Hi all,
Wondering if anyone can help, I have a gold fish in a 25l tank on his own. He seems to have problems staying down in the water, any time he swims down to the bottom of the tank he floats right back to the top. Is this a serious problem?, or can it be treated?

Thanks.

Sounds like a swim bladder problem. Have you tested your water to determine if the parameters are ok?

It's most likely bacterial. You should be able to get a treatment from your local fish shop. However, there's no guarantees that is will solve the problem.

Many problems like this are caused by water quality issues.

I doubt this lad will be willing to spend the kind of money on a test kit we do.

Do plenty of water changes and treat the water first.
Also, is this the little tank that comes with a tiny filter and heater?

any time i had this problem in the past i would reduce the depth of water and treat i would also look at the food, variety is the key and should contain fiber. this is only a personal opinion but with goldfish and especially the fancy types swim bladder and constipation go hand in hand. I would also consider dropping a few grains of Epsom salt in the fish path to consume this would help reduce the risk of constipation

Hi All,
Thanks for the tips. I tested the water and it is okay, it is changed weekly as well. I had a good filter in the tank (was rated for a 60l tank), but it packed in a few days ago, would imagine this is part of the problem, was away for 3days when it happened, so not sure how long the filter was in the water while not working. Will drop into the petshop later and pick something up.

Thanks.

that would explain some of the problem ok I still would look at food there is a "supa" product sinking looks like multi colour stones avoid, it will do more damage to water than feed fish nutri values are not great at all. skined peas and flake and variety is always key!

Another thing that it might be? - Do you feed him flake food that floats at the surface of the water? Could be that he's ingesting air while feeding. Try a food that doesn't float and I've also heard people recommend feeding him some peas with their outer skin removed. Do this by putting a couple of pees in a small dish of water in the microwave for a minute or two then peeling off the skin, this is supposed to get rid of any "trapped air" inside the fish.
Best of luck.

good point about the peas. I have goldfish that get constipated regularly and I give them peeled peas and it sorts them out.

@Micky I never heard of epsom salts in the water. have you tried it. Does it cause things to go too much the other way. I dont want brow/green coloured water if possible.

@NCDUB . It sounds like swim bladder trouble which seems to go hand in hand with constipatiion as micky said. When my goldfish is constipated he swims slightly sideways but the peas sort him out. I also think that the sooner you get your filter problem sorted out the better. This should make a huge difference. Hope you fish feels better soon.