We often hear people who are worried that their goldfish has ‘swim bladder’.
“My goldfish is swimming upside down, does it have swim bladder disease?”
If you have fancy goldfish then the chances are that at some point you may be asking this question. If your Goldie is having problems with buoyancy and/or swimming then ‘swim bladder disease’ is the conclusion that many people come to. Unfortunately a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing and sometimes ‘swim bladder disease’ is stated as being the problem without anyone looking at the bigger picture.
So let's dig into it a little bit by understanding What is Swim Bladder?
In layman terms, the swim bladder is an internal organ that the fish uses to maintain its position in the water. It uses it to rise up, dive down or just to sit where it is.
Now the golden question is What is Swim Bladder disorder?
Swim bladder disorder is when a fish loses its ability to regulate the air going in and out of its swim bladder. This causes the fish to swim strangely, on its side, or even upside down.
Although often called a “disease”, it is actually a symptom affecting the goldfish’s swim bladder that can have a number of different causes.
Let's understand the 'Cause of Swim Bladder'
Inappropriate water condition and diet are key causes of the disorder.
Water Conditions: The first thing to do is test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate at the very least, and ideally pH as well. Poor water quality can often cause buoyancy problems and this should be the first thing to fix before trying anything else.
Diet: The food you feed your fancy goldfish can have a significant impact on its buoyancy, and a simple change of diet can often be enough to get your fancy goldfish on the road to recovery and swimming properly again.
What are the symptoms that your Goldie indicates when having swim bladder disorder?
The fish sits on the bottom of the tank the right way up and struggles to rise up in the water.
The fish lies on the bottom of the tank upside-down and struggles to right itself or swim about.
The fish floats at the top of the tank the right way up and struggles to swim down.
The fish floats upside-down at the top of the tank and struggles to right itself or swim down.
The fish floats about upside-down in mid-water and struggles to right itself or swim about.
The fish swims with its rear end higher than its head or completely vertical.
The fish sits with its nose on the bottom of the tank and its rear end pointing up.
The fish lists to one side, or lies on its side, and cannot right itself or swim about.
How to fix dietary and digestive buoyancy problems? So we learn that the eating habits of Goldfish are the most common cause of swim bladder disorder. You should therefore take the following steps to treat swim bladder disorder:
Test the water quality and monitor the tank temperature (Is the temperature stable? Is the tank properly cycled? Do you do regular water changes? Is there ammonia or nitrite in the water?).
Move the fish to a quarantine tank with shallow water. This relieves the fish from trying hard to swim up or down.
Do not feed the fish for at least 48 hours (Don’t worry – goldfish really don’t need to eat much!).
After 48 hours, start to feed the fish very small amounts of peas with the shells removed.
Add some epsom or aquarium salt (one teaspoon per gallon) to de-stress the fish.
You could try a swim bladder treatment if you think that you’ve already been feeding your goldfish the right types and amount of food and that an infection may be the cause of their swim bladder problems.
My personal recommendation for the treatment is 'Baxter Laboratory Goldfish Bladder Repair'.
The treatment follows as:
Move the fish to a quarantine tank with shallow water that would provide relief to the fish
Add 1 tablespoon to every 10 gallon (Approx 38 Litres) of water.
Wait for couple of days.
Increase the level of water gradually and monitor the way they swim
Continue the treatment until swimming pattern is corrected
Try not to feed during the treatment
This might take hours or days to treat depending on the condition of the fish.
Now comes the most important part, Post Recovery from the disorder
You can resume feeding your Goldie but consider making the following changes to the it's diet:
Feed less regularly. Goldfish really don’t need to eat much at all as they don't have stomach, but they’re very greedy and will continue to eat and eat if you give them too much food!
Avoid flake foods – feed sinking pre soaked pellets instead. Make sure you feed them in the morning which would give them energy for the day. You can even replace pellets with some de shelled peas (as they are high in protein), bloodworm or brine shrimp twice a week.
Feed them blanched vegetables such as broccoli, spinach and kale in the afternoon and evening.
Do not forget to soak dry food in tank water for a few seconds before adding to the main tank to make sure it sinks
Up and above anything remember that, 'Patience is the key while treating the disorder.' Severity of the disorder decides the amount of time your Goldie would take to recover while on treatment. In conjugation to the treatment, All your Goldie would need is lots of love and attention. Make sure you give them a plenty of it :)
Hope this is helpful to you?
If so, I’d love to hear your feedback below.
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