Urgent - Swimbladder troubles with fancy goldfish

Hey!
I’ve been keeping fancy goldfish for years, but I’ve thankfully and surprisingly never had any trouble with swim bladder in any of my goldies.

But today I noticed my 3 year old 5” fantail was lying on her side floating at the top. I figure it’s swim bladder and I know there’s no real cure or anything, but is there anything I can do to help her? I tried feeding her and she refused it, she’s very lethargic and not moving. She can swim for a short distance but then stops and floats again. I feed sinking pellets so I don’t know if it’s because of gulping air at the surface. Is there any way I can help her even if I can’t treat it? Thanks in advance

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20 ppm

Invisible108 said:

Hey!
I’ve been keeping fancy goldfish for years, but I’ve thankfully and surprisingly never had any trouble with swim bladder in any of my goldies.

But today I noticed my 3 year old 5” fantail was lying on her side floating at the top. I figure it’s swim bladder and I know there’s no real cure or anything, but is there anything I can do to help her? I tried feeding her and she refused it, she’s very lethargic and not moving. She can swim for a short distance but then stops and floats again. I feed sinking pellets so I don’t know if it’s because of gulping air at the surface. Is there any way I can help her even if I can’t treat it? Thanks in advance

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20 ppm

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Are the scales sticking out of the fish, making her look like a pine cone?
Please note that it is dropsy that there's usually no cure for.
If the scales are smooth, then it could be that your fish has taken in too much air, whilst eating. In some cases, this may be treatable.
(Check out 'floating goldfish').

If this is the case, a couple of days fasting might help, followed by non-surface foods, such as peeled half-peas, for example.

Thanks for the reply!
Her scales are smooth and don’t seem to be raised.
I see her gulping at the surface a lot, much more than the other fish, even though the water quality is fine, do you know why she does this?

Invisible108 said:

Thanks for the reply!
Her scales are smooth and don’t seem to be raised.
I see her gulping at the surface a lot, much more than the other fish, even though the water quality is fine, do you know why she does this?

Click to expand...

So at least it's not the dreaded dropsy...hopefully.

Fancy goldfish were selectively bred for their looks, with no real thought paid to their actual biology. As a consequence, they can be prone to all sorts of congenital defects and a wonky, or limited swim bladder, can be one of them.
Some fancy goldfish will gulp at the surface food and gulp air along with it...with the inevitable result. Some, on the other hand, can do the same gulping at the air just passes through.

(I've read that some vets deflate some fancy goldfish with a hypodermic, but they'd have to know exactly where to insert the needle. I've also heard of idiots randomly stabbing their fish with a needle, in the hope of deflating it, painfully killing the poor creature in the process!)

De-skinned peas and other green foods contain nutrition and roughage to help clear any blockages in the gut and making the fish feed underwater, rather than at the surface, should stop the problem getting worse, IF it's a swim bladder/gut problem and not a breathing problem..

What do the gills look like?

Her gills look normal to me, but she is breathing very slowly and not moving even if I gently nudge her with my hand/net.

Once a fish loses the ability to know what is up and what is down it is usually too late to save it.

Poor fish. Isn't looking good, if you think it's swim bladder then you could try meds but they don't always work. Good luck and hope it improves.

Invisible108 said:

Her gills look normal to me, but she is breathing very slowly and not moving even if I gently nudge her with my hand/net.

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So, whilst prognosis isn't good, I'd still leave the fish unstressed and don't feed foods that require surface-feeding.

Ok, thanks for the suggestions. She doesn’t look like she is going to make it but I’ll still try fasting her for a few days just in case.