I posted this in my thread on my floating veiltail moor in the general discussions forum, but I thought I'd add it here to see what people's reactions are:

Here's an interesting story about someone's success with upside-down floating fish.

He found that a high protein diet caused his fish to flip/float. Feeding them algae from his pond seemed to reverse it.

The permanent cure he seems to have discovered is... drum roll, please... cooked rice.

So now he can give them a high protein food so they can grow like elephants, but at the same time also give them rice so they don't flip or float.

Perhaps it's worth considering adding cooked natural rice as a main ingredient in gel food.

What do you all think?



Edit: In my haste to post this here, I didn't notice Raith posting a question about rice. Perhaps this will will answer it - rice not as the staple diet, but rather as a supplement to a high protein diet to prevent floating in those types of fish (ryukins, veiltails etc) prone to it.

Very interesting, AW. Food for thought, indeed. (no pun intended)

I would think that rice would expand in their stomachs and cause them to bloat. Guess I was wrong! My ryukin has a slight problem with flipping over...maybe I'll give it a try.

i thought the same Heather, may try it on my ryukin also.

Very interesting my uncle has a Red Cap Oranda thats flip/flop constantly

Rice actually is part of a breeding conditioning regimen that a lot of professional breeders use. It has to be fully cooked, very soft rice, then it will not expand anymore. I gave rice for a while to my veiltails, and I even cut it into smaller pieces, and they never floated. Veiltails are very sensitive when it comes to their food and floating issues, so I guess that was a good sign...

It was suggested to use short grained steamed rice - very well cooked - kinda sticky. Not the usual long grained "to the tooth" rice that we here in USA are accustomed to.

A rice paste or flour is also a good additive to gel food.

interesting. i wonder if the same principle could be applied to other grains with a similar cooked consistency but higher nutritional content than white rice

interesting . i just might try that for my babies

Rice is a good choice for making your own food for your GF.. best way to prepare them is to ground pre-cooked rice into paste which you can use it to wrap other ingredient or mix them to the ingedient to keep them stay together. that is especially useful if some ingredient may melt or dissolve in the water too easily, then it is best to wrap up using rice paste which will keep the pellet water proof for a while..

but there again, there have been writing against feeding GF with rice.. but I have done it, and my fishes are still alive. whether it cures floating, it is mainly due to the pureness of rice that keep the tank clean.. clean tank is the most important criteria that help a floating fish recover... otherwise, there is no nutritional value rine rice except starch and carbo which mainly gives energy..

as suggested, make sure you fully cook the rice, but also becareful not to overcooked it lest your rice turns into porridge (soup).. jus make sure it is soft enuff to be grounded into paste as a guide..

Bless your hearts!jus what I needed to know!

Could you use rice baby cereal too? I'm not really a rice eater so I don't buy it much, but my son is just starting solids. Sooo......... B)

LOL, good call!!

heather and lozbug my ryunkin does the same thing i never thought that it was swimbladder i just thought it was part of that species if goldfish i will try it i hope iy will work

I gave my goldie boiled rice (really soft and mushy) and i think it worked on the floating.

[do you think it will work for my fish we just have regular rice the kind you boil

I think it will you have to boil it in water and it must be really soft and mushy, then gave it to the goldies in combination with peas...

I haven't really had a problem with swim bladder yet, but I just got Ryukins like a month ago so I'll probably have them eventually. Thats nice to know though. I'll have to remember that.

Sounds great I'll have to tell my Uncle Ben.

I think it will you have to boil it in water and it must be really soft and mushy, then gave it to the goldies in combination with peas...
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do i have to use peas

Mookie...was that a pun??? Tell your Uncle Ben? He would probably be a little "wild" about it?? Sorry couldn't resist!!!

So now...if I gave my fish left over white rice (long grain but already cooked) would there be a problem? Would it be okay right from the frig? or would there be bacteria on it that wouldn't be good for the fish if it wasn't reheated first?

Yeah, I told my Uncle Ben about the pun and he got all "pilaf-ed".

It's up to you, rice and peas are both act like laxatives...

I tried feeding my goldfish jasmine rice and the uncle ben's american rice and the goldfish devoured the jasmine rice and just left the uncle ben's for my shrimp to pick at.

They probably prefer the flavourof the jasmine rice, but if you gave them just plain rice by itself they'd eat it. Mine jump at it now and gulp it all down.

Just normal long grained white rice, boiled just until soft but not too mushy that it turns to gooey starch. No need to mash or mix it with anything, just drop a couple of grains in and let them eat them.

I just kept some already boiled rice in a small plastic container in the fridge when I needed it. Lasts a week or more if the container is airtight and the rice isn't boiled too soft (otherwise it ends up sticking together).

im hoping it to work

What about basamati rice? thats whut my fish get, and the floaty one will be floaty as long as shes egg bound which is always, so i dont know if it works or not. She seems less floaty...