My fish swims upside down for long periods of time. He floats to the top belly up and just likes to stay there for a while. I have to give his belly a little rub and that scares him into turning on his stomach and swimming down (but that only lasts for a while). He never seems to be in distress or struggling with it. It looks almost like something you are taught to do when you swim for too long and you lose your strength (stay calm and float on your back). My other fish is in the same tank and doesn't do this. Is my fish sick? Or is it just an inner ear infection like my little sister thinks?

Hi there and welcome to Kokos.

It is NOT normal for fish to swim upside down, so yes he is sick, however it is not an inner ear infection, although that is cute.
He is more than likely suffering from Swim Bladder Disease, or SBD as some say.

First if you can answer the questions in the red box at the top we can help you better.
You can also look up SBD and learn what it is and what to do for it.
I would link you to it, but I haven't learned how to do that yet.

I can tell you though, it is hard on them a few things you can do is fast him for 24 hrs and then feed him a pea or 2 (thawed and shelled and cut into bite size pieces). Also soaking their food for 5 min. and making sure it sinks to the bottom is also a way to help this from happeing.

Post back soon and let us know what is going on with everything.
Also we love to hear what kind of goldie you have and what is his name

Again welcome!!!

Laurie