Help! I think my daughter's goldfish may be dying.I fed Goldie some food tonight and I heard a BIG splash come from her tank... she repeatedly hit the glass part of the top of her cover ...she then had some dificulty getting her bearings and acted as if she had been stunned or something...then she started to come around.Now she is listing to one side and hanging out in the corner on the bottom of the aquarium. We have had Goldie for 12 years.What happenned to her?Did she have a heart attack or stroke or something like that? Is she dying?Can I do anything to help her?Thank you for any and all advice you can give me.I feel like crying. Cheryl

Hi once20 and

Is there any way you can answer as many of the questions in the red box as possible?

Also, is there any way she could have been exposed to an electrical current?

Any changes in routine?

Please post back soon

1.I do not know how to test all the levels
2. Second Nature Whisper Pump bog enough for @25 gallon tank pr a bit bigger actually
3. I use tetra aqua Safe when doing partial water change
4. Water change...3/4...every 4 - 6 weeks
5.1 fish in tank approx 6-8 inches long
6No new fish introduced into tank
7. No unusual findings...only unusual behavior was when she jumped so high she hit the glass of tank cover last night.

Nothing has changed...no chance of electrocution

I did a partial water change this morning.She is laying on her side now not moving in one corner of tank now.Can I help her?Is she just dying of old age?Is there a way to humanely euthanisa a fish?Thank you for all your help.I hav eto get back to work now.

Cheryl

I have no idea what might have happened. Perhaps a heart attack or an electrical surge as Jen suggested but the outlook is bad.

Here is a link to a thread that discusses euthanasia.

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=32080

Thank you so much everyone for your quick replies.Goldie is still alive and right now at this very moment is swimming around the tank almost as normally as she usually does ....she periodically will list slightly...very slightly to one side. It is a miracle.I came home from work all day at the school knowing that I was going to have to euthanise our beloved Goldie...I went to work at the vet clinic later in the day knowing that I was going to bring home some euthanasia solution to inject into my Goldie.I never ever want her to suffer needlessly.But when I got to the clinic my daughter had called and spoken with the doctor and the doctor told me that my daughter had called saying that Goldie was fine and swimming all around now.This was music to my heart and soul but I was very puzzled as to what had brought about this miraculous change so I called her back.It turns out that her best friends boyfriend moved Goldie thru the water in every direction imaginable moving water thru her gills.Then tonight while in the pet store buying some dog food for the dog I picked up a book about goldfish and I read that when a fish is just laying there on it's side not moving any where it will surely die because a fish needs to keep moving water thru its gills in order to breathe.Whatever is happenning now is a miracle.I hope and pray that she will will continue to improve and live.She has been with us for 12 years now and that is a long long time for a goldfish isnt it?To us because she has been around so long she is more than just a goldfish...she is part of the family.Thanks everyone for being the nice people that you are! Cheryl

Yes, 12 years is a long time to have a goldfish. You must be good carers of her and it also goes to show that if goldfish have lots of water (goldie is in a 25g) it is better for them. Many goldfish have shortened lives because they are kept in tanks too small, you should be congratulated.

Your daughter's best friend's boyfriend is clever too. I have heard of that being done before but would not have thought to try it in Goldies case. It certainly seems to be a miracle that she is up and about again.

I still have no idea what caused her behaviour in the first place and hope that it doesn't happen again.

There is one change I would suggest you consider in Goldies care routine and that is the frequency of water changes. Rather than change 3/4 of the tank every 4-6 weeks, it would be less stress on Goldie if you changed smaller amounts more frequently. Perhaps 25% each week.

Good luck with Goldie in the future.

Fishmerised thanks for the good wishes!And also thanks again for all of your advice and even more so thanks for your kindness! I just wanted to give you an update this morning.Goldie is now swimming around in her tank as if nothing had happenned I just hope that she stays that way.I am so thankful that I did not take her into work with me yesterday afternoon as she would be dead right now instead of alive.I truly thought that she was a goner. I will start doing 25% weekly water changes now .Do I need to add aqua safe in the full amount for a tank then or just use the dosage for the amount of water that I am changing? Cheryl

I also hopes Goldie stays happy and active for a long time.

You only need to use Aquasafe for the amount of new water your changing.

Hi Cheryl.
I'm very glad to hear that Goldie is doing better but I'm still concerned about his "jump".

If you get a Master Test Kit you'd be doing both yourself and Goldie the world of good. It takes a lot of the guess work out of diagnosis as water is ususally the primary cause of a lot of fish health problems.

Has Goldie been displaying any "scratching" behaviours....maybe swimming sideways on the gravel at the bottom of the tank, rubbing off tank ornaments, yawning, spitting out food?
Parasites, a sudden PH crash or a build up of ammonia can cause a fish to attempt a "jump" out of water.

It could also have just been a freak incident!

You must be a great fish mommy to have Goldie for 12 yrs...congratulations. Here's to many more years with him.