tank go “downhill” fast because of the lack of one. Been a long time since I’ve kept any Goldfish, too, though.>>
Still no apparent problems with the fish though. We went to the pet store and they didn't have any more little suckers. It wasn't until a couple days after my husband did the 100% water change that we found any evidence that he was eaten as opposed to just mysteriously evaporated : ) We found a small chunk of his spotted body : ( So that is why it seemed to be the water change that caused this fish’s problems but maybe it was from the sucker 2-3 weeks earlier.
<<Hard to put my finger on this one, Laura. I still think that your big Goldfish had a part in the fact that you only found “part” of your demised “sucker”.>>
So we are back on track with water changes and have a better understanding of the responsibility of fish care giving.
<<Very glad to hear this.>>
Hope our learning doesn't come too late for our goldfish Dorothy named after Elmo's fish on Sesame Street which is our 2 year old’s favorite show.
<<First, the learning never comes too late. Second, at the risk of dating myself, the only “Dorothy” that I’m familiar with was in the Wizard of Oz. Still, a fish close to your son’s heart must be saved, if at all possible.>>
So my checklist is as follows. As soon as I hear back regarding any difference between the salts, I will separate Dorothy and add the salt. Feeding her according to your response and anything else that you see fit to give instruction on.
<<I think we’ve covered all of the above, Laura. If I can give an assurance at all here, the fact that her appetite is good is HUGE! Sick fish usually show up, first, with a loss of appetite. I still believe she has something wrong with her “tummy” that she needs to get rid of.>>
Hopefully she will make it back into the big tank.
<<I’m with you on that one!>>
Anyway, thanks for your answers and website.
Laura
<<You’re welcome, Laura. When you write back again, I’d like to hear some good news. :) My best to you. Tom>>

Re: Bob F: Goldfish troubles and woes... Floaty, bloaty...   7/10/07
Hi Bob,
(Previous letters below)
I hope all is well, I know it's been a while since I've contacted you but things have been going pretty well up till now.
Recently Rupert has just been acting badly. :-(
A couple weeks ago, Though I give him a varied diet of frozen peas, brine shrimp and flake food, he started to floating to the top of the tank and not being able to swim back down when ever I gave him the brine shrimp or flake food. ( I only feed him every other day most of the time)
<No dried food period...>
I read that sometimes too much protein can cause this, so I've cut down his diet to just frozen peas. Which seemed to work, until I recently noticed him gasping for air at the top of the tank. I have wall of bubbles along the back wall of the tank so it is curious to me that he seems to need oxygen.
<Mmm, gasping likely due to distress, not oxygen>
Checked and all levels seem to be fine, change one bucket of water once every week, he's the only fish in a 20 gallon tank he's been living in for a year and half.. and nothing appears to be sickly about him. Fins are open, he's grown since I got him, and still bright and shiny orange, no ick or fin rot.. yet now he just seems to float vertically at the top of the tank and I'm not sure what causing it. He won't even eat anymore which I know is horrible sign.
<Fatty accumulation, perhaps damage to the gas bladder... A very common situation in/with fancy goldfish varieties>
The only thing I can notice that is strange, are these little tiny circular discs.. or spores? ( don't even know how to describe them..) on the inside walls of the tank. They are clear except for a brown dot in the middle.. I have no clue what these are. I almost thought they were dried water dots on the outside of the tank until I really got a close look. I thought maybe it was some sort of algae, but couldn't find anything that matched it's description. Could this be making Rupert sick? I try to wipe them off and they just slide a long with the glass, very hard to get off. What are they?
<Mmm, not likely a cause of trouble... maybe snail egg clusters...>
Is this the end of Rupert? :(
<Hope not>
Please let me know, if you have a chance..
Hope all is well.
M
<Please (re) read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Goldfish, Floating, Feeding, and Disease - II - 04/06/2007
Thanks for the answer!
<You bet.>
I've read most of the articles in your site about feeding, bloating, before writing to you.
