Anyone know anything about goldfish? (Dancing Fire?)

[Irishgrrrl]

We have a large, hexagon-shaped goldfish tank in the corner of our living room. Three goldfish live in it. One of them is a calico goldfish, and his name is Beans. (Don''t ask.) Beans is totally fine when he''s awake . . . he''s very active, swims normally and eats like a champ. However, when he sleeps, he sleeps upside down in the back corner of the tank, at the top of the water! I had always heard that, when you see your goldfish upside down near the surface of the water, that means he doesn''t have much time left. But Beans has been sleeping like this for months now, and he seems fine otherwise. Anyone have any idea why he might be doing this? Is he OK?

 

[VegasAngel]

From what I can find it maybe swim bladder disease? http://www.netpets.org/fish/reference/freshref/swimbldr.html

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 10/4/2008 11:02:23 AM
Author: VegasAngel
From what I can find it maybe swim bladder disease? http://www.netpets.org/fish/reference/freshref/swimbldr.html

Irish
yep,sorry to say but likely what VA said above.

 

[VegasAngel]

Dfire you most likely know more about this but goldfish are pretty dirty so the tank needs to be kept very clean with a good tank filtration system, water tested etc. right? I think I read too that you have to be very careful not to overfeed them; presoaked food is best, frozen/thawed baby peas with the shell removed 2 per fish helps keeps them from getting consitpated. I have fish, well a fish as mine is a murderer hehe but I've never had goldfish.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 10/4/2008 11:36:10 AM
Author: VegasAngel
Dfire you most likely know more about this but goldfish are pretty dirty so the tank needs to be kept very clean with a good tank filtration system, water tested etc. right? I think I read too that you have to be very careful not to overfeed them; presoaked food is best, frozen/thawed baby peas with the shell removed 2 per fish helps keeps them from getting consitpated. I have fish, well a fish as mine is a murderer hehe but I''ve never had goldfish.

i had problem keepping goldfish too,so i gave up.

anyway, i notice high end GF hobbyist never keep any gravels on the bottom of the tank.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

VA and DF, thanks for the info! I read the article VA linked to, and I saw that feeding him peas might help. We''re going to pick up some frozen peas at the store today, thaw them, and feed him a few and see if it helps. Also, we do feed them flake food, and we might start pre-soaking it as the article suggested. We do have a good filtration system in the tank, and the water appears to be very clean, so I don''t think it''s a water quality issue (especially since the other two fish in that tank are totally fine).

Thanks again for the info!

 

[omieluv]

Just out of curiosity, what size hex do you have? How much filtration do you have?

Swim bladder is nasty and I have never been able to solve the problem indefinitely when I had goldfish, which is why I have washed my hands of them completely. Oddly enough, I find keeping a community of tropical fish is much easier!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Date: 10/4/2008 3:22:19 PM
Author: omieluv
Just out of curiosity, what size hex do you have? How much filtration do you have?

Swim bladder is nasty and I have never been able to solve the problem indefinitely when I had goldfish, which is why I have washed my hands of them completely. Oddly enough, I find keeping a community of tropical fish is much easier!

Hehe . . . Omie, we do have a community of tropical fish . . . and a community of saltwater fish . . . and a goldfish tank! LOL!

Our saltwater tank is in the dining room (soon to be moved to the living room), our goldfish tank is in the living room, and our tropical fish tank is small and sits on a dresser in the bedroom. All of the other fish are doing great, except for poor Beans.

I think our hex tank is about 36 gallons, and we have a LOT of filtration. I''m pretty sure the water quality is good, especially since the other two fish in that tank are doing great. I think Beans is just weird, I guess.

We''re going to try the pea trick and, if that doesn''t work, the article VA posted above says to fast them for a couple of days. So we might try that, too. Wish us luck!

PS ~ DH keeps threatening to eat Beans if he doesn''t get better. He''s kidding . . . I think!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 10/4/2008 5:25:08 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl


PS ~ DH keeps threatening to eat Beans if he doesn't get better. He's kidding . . . I think!

post some pix when he does.

Irish...do you have a reef or tropical salt water aquarium?

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Date: 10/4/2008 7:50:49 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 10/4/2008 5:25:08 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl



PS ~ DH keeps threatening to eat Beans if he doesn''t get better. He''s kidding . . . I think!

post some pix when he does.

Irish...do you have a reef or tropical salt water aquarium?

Ummmmm . . . yes? LOL!

I''m really not sure what the difference is. DH is the one who has all the fish knowledge in our family . . . I just go along with whatever he says when it comes to the fish tanks. *shrug*

If it helps, our saltwater tank is home to a clown fish, two green chromis, a miniature angel, a firefish, and a bunch of live rock (no coral, though). We did get a "bonus" with the most recent piece of live rock we bought! When we got it home, we noticed a small anemone on it a few days after we put it in the tank. Our anemone has been doing great, and he''s growing pretty fast and starting to even move around a little bit!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 10/4/2008 9:55:25 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl

Date: 10/4/2008 7:50:49 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 10/4/2008 5:25:08 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl




PS ~ DH keeps threatening to eat Beans if he doesn''t get better. He''s kidding . . . I think!

post some pix when he does.

Irish...do you have a reef or tropical salt water aquarium?

