Seriously. He is the calico fish (the one upside down in the photos) he has not grown in 5 months but his tank mate is growing all the time and is perfectly healthy. The tank is cleaned every 2 weeks and levels are all normal. Its a 33 gallon tank for these two fish to share. Lamar spends his days on his side or upside down. When it's time to feed them I'll help him swim by holding my fingers under his tail so he can dig in the gravel, otherwise after 3 seconds he flips over and tries to swim but cannot right himself. The Oranda tries to help him sometimes by pushing his tail up.

Any ideas what is wrong or how I can help him if at all?

Tried to post photos but always get a "dynamic page not allowed error" will try again.

Here is a link to the photos


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Most likely constipation/swim bladder problems. Fancy goldfish are very prone to this. Fast him for a day, then for the next two days, feed him frozen, thawed peas (one per fish is usually a good starting spot). You want to buy the frozen peas at the grocery store, heat a couple or just let them thaw, then remove the outer shell and cut the inside part into small pieces for him.

This *should* help. Peas are a natural laxitive for goldfish. If his case is bad, you may need to keep him on a special diet (including lots of peas) for a long time, possibly even the rest of his life. You can get more info on that in the food section of the board. It's also a good idea to feed them to your other goldfish once a week to help prevent swim bladder issues.

We tried peas but he didn't seem to eat them. We'll try again.

It sometimes takes fish a while to get used to peas, but once they get the hang of it they usually yum them up! It does help if you fast them for 2-3 days beforehand though.

If fasting and peas don't cure the problem - and do give it 10 days at least - then the next step is to try an antibiotic food, such as Medigold or Metro-Med, which you can order online or by phone from the Goldfish Connection (www.goldfishconnection.com), as bacterial infection is another common cause. It may also help to increase the tank temp to about 78F.


Hope this helps.