Unhappy fish

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

We have a half a dozen goldfish in an outside pond. They mainly appear
happy.

One is a pearl-scale goldfish. We didn't know this when we bought it and
didn't even know such a thing existed. Instead we worried that there was
something wrong as it turned into spherical fish with small fins.

Though it have never managed swimming very well and it has been
apparently unwell a few times before (months ago) it has usually seemed OK.

The past few days, though, has seen it go into decline. I added salt to
the water and turned on the fountain to get in more oxygen as these have
seemed to help before.

Sadly, though, it now spends most of its time upside down under the
lilly leaves. If I disturb it with a spray of water, it manages to swim
away quite well - actually quite vigorously. However it soon returns to
floating upside down not moving much at all, just breathing.

Recently the other fish have taken to following it around the pond and
appearing to bite it. I've understood that goldfish do that when one is
the goldfish equivalent of 'on-heat'.

What should I do?

My wife thinks that I should kill it to get it out of its misery, but
I'd like to find a way to get it back to its previously healthy state.
It doesn't look (apart from its behaviour) as if anything is wrong with
it - it hasn't rotting fins or anything like that.

--
For, methinks, the understanding is not much unlike a closet wholly
shut from light, with only some little openings left, to let in external
visible resemblances, or Ideas of things without. - John Locke, An Essay
Concerning Human Understanding (1690)
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[Koi-lo]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> We have a half a dozen goldfish in an outside pond. They mainly appear
> happy.
>
> One is a pearl-scale goldfish. We didn't know this when we bought it and
> didn't even know such a thing existed. Instead we worried that there was
> something wrong as it turned into spherical fish with small fins.
>
> Though it have never managed swimming very well and it has been apparently
> unwell a few times before (months ago) it has usually seemed OK.
>
> The past few days, though, has seen it go into decline. I added salt to
> the water and turned on the fountain to get in more oxygen as these have
> seemed to help before.

## What's the temperature of your water? Pearlscales are not known to
tolerate really cold water. Try and keep them in water over 60 F.

> Sadly, though, it now spends most of its time upside down under the lilly
> leaves. If I disturb it with a spray of water, it manages to swim away
> quite well - actually quite vigorously. However it soon returns to
> floating upside down not moving much at all, just breathing.

## That sounds like swim-bladder disease. Some people claim they've cured
this problem with different foods etc. I've found it to be fatal even when
the fish seems to recover. They always relapsed and died.

> Recently the other fish have taken to following it around the pond and
> appearing to bite it. I've understood that goldfish do that when one is
> the goldfish equivalent of 'on-heat'.

## If it's that bad off it sure isn't going to be in breeding condition.

> What should I do?

## That depends on the temperature of the water. You may need to bring it
indoors. If it's swim-bladder you probably can't do much to save it.

> My wife thinks that I should kill it to get it out of its misery, but I'd
> like to find a way to get it back to its previously healthy state. It
> doesn't look (apart from its behaviour) as if anything is wrong with it -
> it hasn't rotting fins or anything like that.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>

[Peter H.M. Brooks]

Koi-lo wrote:
>
> "Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> We have a half a dozen goldfish in an outside pond. They mainly appear
>> happy.
>>
>> One is a pearl-scale goldfish. We didn't know this when we bought it
>> and didn't even know such a thing existed. Instead we worried that
>> there was something wrong as it turned into spherical fish with small
>> fins.
>>
>> Though it have never managed swimming very well and it has been
>> apparently unwell a few times before (months ago) it has usually
>> seemed OK.
>>
>> The past few days, though, has seen it go into decline. I added salt
>> to the water and turned on the fountain to get in more oxygen as these
>> have seemed to help before.
>
>
> ## What's the temperature of your water? Pearlscales are not known to
> tolerate really cold water. Try and keep them in water over 60 F.
>
We're in Africa. The water never gets colder than 12C. At the moment it
is over 20C almost every day - sometimes up toe 30C.
>
>> Sadly, though, it now spends most of its time upside down under the
>> lilly leaves. If I disturb it with a spray of water, it manages to
>> swim away quite well - actually quite vigorously. However it soon
>> returns to floating upside down not moving much at all, just breathing.
>
>
> ## That sounds like swim-bladder disease. Some people claim they've
> cured this problem with different foods etc. I've found it to be fatal
> even when the fish seems to recover. They always relapsed and died.
>
Thank you for that - I hope that it won't catch to the other fish. Maybe
I should put it down.



--
The creed which accepts as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the
Greatest Happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion
as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the
reverse of happiness. -- J.S.Mill Chapter II, Utilitarianism
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[Koi-lo]

"Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
...
> Koi-lo wrote:
>>
>> "Peter H.M. Brooks" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> We have a half a dozen goldfish in an outside pond. They mainly appear
>>> happy.
>>>
>>> One is a pearl-scale goldfish. We didn't know this when we bought it and
>>> didn't even know such a thing existed. Instead we worried that there was
>>> something wrong as it turned into spherical fish with small fins.
>>>
>>> Though it have never managed swimming very well and it has been
>>> apparently unwell a few times before (months ago) it has usually seemed
>>> OK.
>>>
>>> The past few days, though, has seen it go into decline. I added salt to
>>> the water and turned on the fountain to get in more oxygen as these have
>>> seemed to help before.
>>
>>
>> ## What's the temperature of your water? Pearlscales are not known to
>> tolerate really cold water. Try and keep them in water over 60 F.
> >
> We're in Africa. The water never gets colder than 12C. At the moment it is
> over 20C almost every day - sometimes up toe 30C.
>>
>>> Sadly, though, it now spends most of its time upside down under the
>>> lilly leaves. If I disturb it with a spray of water, it manages to swim
>>> away quite well - actually quite vigorously. However it soon returns to
>>> floating upside down not moving much at all, just breathing.
>>
>>
>> ## That sounds like swim-bladder disease. Some people claim they've
>> cured this problem with different foods etc. I've found it to be fatal
>> even when the fish seems to recover. They always relapsed and died.
> >
> Thank you for that - I hope that it won't catch to the other fish. Maybe I
> should put it down.
================
Swim-bladder disease isn't contagious. It's caused by the deformed body
shape of many types of goldfish.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/h/shastadaisy
~~~ }<((((o> ~~~ }<{{{{o> ~~~ }<(((((o>