Loaches Online Forum

Hi

My mum has a fish tank (one of my old ones) with three large goldfish, one red cap oranda and two black orandas. My parents are out of town and the person who usually comes into feed the pets was unavailable so I went over to do the needful and I noticed that one of the black oranda is just lying upside down in the tank. Initially I thought he was dead, but he is very much alive. This is about 5 days ago. He is still alive and upside down. He some how manages to eat something, as he has not lost any weight.

Does anyone know what is wrong and what I can do for him? It’s terrible to see him like that. Thanks in advance

namal kamalgoda wrote:
Does anyone know what is wrong and what I can do for him? It’s terrible to see him like that. Thanks in advance

Your Mom's black oranda has a swim bladder problem.

Try following the suggested treatment from this page.

I hope your Mom's black oranda gets well.

thanks

www.thegab.org is a great resource for goldfish specifically. There are many causes for swim bladder disorder. We discuss this topic extensively as most of us are affected in one way if we have fancy goldfish.

I have an oranda goldfish that is upside down also. It started before the signs of an illness were apparent.

The first step is water quality. A lot of fish are sensitive to bad water and fancies can flip with bad water.

At the same time feed fresh foods - like thawed peas popped out of their shell for a few days. This will tell you if the swim bladder/flipping is due to food.

Keep an eye on the fish for signs of illness - fins stuck closely at their sides, gasping and rapid breathing, extra slime coat, redness, white stringy poop etc. I don't recommend medical treatment without all of the details on tank maintenance, water quality, symptoms etc.

Good luck.

thanks for the assistance, unfortunately the worst affected died. The rest seemed to be ok and doing well.