# Goldfish staying at top of tank



## Msnice012 (Oct 14, 2013)

I have a calico goldfish, got him a few weeks ago. He was in a 3 gallon tank with a whisper filter but I transferred him to a Fluval Spec 5 gallon tank. I let the tank run 48+ hrs and used water conditioner before transferring him, and allowed him to acclimate for 20 min before full transfer. 

When I came home this evening he was hiding under the rock tunnel and then he moved to the top of tank where he is now staying against the filter intake. He will occasionally swim down to search for food or chase my algae eater but spends most of his time plastered against the filter intake. He is tilting to one side and seems to struggle to swim down. I'm guessing he has a swim bladder problem as he still is interested in food and has trouble swimming. 

I have halted all feeding but very concerned as he stays plastered to filter. I tested the water multiple times and it is within ideal ranges for every category. The temperature is also steady and within the ideal range. I've been feeding him 2 pellets 2x daily and I'm assuming he ate too much and maybe swallowed too much air. My algae eater is fine and very active. 

Any insight or suggestions as to what else I should do?


----------



## Laurencia7 (May 19, 2012)

I had this issue long before I knew what it was. Do you feed him flake food? Those egg shaped fish tend to get bloat aka swim bladder issues from eating too much flake food and sucking in air to pass it through their system. I use sinking pellets, New Life Spectrum right now, but any will do as long as they sink. I found my fish love looking for them, and you use less food. 

I would also put a pre-filter sponge (those Fluvals have ones made special for them I have one) on the intake so he doesn't get his fins mangled and can escape the suction.

That's my advice. Since I switched to sinking pellets I haven't had one issue with swim bladder issues. Hope that helps. For now just keep doing your changes, testing and don't feed until you see a more normal acting fish. A lot of times they recover, in the worst cases they don't.


----------



## Msnice012 (Oct 14, 2013)

Thank you for your response! 

I've been feeding him Aqueon Goldfish Granules - 2 granules, 2x a day. He consumes them within the recommended time, but I am thinking he eats them too quickly and swallows too much air. I will buy a Pre-filter sponge ASAP. He was very active and happy prior to today so I'm hoping it's just some over feeding. Thank you again!


----------

