Hello,

I suspect she has Swim Bladder Disease, and this affects a fish's swim bladder which is the organ that helps in maintaining a fish's ability to balance and swim in a normal position. When it becomes blocked up or too full of air it stops functioning properly.

This can be a result of water quality, over feeding dry foods or a Bacterial infection. Poor water quality can play a major issue contributing to the Swim Bladder problem. You should have some areation and filtration to help with the water quality. You should have a minimum of 15-20 gallons of water per gold fish.

The first step to helping is to check your water quality. The Ammonia should be 0, Nitrites 0 and the Nitrates 20 ppm or less.

You should have a test kit to check the levels. I suggest the API test kit with the test tubes and not the Strips. The Strip test can be off and not give the correct readings.

We can try some first aid to help the fish. First do a 3/4 water change and be sure to add some de-chlorinator or use bottle Spring water for replacement.

Next please feed a couple of frozen peas in which the shell has been removed. You will need to be sure you crush the peas for the fish. This helps the stool to pass and will sometimes help to relieve the problem.

I also suggest using aquarium salt at 1 teaspoon of the salt per gallon of water. The Salt helps to draw out fluids that can cause swelling in the swim bladder disease.

These are some links that give you information about swim bladder disease:

http://www.netpets.org/fish/reference/freshref/swimbldr.html

http://www.fishfriend.com/articles/the_swim_bladder_disease.html


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/364175/swim_bladder_disease_in_goldfish_how.html?cat=53


There are some other methods of treating swim bladder which has to do with reducing the amount of water in the tank which helps to decompress the swim bladder, but I would only use that as a last resort.

This link will help you locate Fish Vets if the treatment does not help: http://www.koivet.com/a_fishvets.html

Joan

Hello,

I would only use 1/2 teaspoon full of aquarium salt in the fish bowl since there is no filtration. You will need to do partial water changes on the tank when set up. It will go through cycling. Fritzyme #7 should help get the cycling started and hopefully you will not have too much problem. The tanks cycling is called New Tank Syndrome, so I will give you some information to prepare for it and how to cope with it.

This is a link: http://www.bestfish.com/breakin.html

Joan