My Swimbladder & Lettuce Feeding Problems!

[CleverPanda]

Hello!

Well, I wanted to make this thread to see if I could get any help from people who may of had or do have goldfish.
So, I've got a Black Moore, a Red Cap and a Ranchu. Now to go into details;

Firstly, my Red Cap has swimbladder disease (I think). She finds it difficult to just stop at the bottom of the tank without floating back up, upside down. It's sad as I don't want her stressing out... Does anyone have any idea's on how I can cure this? Such as, what should I feed her?

Secondly, I've tried feeding my goldfish lettuce but, with little appeal... I basically took out a bit of lettuce, left it for a while, tore it into bits the size of my flake food and put in the tank. However, when my goldfish see it they do try and go at it but them spit it out, straight away.
I want to feed them lettuce as I think it will help with the swimbladder disease and make them healthier but I just don't know...
I mean, is their something I'm doing wrong while I'm feeding them these lettuce pieces?

I would be very grateful for some advice and help.
Thank you!

[Hecktix]

Maybe you shouldn't feed them lettuce.. I don't feed mine lettuce and they've been alive 2 years.

[Cyndia]

Lettuce may not be the right cure.. I think you should try using frozen peas instead. Basically just take 1 or 2 frozen peas and wait till they thaw till they're soft enough for the goldfish to eat (or else cook it until its soft enough). Then squeeze the pea out of its skin and discard the skin. Put the skinless peas in the fish tank and make sure your sick fish east at least 1 of the 2 peas (don't let the other fish eat the peas though). If it wont eat the peas take them out and try again later. I would also withhold other foods until the fish eats at least 1 pea.

This is supposed to help clear out the digestive tract if the problem is constipation where waste matter caught in the fish's digestive tract puts pressure on the swim bladder and cannot inflate or deflate properly.

Also.. for future reference, another reason swimbladder happens is when they get air pockets in their swim bladder which can affect the way they swim. Often, they get these air pockets because if they are regularly fed fish flakes or pellets, the production process for making the flakes/pellets usually introduces air pockets into the food. So to prevent this from happening in the future, maybe soak the flakes or pellets in a little cup of tank water for a couple minutes before you feed it to your fish.

Hope the pea trick works! If it doesn't, then the swimbladder disease may be a side effect of a bacterial infection, in which case the only solution would be to get it some sort of medication. But hopefully the pea thing will work!

[CleverPanda]

Lettuce may not be the right cure.. I think you should try using frozen peas instead. Basically just take 1 or 2 frozen peas and wait till they thaw till they're soft enough for the goldfish to eat (or else cook it until its soft enough). Then squeeze the pea out of its skin and discard the skin. Put the skinless peas in the fish tank and make sure your sick fish east at least 1 of the 2 peas (don't let the other fish eat the peas though). If it wont eat the peas take them out and try again later. I would also withhold other foods until the fish eats at least 1 pea.

This is supposed to help clear out the digestive tract if the problem is constipation where waste matter caught in the fish's digestive tract puts pressure on the swim bladder and cannot inflate or deflate properly.

Also.. for future reference, another reason swimbladder happens is when they get air pockets in their swim bladder which can affect the way they swim. Often, they get these air pockets because if they are regularly fed fish flakes or pellets, the production process for making the flakes/pellets usually introduces air pockets into the food. So to prevent this from happening in the future, maybe soak the flakes or pellets in a little cup of tank water for a couple minutes before you feed it to your fish.

Hope the pea trick works! If it doesn't, then the swimbladder disease may be a side effect of a bacterial infection, in which case the only solution would be to get it some sort of medication. But hopefully the pea thing will work!

Wow, thank you! Well, I think I might not try and feed her lettuce but try the pea thing. Hopefully, she'll get better. If she doesn't, is their any medicine I can get for the tank to cure her?