How to Treat Swim Bladder Disease in Goldfish

If your goldfish is floating belly up at the surface of the tank or can't seem to rise from the bottom it probably has swim bladder disease. The swim bladder is a sac responsible for maintaining buoyancy in the fish. The sac inflates if the fish needs to be more buoyant, and deflates if the fish needs to be less buoyant.

Instructions

    • 1

      Feed the fish a couple of peas. This sounds weird, but it is believed the peas encourage destruction of the impaction.

    • 2

      Avoid feeding the goldfish for several days. Fish can survive without food for up to ten days or even longer, so this is not as cruel as it sounds. Sometimes this is enough to break up the impaction.

    • 3

      Aspirate the swim bladder periodically. This involves sticking a needle into the fishes swim bladder and removing some air. This is a well known treatment.

    • 4

      Take the fish to a knowledgeable vet and have a partial pneumocystectomy done. This is a partial removal of the swim bladder. There are vets who perform this surgery, as extreme as it sounds.