Super floaty fish. Need suggestions!

[tiffkris 1]

My female telescope is extremely sensitive when it comes to food. I've had goldfish for many years and I haven't had a food issue like this before. It seems like everything causes her to float. 

She is about 4 inches long and round bodied. Shares a 30 gallon fully cycled tank with another telescope of her size. Large PWC at least 2x a week. Bare bottom with the exception of some marimo and a few large river stones. Tank has been running for nearly 2 years with an AC 110 and sponge filter.

Usually I feed a small 1/4" piece of Repashy Soilent Green in the morning and evening and switching to bloodworms once a week. I have tried feeding her once a day, that didnt work. I tried feeding every other day, and she floats. I tried soaking Hikari and she floats. With bloodworms, she floats significantly less, but the issue remains. I have tried peas which I'm not sure helped. She will usually remain floaty for 8 to 10 hours, and by morning she is fine, unless she eats. Im worried that if I feed her strictly bloodworms she wont be receiving proper nutrition. 

Help.

[koko 14,377]

The this is a 30 gallon tank is tall and for some Fancys they can't deal with the swimming all the way up there.

I would suggest a shallow 10 gallon tank and also some Duckweed. If that does work that will defiantly tell ya the fish has a little bit of a problem with there swim bladder and you need to have a tank that is more pond like (meaning a shallow tank like a 40 gallon breeder tank ) 

[tiffkris 1]

Thank you KoKo, I'm about to run to our storage locker and grab my old 20 long and see how she does with some duckweed. Much appreciated!

[koko 14,377]

2 hours ago, tiffkris said:

Thank you KoKo, I'm about to run to our storage locker and grab my old 20 long and see how she does with some duckweed. Much appreciated!

Have some kind of filter on there too. A sponge filter would do well in this till she can swim better again  

[tiffkris 1]

I've got her in there now with the sponge filter I've been running for a long time on my 30 gallons and was able to get some duckweed from my friends tank. Hoping she will do better. Thanks again!

[DawnMichele 6,045]

Hope she feels better!!!

[koko 14,377]

On 7/18/2018 at 2:51 PM, tiffkris said:

I've got her in there now with the sponge filter I've been running for a long time on my 30 gallons and was able to get some duckweed from my friends tank. Hoping she will do better. Thanks again!

How is she doing? 

[tiffkris 1]

She is still floating..:( Not sure what to do next..

[koko 14,377]

5 minutes ago, tiffkris said:

She is still floating..:( Not sure what to do next..

Can you get a video. 

Has she tried to eat the duckweed? are you feeding anything else? 

[tiffkris 1]

Here's a video.. I had to temporarily put her back in her 30.. I broke the glass thermometer in the 20 and had to do a complete water change. Thankfully it was only the weights and glass and not the alcohol that broke into the tank.Anyhow, she floats like this when she wears herself out, she can get to the bottom of the tank and move about but she's working for it. She is a very very greedy eater and will skim the top of the water after eating and I know she is taking in air. I feed sinking food so this to me, seems like a bad habit that came from her breedrr perhaps. She is definitely still eating and filled up on duckweed. I have tried peas in the past weeks and at first she was better 24 hours later but she seems to be exhibiting no change. Water parameters are perfect, with nitrates kept at 10 or below.

20180721_203052.mp4

[koko 14,377]

58 minutes ago, tiffkris said:

Here's a video.. I had to temporarily put her back in her 30.. I broke the glass thermometer in the 20 and had to do a complete water change. Thankfully it was only the weights and glass and not the alcohol that broke into the tank.Anyhow, she floats like this when she wears herself out, she can get to the bottom of the tank and move about but she's working for it. She is a very very greedy eater and will skim the top of the water after eating and I know she is taking in air. I feed sinking food so this to me, seems like a bad habit that came from her breedrr perhaps. She is definitely still eating and filled up on duckweed. I have tried peas in the past weeks and at first she was better 24 hours later but she seems to be exhibiting no change. Water parameters are perfect, with nitrates kept at 10 or below.

20180721_203052.mp4

If I were you I would find her a permanent shallow container. She is having problems getting down and I would also try to keep her in a sponge filtered tank. The duckweed does take some time to work on their system. Being in such a tall tank is not helping her out. I would only feed her duckweed for at least a week. 

If you can just to make sure a photo of her from the top and then another one from the back going to the front. Just want to make sure all her scales are down.  

[tiffkris 1]

I will have to wait a bit to get a picture because I'm not currently at home, but all of her scales are completely down. She's back in her 20 gallon now that the mess was cleaned up. Do you think it would be best to keep her in a ten gallon permanently? Or what kind of tank or container do you think would work?

[shakaho 6,312]

You need very shallow water to give the fish a chance to swim.  Not a half filled aquarium, but about 4 inches of water -- just enough to cover her dorsal fin .  I recommend an underbed storage tote like this or this.  

Feed only duckweed for a week.  Then you can add a few floating pellets.  Don't feed peas, gel food, or sinking pellets.  These all leach proteins which make the film on top of water that she "skims".  You can use a little HOB filter like this or a small sponge filter.

[tiffkris 1]

ITS A FREAKIN MIRACLE! I woke up this morning planning to jump on and read your suggestions and go shopping to find something to put her in. I walked into the living room to turn on the tank lights and I had to stop and do a double take. She was sitting on the tank bottom with her dorsal fin up next to her tank mate. At first I was scared something had happened and that she had sunk to the bottom. So I turned on their blue lighting, and they both started swimming, and Mochi got up and swam like nothing ever happened!!🤔Shes not floating AT ALL. For those of you that looked at the video I posted yesterday, of the fish who was floating and too tired to move around much... check this out. I'm so scared to feed her Im not sure what to do! This is been super frustrating. Sorry for the camera brightness lol

20180722_110853.mp4