Hey, my name is Ashton and I have a fan tailed goldfish. Her tail got stuck in the filter and I just happened to look over when it did. I got her loose from the filter but all she does now is float around the tank, wherever the water flow takes her. I can see she is still alive and sometimes she swims around, but not often. I took her out of the tank and put her in a separate bowl because she kept slamming into the walls and rocks. I left her there over night and this morning she was back to normal, so I put her back in the tank. I got home this evening and her behavior is back to what it was before. What should I do for her?

Thanks, Ashton.

Test your water,and answer the questions listed above this forum...and someone should be able to help you shortly

The first thing I would do is a large water change. At least 50%.

Please answer as many questions at the top of the page as you can. That will enable us to help you to figure out what could be going on.

For now, though, start with a good water change and vacuum the gravel if you have it.

Please post back soon

I don't have any materials to test with right now, but I can get some tomorrow. I have a 10 gallon tank that has been running for 6 weeks. I have only changed the water once since I put fish in the tank (after it ran for two weeks, I added fish.) I have two fantail goldfish and I feed them nutrafin max floating pellets. The fish have no unusual findings, but behavior is as described in post #1. No medications added to the tank, except a very small amount of aquarium salt.

I'd take her out of the tank and put her in a hospital tank with some melafix. It will calm the fish and take care of any bacteria it may be dealing with if it was injured. It's probably stressed.

I would recommend doing a partial water change weekly on the tank. Goldfish are messy buggers and create a lot of waste. Since you have one too many, I would do a 50% water change weekly. Test kits for your water are essential in the fish keeping hobby as it's usually the first thing we check when fish are acting funny, it also lets you know what a water change is needed when the nitrAtes start creeping up. Good luck!

Chances are that sionce your tank has been only running for six weeks,and you've only done one water change,your water params are probably way off where they should be. I too would start with that 50% water change,and make sure that you match tank temps and treat the new water first.A testing kit is a very important part of keeping fish,especially when you are keeping multiple fish in a small tank,so that's an important item to get a hold of.Aquarium Pharmaceuticals has a great master drop test kit that you can get pretty reasonable.Until then,I would do at least a 50% water change per week,until you can know what your params are on a regular basis.
As for the floating fish,do you happen to have one of those plastic bins that will float,or a breeder's net that you can set in the tank to contain him until he begins to feel a bit stronger?


HAve you done a water change yet?Sometimes that can perk up a fish immediately too.

How is the fish, can you give us an update?