<Ah, GREAT!>
The water readings in my aquarium are:
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 30 mg/l
<Too high....  I'd rather see this at half that amount, or less....>
GH- 16
KH- 8 d
pH- 8.0
<What of ammonia, the most dangerous, most important?>
I've also checked the water supply in my town and the Nitrate is 25 mg/l, and we have a very hard water here, and this does not fluctuate.!
<Frightening....  And perhaps not "good" for human consumption....  At the very least, I would strongly recommend getting some live plants into the goldfish's tank to hopefully help with reducing this; you might also consider using a different water source, difficult though that may be to do.>
I have also a UV sterilizer, 11 W.  When the goldfish bloats and bleeds under the scales, he continues to swim normally. I also feed him with blanched spinach, pumpkin, broccoli, lettuce, and tiny bits of raw apple and orange.
<I would omit the starchy pumpkin, and the apple and orange, and include some aquatic plant material - Anacharis/Elodea, for sure.  I like for the majority of a goldfish's diet to consist of live aquatic plant matter.>
All the goldfish love it and behave/swim well when fed these foods.  However, he still got the disease swelling, bleeding, distorted jaw) and it's been like this "on-and-off" for 6 months.
<Very disconcerting....  When you give him the antibiotic food, how long do you feed it?  Is it the exclusive food at that time?  What is/are the active ingredient/s?  If this is not a dietary/environmental issue (I still feel that it may be, with those nitrate levels....), then I am somewhat concerned that, if it IS a bacterial infection, it has not been "cured" by the medicated food....  just "beaten back" some....  And if so, the bacteria may be becoming immune to the medication over time.  Just some thoughts/concerns....  Wishing you well,  -Sabrina>

Re: Goldfish, Floating, Feeding, and Disease - III - 04/12/2007
The antibiotic food I give the goldfish is Bakto tabs (produced by Sera). The active ingredient is Nifurpirinol, the label says the fish should be fed for 7 days exclusively with the antibiotic food, I even do it for 10 days (till all symptoms are well gone). This is the only medicated food in stores in Bulgaria and I think that the bacteria (if it is a bacterial issue) are becoming resistant to it.
<I would fear this as well.>
Can I prepare an antibiotic food myself?
<Yes, actually.>
I grew in a doctor's family and I am acquainted with human medicines. but for fish???
<You'd be surprised at how many medications used for fish are also things used in human medicine.  Here is one site that sells medicated flake food:  http://flguppiesplus.safeshopper.com/234/cat234.htm?5  I do not know if they can ship to Bulgaria, but it might be worth asking them.  You might also try Jungle's antibacterial food product, if you can find it or have it shipped.  Here is a link to it on one popular site; again, I do not know if they ship to Bulgaria, but it's worth asking.  http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12788&N=2004+113021    You can find instructions and recipes for medicated foods online; here are a couple of links with ideas/suggestions:  http://thegab.org/Articles/MedicatedGelFood.html  On the next link, the important bit is under the section "Homemade Medicated Feeds":  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM008  You will probably find a lot more results searching Google on recipes for medicated fish food.>
I try to do my best for water changes, no live plants in the aquarium--is it a great problem?
<Well, yes and no.  Goldfish certainly can live successful and happy lives without live plants in their aquarium; however, in your case, with high nitrate right out of the tap, it would be a really good idea to have something in the tank that would reduce this.  Since plants consume nitrate, it would help a lot if you had a hardy, fast-growing plant like Anacharis/Elodea/Egeria for them.  In the US, I know this plant is sold at a lot of places that sell pond plants.  Sometimes it's even called "oxygen plant" or "oxygen weed".  In pet shops, it's often sold as Anacharis or Elodea, sometimes Egeria.  Some shops even sell it specifically as a goldfish food - it really is that useful in a goldfish tank.  So, in your case, it would do double duty to help with your problems - it would help to reduce nitrate AND it would provide excellent nutritional value to your goldfish's diet.  You could reduce the amount you are feeding him a lot if he had plenty of plants to snack on, and it may be healthier for him.  I do hope this has shed some light and given you more avenues to think about!  Wishing you and your goldfish well,  -Sabrina>