Floating Oranda

Hi
I'm new here. I have two darling Red Orandas that I've become quite
attached to. My husband is the person with the fish knowledge, but he has
Koi and Guppies.

One of my Orandas seems to float at the top of the tank quite a bit,
especially after they eat. I'm wondering if he's gulping in air with his
food. I've been feeding them flakes, but we also have pellets for them. I
read the Goldfish Care for Newbies that someone kindly posted a link for.
It sounded like we should wet the flakes and then squeeze the air out of
them so they'd sink.

My husband is also very good about cleaning the tank for me and changing the
water. I can't supply you with PH and the other stuff mentioned in some
other posts right now, but will ask him if we have the equipment to test for
those numbers.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated. TIA

Shelagh

HI Shelagh

You don't have to "wet" the flakes and squeeze them. What I do is take a
small cup (was part of a doll's tea set, actually), partially fill it with
water and add the flakes to it. You will notice them sink to the bottom.
This is when to give them to the fish. The air is out so they sunk...

My oranda floats like that occasionally as well. I believe it has to do
with the shape of their bodies. He is fine otherwise, but will stay at the
top when at rest, and not all the time. He seems to do it for a few weeks,
and then is fine for a few weeks.

Some other suggestions are to not feed the fish for one day per week, to let
their digestive system clean out. Also give one meal of peas - frozen,
thawed and de-shelled. Also cut into bite-sized pieces according to fish
size. I don't feed my fish for 24 hours before I clean out their tanks, and
I follow this "fast" with the peas. I also give peas one other meal during
the week, for 2x weekly.

Tammy


"Shillelagh" wrote in message
...
Hi
I'm new here. I have two darling Red Orandas that I've become quite
attached to. My husband is the person with the fish knowledge, but he has
Koi and Guppies.

One of my Orandas seems to float at the top of the tank quite a bit,
especially after they eat. I'm wondering if he's gulping in air with his
food. I've been feeding them flakes, but we also have pellets for them.
I
read the Goldfish Care for Newbies that someone kindly posted a link for.
It sounded like we should wet the flakes and then squeeze the air out of
them so they'd sink.

My husband is also very good about cleaning the tank for me and changing
the
water. I can't supply you with PH and the other stuff mentioned in some
other posts right now, but will ask him if we have the equipment to test
for
those numbers.

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated. TIA

Shelagh

One of my Orandas seems to float at the top of the tank quite a bit,
especially after they eat. I'm wondering if he's gulping in air with his
food.

Yes he's gulping air if feeding at the water surface. Feed sinking food -
pellets best for the larger fish. Pre-soak the food so it sinks. Gulping air
can cause floating.

It does sound like he is suffering form a mild swimbladder problem. High
nitrates have been linked to this so it is important that you test your
water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) as soon as you can.
STarving the fish for 3 days then feeding nothing but defrosted frozen peas,
shelled and chopped for another 3 days often does the trick for mild cases
so it would be worth a try (it wont hurt your other one to follow the same
regime). It is also a good idea to feed peas twice a week in order to keep
it from happening again.
Flakes aren't that great for goldfish - high protein sinking pellets are
generally best.
Mel.

"MartinOsirus" wrote in message
...
One of my Orandas seems to float at the top of the tank quite a bit,
especially after they eat. I'm wondering if he's gulping in air with
his
food.

Yes he's gulping air if feeding at the water surface. Feed sinking food -
pellets best for the larger fish. Pre-soak the food so it sinks. Gulping
air
can cause floating.

Thanks to all of you for your replies. They were very helpful; and I do
have some frozen peas, so will do that today.

BTW, I had a peek this a.m.(didn't want to wake them up yet), and he was
floating mid-tank with the other one.

I'll keep lurking, and will ask more questions if needed.

Shelagh

http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/care/...htm#essentials
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disea...ing%20problems

"Shillelagh" wrote:


Thanks to all of you for your replies. They were very helpful; and I do
have some frozen peas, so will do that today.

BTW, I had a peek this a.m.(didn't want to wake them up yet), and he was
floating mid-tank with the other one.
I'll keep lurking, and will ask more questions if needed.

Shelagh




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Mel,

Where does it say that high nitrates are connected to swim bladder problem?

Tom L.L.
---------------------------------------
"Mel" wrote in message
...
It does sound like he is suffering form a mild swimbladder problem. High
nitrates have been linked to this so it is important that you test your
water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) as soon as you can.
STarving the fish for 3 days then feeding nothing but defrosted frozen
peas,
shelled and chopped for another 3 days often does the trick for mild cases
so it would be worth a try (it wont hurt your other one to follow the
same
regime). It is also a good idea to feed peas twice a week in order to keep
it from happening again.
Flakes aren't that great for goldfish - high protein sinking pellets are
generally best.
Mel.

"MartinOsirus" wrote in message
...
One of my Orandas seems to float at the top of the tank quite a bit,
especially after they eat. I'm wondering if he's gulping in air with
his
food.

Yes he's gulping air if feeding at the water surface. Feed sinking
food -
pellets best for the larger fish. Pre-soak the food so it sinks.
Gulping
air
can cause floating.

Do you need a reference for everything written here? g
I haven't got a specific source but from my own experience I have found that
when people have fish with swimbladder problems the nitrates are often
elevated far above the recommended minimum of 20. I have also read of
research being done into this and links being found between the two but
unfortunately it was a while ago and I cant remember where I read it.
However, even if nitrates aren't linked to swimbladder problems, it's well
worth checking them and lowering them if necessary as if they are too high
they will weaken the fish and make it harder for it to overcome any health
problems which might arise/have already arisen.
Mel.


"Tom La Bron" wrote in message
...
Mel,

Where does it say that high nitrates are connected to swim bladder
problem?

Tom L.L.
---------------------------------------
"Mel" wrote in message
...
It does sound like he is suffering form a mild swimbladder problem. High
nitrates have been linked to this so it is important that you test your
water parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) as soon as you can.
STarving the fish for 3 days then feeding nothing but defrosted frozen
peas,
shelled and chopped for another 3 days often does the trick for mild
cases
so it would be worth a try (it wont hurt your other one to follow the
same
regime). It is also a good idea to feed peas twice a week in order to
keep
it from happening again.
Flakes aren't that great for goldfish - high protein sinking pellets are
generally best.
Mel.

"MartinOsirus" wrote in message
...
One of my Orandas seems to float at the top of the tank quite a
bit,
especially after they eat. I'm wondering if he's gulping in air
with
his
food.

Yes he's gulping air if feeding at the water surface. Feed sinking
food -
pellets best for the larger fish. Pre-soak the food so it sinks.
Gulping
air
can cause floating.