# indoor goldfish food advice. floating fish



## mightymammoth (13 February 2014)

Hi, I've two elderly goldfish in a 30 litre bio orb fish bowl. We currently feed them a mix of the traditional flakes and pellets. One of the fish after he eats seems to get a bloated stomach and struggles not to float to the top. This passes after a few days of not feeding but I was wondering if there was a better feed Or something I could do to help him. I tried peas but them just ended up on the bottom of the tank covered in alge.
Can anyone help please?


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## cyberhorse (13 February 2014)

Peas do work. It sounds like your fish is getting a swim bladder problem due to constipation. Bag your fish up and float it in the tank as you would with a new fish you are putting in the tank. Boil a couple of peas mash them and put them into the bag so he has to eat them! I have tropical rather than goldfish but I find the Hikari range is the best quality feed. Have you also tested the water levels for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH as obviously water issues can upset the fish too?


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## mightymammoth (13 February 2014)

Thanks that's a good idea. Not tested the water but worth bearing that in mind. Will try the peas again


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## catxx (19 February 2014)

Test the water asap. A pair of Goldfish should really be in more like 200 litres, not 30 litres! And Orbs have notoriously poor filtration. If they've been in here some time they will be stunted (as if they were full grown they would not fit in a 30L Orb) which means squashed up internal organs and poor water quality may have been eating away at their swimbladder, basically causing irreparable damage.


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## cloverleaf1985 (19 February 2014)

Agree with what catxx said


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## jhoward (22 February 2014)

they can also have a bit of cucumber, I still with goldfish treat the water aqua safe.


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## mightymammoth (8 March 2014)

catxx said:



			Test the water asap. A pair of Goldfish should really be in more like 200 litres, not 30 litres! And Orbs have notoriously poor filtration. If they've been in here some time they will be stunted (as if they were full grown they would not fit in a 30L Orb) which means squashed up internal organs and poor water quality may have been eating away at their swimbladder, basically causing irreparable damage.
		
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what a load of rubbish, 200 litres? They are small goldfish, the orange type you win at the fair. Although I'm sure they are small because I've cruelly "stunted their growth".They are about 10 years old and I've not squashed their internal organs or caused irreparable damage to them yet.

I'm feeding them peas and soaking their pellets before I give it to them, but I'm sure I will be told that's the wrong thing to do as well. It has however cured the problem.


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## mightymammoth (8 March 2014)

cloverleaf1985 said:



			Agree with what catxx said 

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why the tears?


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## GinaB (8 March 2014)

victoria1980x said:



			what a load of rubbish, 200 litres? They are small goldfish, the orange type you win at the fair. Although I'm sure they are small because I've cruelly "stunted their growth".They are about 10 years old and I've not squashed their internal organs or caused irreparable damage to them yet.

I'm feeding them peas and soaking their pellets before I give it to them, but I'm sure I will be told that's the wrong thing to do as well. It has however cured the problem.
		
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The tears and the above post I've quoted is because they're right! Goldfish are not made to live in such a small space, try googling it.


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## honeymum (8 March 2014)

victoria1980x said:



			what a load of rubbish, 200 litres? They are small goldfish, the orange type you win at the fair. Although I'm sure they are small because I've cruelly "stunted their growth".They are about 10 years old and I've not squashed their internal organs or caused irreparable damage to them yet.

I'm feeding them peas and soaking their pellets before I give it to them, but I'm sure I will be told that's the wrong thing to do as well. It has however cured the problem.
		
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The 'little orange ones from the fair' are just normal goldfish, they should live 25-30 years and grow to 30-45cm long so yes they need about 200 litres to grow properly. You can't see that their insides are stunted or being crushed but this is probably one of the reasons it has swim bladder disease. I do agree though with soaking the pellets and giving some shelled peas. What are your nitrate/nitrite levels as goldies are real poop machines (another reason to keep them in a big tank).


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## shadeofshyness (18 March 2014)

Unfortunately it sounds like they are in far too small a space. It's depressing what poor literature is out there re goldfish. Bowls have only recently been banned in some countries, despite everyone knowing how unsuitable they are for decades!

If you would like to read up on goldfish and how you can help them to thrive (and I'm afraid this does include 200 litres for two of them!) try googling the Koko's Goldfish World website. It is American, but once you convert their gallons into litres, the advice is all easy to follow. You can get fantastic secondhand tanks on ebay or Gumtree and start cycling one to make them a new and more suitable home. Once you've got it set up you'll find that the weekly water changes and tests should be much easier to do - the more space, the easier! Good luck.


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## shadeofshyness (18 March 2014)

catxx said:



			Test the water asap. A pair of Goldfish should really be in more like 200 litres, not 30 litres! And Orbs have notoriously poor filtration. If they've been in here some time they will be stunted (as if they were full grown they would not fit in a 30L Orb) which means squashed up internal organs and poor water quality may have been eating away at their swimbladder, basically causing irreparable damage.
		
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I am always so impressed that people on here have good goldfish knowledge! Wish it wasn't such a rare surprise though - pet shops need to start logging on here and educating themselves!


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## catxx (21 March 2014)

shadeofshyness said:



			I am always so impressed that people on here have good goldfish knowledge! Wish it wasn't such a rare surprise though - pet shops need to start logging on here and educating themselves!
		
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Yup! It's all the misinformation and old myths that have lent to these poor fish being misunderstood and mistreated. 

The "fair" Goldfish are Commons and Comets, they should all get at least 10"-12" (not including the tail) and be about the same if you wrapped a tape measure around their gut. Being kept in small tanks stunts their growth through poor water quality and stress. But fish do not lay down and die because their depressed, Goldies have a great survival instinct through even the worst conditions. 

Practical Fishkeeping did a cold call a while back around to a bunch of aquatic shops pretending to be beginners wanting Goldfish, not one, NOT ONE, gave out recognised correct Goldie care.


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## Fides (21 March 2014)

There are a pair of 1O year old common goldfish in our lab at work and they are about 3Ocm long!!

lf your's have been kept in a bioorb their growth will have been stunted. Swim bladder problems are common in such cases...


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