I think my goldfish is trying to die!! Help!

Re: I think my goldfish is trying to die!! Help!

Rachel Jayne — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 22:43:38 GMT

This has happened to two of mine.

Found them bobbing on the top - completely crescent shaped, thought they were dead at first, got quite a shock when they wriggled when I picked them out!

With the first one, I phoned a guy I used to babsit for who knows quite a lot about fish, who suggested a saline bath, which seemed to lessen its curve slightly, but after a day of watching him just swimming round & round in circles, almost like he was brain damaged circling, I ended up taking him to work (which was quite a challenge in the car!) and euthanasing him - just injected only about 0.5mls of euthatal into his pectoral muscle.

The second one it happened to was already quite far gone by the time I found him bless him...died of his own accford when I was trying to handle him to put him in a different pool of water.

The man I spoke to who knows a lot about fish, says its to do with contaminated water.

What became of yours?

Re: I think my goldfish is trying to die!! Help!

Phrin Vernon RVN — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:03:11 GMT

Thankyou!

Very informative post

Any ideas how one would go about injecting a goldfish with abs? Would it be baytril Lol!? Any ideas on dose?

Not seen it pass anything, but then I am out most of the time. With respect to the epsom salts bath, I presume you would make it up and leave it to stand a while before putting fishy in.... would you use tankwater to make it up?

I have a small tank (dont know the gallons, but local exotic centre said it was fine for 2 fishies), they have some stuff in their fresh water, which again came from the exotics centre - I think some sort of tonic??. I do part changes of no more than a quarter weekly, and leave the new water to stand for a couple of hours before introducing it. They have a biological filter and an air stone, and if anything are underfed as I am paranoid about overfeeding them! They just have bog standard flakes from the supermarket. I also check water pH which is neutral.

Thanks again!

Re: I think my goldfish is trying to die!! Help!

Heidi O'Toole — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:18:27 GMT

sounds like swim bladder problems. Make sure youre treating the water properly as well...

My fish are upside-down/ can't swim

This is a common problem whereby fish lose their equilibrium and are unable to maintain their position. This can result in the fish swimming awkwardly, laying upside-down either on the bottom or top of the water, or unable to maintain a horizontal position in the water. This is often attributed to swim-bladder problems and indeed this is the most common cause of loss of equilibrium. The swim-bladder is an air-filled sac laying just under the backbone at the top of the abdominal cavity. By inflating / deflating the swim-bladder, the fish can adjust its position in the water and maintain neutral buoyancy.

The swim-bladder can be affected by bacterial or viral diseases. In addition the swim-bladder may malfunction, leading to over or under inflation. Clearly anything which affects the proper functioning of the swim-bladder will also affect the fish's equilibrium.

However, before diagnosing all equilibrium problems as swim-bladder disease, we should be aware that there are other conditions which can cause buoyancy problems. Disease in other organs such as kidneys and intestines for example can also cause problems. This can happen if there is any swelling of the affected organs leading to either a change in organ density or pressure being put on the swim-bladder. This is often a problem with fancy goldfish whose abdominal cavity is tightly packed.

Treatment is difficult, mainly because it is virtually impossible to diagnose the cause and secondly there are only a few conditions that will respond to treatment. It is always worth considering a course of antibiotic injections in case a bacterial infection is involved. An attempt should be made to see whether the fish is defecating, in case the problem is being caused by an intestinal blockage. If this is suspected it is worth either trying to feed the fish a few frozen peas, which act as a laxative, or else try baths in Epsom salts (70g / litre for 5 minutes) which has the same effect.

If these treatments do not work, there is little else that can be done. There is some work being carried out on exploratory surgery, but there are very few veterinarians undertaking this "cutting edge" procedure.

There are a few reports of fish recovering from balance problems, so it is worth giving the fish some time. One report suggested "wedging" the fish upright between two objects was helpful. If there is no sign of recovery after 7-10 days, the kindest thing is to euthanase the fish.