hi y'all

i've dealt with some very sad, even tragic problems in my limited experience but this has been a persistent, though slow and nagging issue for the past three weeks:

every time i enter my studio (where i keep my fish) i catch my red cap, "joie" hanging at the surface upright. i can "scare" her to the bottom or another part of the tank by tapping on the glass but that is not a solution and it seems mean and wrong. when i DO tap on the glass, and occasionally during feedings, joie will swim to the bottom of the tank and hide-- but it seems to take some effort on her part to stay there. she eats well enough but i admit that i'm not back there often enough these days to monitor her poop etc.

i know i may not be descibing this very well and that this is a dense if not scatterbrained post so here's some info that might help:

tank size: 20 gal
population: 3 med fish, 2 oranda and 1 black moor
ph: 7.4- 7.6
ammonia: nil
nitrites: nil
temp: mid 70's
gravel bottom, plastic plants, 1 cast resin ornament (small), 1 small rock (from the pet store)
water changed once a week (about one third)....

i use stress coat and aquarium salts as directed and feed a small amt. of tetra flakes every morning. every other day i add some freeze dried bloodworms. lately i have been feeding them peas hoping it will help joie get over whatever it is that ails her (swimbladder?). fishy mcfish and barney are AOK and leave joie alone.

any insights? i'm not too concerned for joie's immediate future but i hate to think that she is at all uncomfortable.

edp

Hi little maime

Two things occur: lack of oxygen or swimbladder problems. Mid 70's is quite warm for a goldfish tank, so plenty of oxygenation is vital as warmer water holds much less oxygen than cold. What O2 system do you have in there already?

As for swimbladder disease, you're quite right to try peas first. Have you noticed if joie is constipated (trailing poop is one clear sign)? You could try fasting for 3 days and then feeding peas, lightly boiled, de-skinned and mushed. If peas failt to work (and oxygenation is not the cause), then an internal infection is the next most likely problem. In that case, you would need to medicate with a good broad-spectrum antibiotic, something like MediGold or Metro-Med from the Goldfish Connection (www.goldfishconnection.com) or Maracyn / Maracyn 2.

Hope this helps, and let us know about the oxygen.

Also do you have a test for NITRATES ? Also you have 6 fish in a 20 gallon, is that right?

no, i have 3 med. fish in a 20 gal tank.

i'm gonna stick with peas for another 24 hrs-- then i'll see what some maracyn 2 will do....

thanks
edp

you know, it just occurred to me that i should clarify one thing: joie isn't breathing at the surface, just hanging parallel to it.

you made a good point about the temp. even though i was was told that 70-72 F was good for my goldies (75 being a bit high) i realized that, like an idiot, i had not accounted for the change in temp outside and that the water temp was actually just over 80 (thermostat has a +/- dial only). even though i turned it way, way down over about 1 1/2 days joie is still hanging at the surface. i did a water change a few min ago and rinsed the filter. i think i'm gonna work on better oxygenation for now....

thanks a lot yall
edp