Symptoms of a sick goldfish
Observe your goldfish regularly, and look out for any change in their appearance or behaviour that could indicate disease. If your fish is hiding on the bottom or not eating, it may be an early warning sign that something is amiss.
Healthy Common and Fancy goldfish both take a lot of interest in their surroundings, particularly when young.
Physical physical symptoms of a sick goldfish:
- Fluffy growths on the goldfish
- Small white spots on its body
- Bloating or engorged body
- Raised scales
- Enflamed, red gills
- Rapid breathing, indicated by fast-flickering gills
- Rotting or decaying fins or tail
- Extruding eyes (not to be mistaken for the naturally bulbous eyes of Bubble-Eyed goldfish)
- Any red ‘bleeding’ on the goldfish’s body
Changes in behaviour can also be a symptom of disease. Look out for:
- Listless floating or lethargy
- Lurking on the bottom
- Goldfish hiding in the corner or underneath aquarium decorations
- Not eating. Goldfish love to eat, so if your goldfish is not eating it’s the first sign something is amiss.
These behavioural symptoms of disease aren’t as surefire as physical symptoms of a sick goldfish. Your fish might not be unwell (yet) but if it is acting oddly then something is probably wrong.
Have you forgotten to change the water recently, or is your filter overdue a clean? Could some pollutant have gotten into the aquarium? If only one goldfish is acting strangely, watch carefully to see if it’s being bullied by any other fish tank inhabitants.
You can mostly cure goldfish disease if you catch it early enough - ideally before too many physical symptoms become apparent. Watch your pets carefully, and you’ll be more likely to determine what is making your goldfish sick.
Click here to learn more goldfish secrets!
Filed in: Diseases
Jul 18th, 2008 at 10:07 am
i have a golfish on the bottom floating upside down it’s still moving its gills,slowly , and it seems bloated, but it has always been large. it is in a tank with one other large goldfish, which is fine. can I save it? how /
Aug 31st, 2008 at 8:11 pm
My goldfish always lie horizontal on the surface of the water is there anything I can do to help him? Please give me a guide!
Thanks!
Nov 10th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
My goldfish is hanging around at the bottom of the tank. Hasn’t eaten in three days, and he is normally a chow hound. He is gasping and spasming. I wonder if he will last much longer. The tank is clean, the filter has been replaced, but I haven’t changed the bio wheel in several months. Ammonia is good.
Any advice?
Nov 15th, 2008 at 7:44 am
With all diseases, the first thing to make sure is that the aquarium water is in good condition, and that all the parameters are healthy. A big water change (conditioning the water against chlorine) is a good start, and make sure the filters are clean and healthy.
Next make sure you haven’t over-stocked the aquarium. If you have, you’ll keep getting diseases, which you can fight off forever.
For specific disease diagnosis, please see my post here:
http://goldfishcareguide.com/2008/03/05/common-goldfish-diseases/
I’m unfortunately not able to check this site on a regular basis, but other readers are welcome to help answer queries if they’ve got the knowledge.
Dec 2nd, 2008 at 6:30 am
i have a koi and on top of both fins there is black spots and its swimming in crils and on it side and bum in the wall.then sometime go strate but still bum inthe wall
Dec 5th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
i have a big fantail goldfish and its eyes r getin black around them
Apr 27th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
one of my goldfish has all of his fins put away next to him and he’s only using his very front two fins. Is this a sign that he’s sick or is that normal?
Thanks
May 27th, 2009 at 6:21 am
my goldfish does nothing but hide at the bottom of his tank, he only comes up to the surface to eat once a day. he doesnt look unhealthy, but he doesnt eat much, and is a bit thin. is he ok?
Jun 4th, 2009 at 4:28 am
hi ,
i have two oranda goldfish and one red cap fish. my orandas are behaving very abnormally, they are either swimmimg at corner of the tank or lie on the surface of the tank. they are also not eating properly. any suggestion. Is there any diseases they are suffering from. Please advice.
Jul 5th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I have two fancy goldfish, I have only had them for 1 week. They live in a 20 gallon tank, I haven’t put any plants or other things besides rock in the tank. I feed them sinkable food and some peas. I just noticed that one of them is swimming upside down and the other is loosing his tail. Could you please help me, I really like these fish and I would like to save them. Mahalo, Kamailei
Jul 27th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I had a very large goldfish that became very bloated and started tipping upside down. I found out that he was constipated and I started giving him shelled cooked peas out of the can. It worked.
