I was refered to this forum by http://fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...showtopic=28496. here is my post from there:





The response suggested somehting about flipping diease? help please I am a computer technician and this is all new to me. ANy help is apperiated.

Rich

Greetings and welcome to the board!


Your fishy is having a problem with it's swim bladder.
It's an air bubble(organ) inside the fish the controls if
it goes up or down. Right now it's having a problem
with the going down part. This is called swim bladder
disease (SBD) or flipover disease, whatever you want
to call it.

This is most likely a result of constipation. Yes,
fish can get backed up like people. The easiest way to
help alleviate the problem is to fast ALL of your fish for
2-3 days. Then feed them fresh frozen(non salted) peas.
Lightly warm up, de-skin and either mush or cut into bite
size pieces. Peas are a natural laxative and they eat it
like candy.

To avoid future problems with this, make sure to presoak
any flake/pellet food in a cup of tank water. This will
help remove any air in the food.

Make sure to keep the fish under the surface of the water
if it's floating at the top. If exposed to air to long, it can
develop air ulcers.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask away!

so my fish has constapation? This morning it was not floating. It was on the bottom with the rest of them. And as of yet it has not started again either. Thanks for the help. Glad to hear "Spanky" is not going to kick the bucket. Another question. I named our fish but I do not know which are males and females? Our biggest one named "King" is about the size of a baseball. He eats first.. thats why we call him king. Kinda funny to watch actually. But how do I tell the difference between a male and female?


Rich

For fancy, double tailed goldfish there are a couple ways.
Look at their bums Males have an inny (pink) and females
have an outty(white). Here'sa pic to help.

For non-fancy, single tailed fish it's a little harder. You
have to look at them from the top. Males will be thinner
in the stomach area, while females will be thicker.

cool. A guy at the petsop told me there is no way to tell. lol. How do I know if one is pregnant? Petshop guy said they do not mait in captivity. true?

Rich

They are capapble of mating in captivity. You have to
lower the tank temp. (not sure to what temp) Then slowly
raise it back up. (think spring thaw in the river) When the
temp gets to a certain point the male will start chasing the
female around with his nose up her bum. Then things may
look like they become violent, the male will push the female
into the tank walls and anything else around until the eggs
are released. Remember, both the male and female must
be old enough for this to happen. Generally 2-3 years old is
when they can start mating. If you don't want your fish to
go through this, raise the temp to 74-76f and that will take
care of any frisky stuff that may happen.

Here's another pic to tell a mature male fish. Little white spots
will develop on the gill plate and front edge of the pectoral fin.

ps: if your looking to breed your fishies, check out the breeding
section. Lots of helpfull info there.

the one that ws flipping has stopped. But in regards to the maiting question. The one we call nugget is always chasing the one that was flipping under near the butt. POssible courtship? If she drops some eggs will the other eat them? Or should I just leave the eggs there? ( if she dropped egges, she has not yet ) sorry about my tpyo's etc.. must be kinda hard to read @ times.

Rich

It very well could be someone getting frisky. If eggs are
left in the tank, they will become food for everyone. <_<
If you really want to raise fry(eggs-baby fish) you'll need
a seperate tank for them, along with a different filter etc.
I don't know too much about what all goes into it, just
what I've caught browsing through the breeding section. I've
got my hands full with 22 goldies and a small tropical tank.

Keep asking questions, I'll try to answer them. If they are
breeding specific, you'll be best to ask them in the breeding
section though.

ps: don't worry about the occasional typo, I've had a couple.

wow. you are very informative. I hope asking all these question are not annoying. But here is another. We used to have alot of plants ( fake) but they always seemed to collect alot of junk. It always made the tank look nasty. And the little gravel did the same thing. So we removed them all. Now the tank sits on a black shelf. It gives the mirror effect. Kinda neat to see. Will this mess with the fishes? What would you recommend to put in the tank? I am going to take some pics of our babies. I am proud of them Is it true that the fish will get only as big as there tank will allow? Thats enough questions for now. but rest asure there will probally be more.

Rich.

The tank size vs. fish growth is kinda true. Goldfish emit
a growht inhibitor. It will actually stunt the fish's growth,
making them only grow to a certain size. This will greatly
reduce the life span of the fish too. That's why we
recommend goldfish need a MINIMUM of 10 gallons of water
per fish, 15-20 gallons would be great. Along with that,
weekly water changes with dechlorinated and temp
matched water. Plus, gravel vacuums help keep the inhibitor
in check.

The reflection might do something for awhile, but it should
pass shortly. Somethings you could put in the bottom to
dress it up a little are: colored glass beads, bigger sized
river rocks-1 1/2" size. Those will give your fish something
to play with, and keep you awake at night with the clanking
sound it can produce. Using gravel or having a bare
bottom tank is more of a personal decision. All my tanks
have small sized gravel in them.

For the crud on the plastic plants, just take them out and
use a toothbrush to clean with.

If you get some good clear pics, you may want to enter them
in the Pic of the week contest. Email the photo to Koko:
koko@kokosgoldfish.com. Make sure to include your username
with the photo saying you want it entered in the contest. Oh,
make sure you don't post the pic on here beforehand. It won't
be allowed then.

Feel free to ask questions whenever they come up. That's
what the board is for.

PM94.....ever thought about writing a book

Your smart!
Keekee

I'm just passing on information that I have sponged up
in my time being here. Lots of lurking and question
asking help with that. Some stuff is trial and error.
I've got lots of little tidbits that I've copied for future
reference too.

really pic of the week huh. Maybe I will. I will email them. Hey bud you ever need some computer questions lemme know.

Rich