If it weren't for bad luck...

[Cadavillac]

I bought a ryukin goldfish (and two other goldfish) at my LFS today. Everything was fine. He was healthy looking. I introduced him to my tank with two other goldfish and everything appeared fine. A little while later I fed them one cube of tubifex worms.

Now the fish has trouble swimming down and is constantly floating to the top of the water. He hasn't lost his equilibrium or anything, just the ability to stay in the lower levels of the tank without much effort. His tank mates are not experiencing the same difficulty.

I cannot test the water quality just yet because my test tubes were thown away by accident *shoots a dirty look at Mom* and it'll be tonight at the earliest when I can get some 5ml test tubes from the lab at work.

Anyway, does it sound like constipation or a swim bladder disorder? I mean, the problem started after the food in about a 2 hour span of time. Should I try feeding peas?

I'm almost regretting buying the goldfish because in my 16+ years of fishkeeping I've never been able to keep them alive long and I thought I'd give them another try. *sigh*

[Rue]

First of all...NEVER blame your mother...you likely didn't put your stuff away properly...:hmm3grin2orange:

Swim bladder issues rarely come on THAT fast, so I'm assuming something else is amiss...but without your water parametres I don't even want to guess.

Goldfish are not hard to keep provided you supply them with a good environment.

They need a large tank, lots of filtration, plenty of water changes and cool temperatures.

[Mvjnz]

Goldfish are herbivores, so it's possible the tubifex worms have caused constipation. They are very high in protein, which is not good for herbivores, other than as an occasional snack.

[Cadavillac]

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5.0ppm

Tank temp 69.5ºF

I called home from work last night at around 1:00AM and made my mom go up and look at the fish tank. She said the problem still persisted, but said it wasn't as bad as before. When I got home from work today at 11:00AM the problem had gone completely away. Strange. Maybe it was just a fluke but the fish was having definite problems when I left for work.

BTW, I thought goldfish were omnivores?

[Halelorf]

Goldfish are omnivores. They will try to eat anything that can, and sometimes can't, fit into their mouths. The floating was a swim bladder problem, most likely from the food. Just try to mix some peas into your feeding schedule and it should help it out.

[Mvjnz]

They enjoy their veggies tho. They eat algae and any other plant they can come across, so they would be mainly herbivore. A diet high in protein wouldn't be natural for them. Just because they *will* eat something doesn't mean they *should*.