Ummmmm . . . yes? LOL!

I''m really not sure what the difference is. DH is the one who has all the fish knowledge in our family . . . I just go along with whatever he says when it comes to the fish tanks. *shrug*

If it helps, our saltwater tank is home to a clown fish, two green chromis, a miniature angel, a firefish, and a bunch of live rock (no coral, though). We did get a ''bonus'' with the most recent piece of live rock we bought! When we got it home, we noticed a small anemone on it a few days after we put it in the tank. Our anemone has been doing great, and he''s growing pretty fast and starting to even move around a little bit!

sounds like you got a reef aquarium.

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Date: 10/5/2008 12:57:59 AM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 10/4/2008 9:55:25 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl

Date: 10/4/2008 7:50:49 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 10/4/2008 5:25:08 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl





PS ~ DH keeps threatening to eat Beans if he doesn''t get better. He''s kidding . . . I think!

post some pix when he does.

Irish...do you have a reef or tropical salt water aquarium?

Ummmmm . . . yes? LOL!

I''m really not sure what the difference is. DH is the one who has all the fish knowledge in our family . . . I just go along with whatever he says when it comes to the fish tanks. *shrug*

If it helps, our saltwater tank is home to a clown fish, two green chromis, a miniature angel, a firefish, and a bunch of live rock (no coral, though). We did get a ''bonus'' with the most recent piece of live rock we bought! When we got it home, we noticed a small anemone on it a few days after we put it in the tank. Our anemone has been doing great, and he''s growing pretty fast and starting to even move around a little bit!

sounds like you got a reef aquarium.

Yeah, I asked DH and he said it''s "sort of" a reef aquarium. He said we would have to be growing coral in order for it to be a "true" reef aquarium. But I guess it qualifies as a reef aquarium due to all the live rock?

BTW, we got some peas at the grocery store today, and we''re going to give some to Beans tomorrow. I''ll let y''all know how it goes!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Good news! We gave Beans some peas, and he seems to be doing much better. I''ve been keeping a close eye on him for the past couple days to see if the pea trick worked or not, and I haven''t seen him sleeping upside down even once! He still sleeps in his favorite spot (near the surface of the water, at the back of the tank), but he has been sleeping right side up now. Before, he NEVER slept right side up . . . always upside down. So I think it worked! Just wanted to let y''all know, and thanks again for the help!

 

[Kaleigh]

Yay for Beans!!

 

[Dancing Fire]

good for him.

 

[omieluv]

Date: 10/4/2008 5:25:08 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl

Date: 10/4/2008 3:22:19 PM
Author: omieluv
Just out of curiosity, what size hex do you have? How much filtration do you have?

Swim bladder is nasty and I have never been able to solve the problem indefinitely when I had goldfish, which is why I have washed my hands of them completely. Oddly enough, I find keeping a community of tropical fish is much easier!

Hehe . . . Omie, we do have a community of tropical fish . . . and a community of saltwater fish . . . and a goldfish tank! LOL!

Our saltwater tank is in the dining room (soon to be moved to the living room), our goldfish tank is in the living room, and our tropical fish tank is small and sits on a dresser in the bedroom. All of the other fish are doing great, except for poor Beans.

I think our hex tank is about 36 gallons, and we have a LOT of filtration. I''m pretty sure the water quality is good, especially since the other two fish in that tank are doing great. I think Beans is just weird, I guess.

We''re going to try the pea trick and, if that doesn''t work, the article VA posted above says to fast them for a couple of days. So we might try that, too. Wish us luck!

PS ~ DH keeps threatening to eat Beans if he doesn''t get better. He''s kidding . . . I think!

Funny, I have a 35 hex aquarium. Since one can never have too much filtration, I have a hang on the back filter, which supposedly claims to work for up to a 76 gal aquarium. Of course, I am of the philosophy that your filtration needs should correspond to the type of fish one keeps. Lately, I have kept my aquarium sparse.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Date: 10/7/2008 4:09:14 PM
Author: Irishgrrrl
Good news! We gave Beans some peas, and he seems to be doing much better. I''ve been keeping a close eye on him for the past couple days to see if the pea trick worked or not, and I haven''t seen him sleeping upside down even once! He still sleeps in his favorite spot (near the surface of the water, at the back of the tank), but he has been sleeping right side up now. Before, he NEVER slept right side up . . . always upside down. So I think it worked! Just wanted to let y''all know, and thanks again for the help!

That is so neat that it all worked! Yay for Beans and the helpful PS fishers!

 

[:)]

So... your fish was basically constipated?!!!

Sorry but I found this kind of funny for some reason (I didn''t know they could get impacted!) This is actually a very educational thread and I am glad that Beans is all better now!

 

[VegasAngel]

He/she is better, good news!

 

[Irishgrrrl]

Date: 10/7/2008 8:26:09 PM
Author:
So... your fish was basically constipated?!!!

Sorry but I found this kind of funny for some reason (I didn''t know they could get impacted!) This is actually a very educational thread and I am glad that Beans is all better now!

I know! Isn''t that weird? LOL!

He is swimming just a little funny, kinda like he wants to keel over to one side, but there has been no more upside down action going on. So we might give him a couple more peas, just to see if it corrects the crooked swimming, but I''m encouraged that he hasn''t been upside down lately!