Sep 6th, 2009 at 9:31 am
my goldfish is lurking around on the floor and not eating it also is rapidly breathing. Whats wrong??
Sep 10th, 2009 at 2:29 am
my black big eyes goldfish have got red eye, what should I do about it? do I need to buy treatment or just leave it alone? it doesn’t seem to bother my goldfish.
Nov 9th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Hi
I have the same problem that Milly asked about. What can I do to fix the problem? My goldfish hasn’t eaten for about a week and stays at the bottom of the bowl, also gasping for air every now and again.
Nov 13th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
I have about 10 med. sized gold fish but 1 named dorey always swims upside down she used 2 do it only sometime now she is always at the bottom of the tank usually upside she eats but after that she goes back 2 the bottom is she sick?
Nov 21st, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I have a question, I have two goldfish (the standard kind) in a good sized tank with a filter. When I got them in jan this year they were both the same size.
I have noticed in the last few weeks that one of them is half the size of it’s friend.
I have been feeding them flakes everyother day as always and they both eat well.
I noticed today that when the little one eats the food comes out of one of her gills as fast as shes eatting.
Anyone know why? They are my 3year olds fish and she loves them, if I can do anything to help little goldie-mel I will.
Thanks x
Dec 6th, 2009 at 2:15 am
Hi guys.
i just bot a new goldfish.its quite big.it just sits at the bottom of the tank.when i feed it flakes it takes in the mouth and then spits it back out.but its breathing normal.just lies at the bottom motionless.i have a red Ryukin n a fantail who eats like ….as u guys knw..hehe.but the new one just sits….not bullied either.only moves if i get close to the tank.
Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:52 am
I went on vacation and left my fish at my cousin’s house so he could take care of them. After 9 days I came back to take them and i saw they had black spots on one of them I have 2 goldfish but the other one is just fine. I took out 40 percent of the water and cleaned the tank but don’t know what to do next. Will my fish be okay? I read on a couple of websites that it’s a sign of healing. Is that true? Please help i don’t know what to do and i don’t want it to die.
Thanks, Ruddie Canile
Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
My goldfish used to come to the edge of the pond to be fed.One morning I had a job to find any,one large one had lept out of the pond,the others hide, and their numbers are getting smaller,several have disappeared altogether.
Feb 12th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Sorry to have to inform you Norman,
but…
Sounds like you have ninja fish and not goldfish..
I mean seriously cant you see they were trained in the art of deception..
Dont be surprised if you discover a few left over bandannas in the pond..these guys are sneaky..
P.S. maybe they committed suicide,,might need to look around the pond.
Good Luck…
Waaaasaaabiii!
Feb 15th, 2010 at 7:17 am
Great post! The best form of defence against goldfish diseases and illnesses is through observation and regular maintenance. really get to know your goldfish and how they act and take action to correct things right away. This may just save the life of your goldfish.
Feb 17th, 2010 at 10:44 am
My goldfish is lying at the bottom of the tank and rapid breathing. His gills are raised too. We just got him yesterday (Tuesday) and he hasn’t ate anything. If someone can help me please do! Thank You!
Mar 13th, 2010 at 12:48 am
my gold fish has this massive string of poo its like 10 times longer than it i need help
Apr 9th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
hey my black goldfish doesnt look very well. this tips of his tail and fins are white looking now and his eyes look a little bit like they have white glaze, it seems to be swiming around fine but he hasnt been eating for like 2 days, what can i do to save it!
Apr 11th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
My oranda fish is having trouble swimming, i woke up and looked at him and he was hidden in the bottom of the tank and wouldn’t move, “almost looked dead.” i fed him but he didn’t seem interested in the food. then later on he started moving to the top of the tank, and now he just floats at the top on his side. im really worried about him, and i have no idea what i should do?
Apr 13th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
If your fish looks bloated and is floating at the top of the water (and it is still alive) and has been for some time, it means that your fish flakes (goldfish food) has too much air in them. Try changingthe food to food pellets. See if there is any change.
Apr 16th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
I had got goldfish and shdbucins i did have a ranchut and a black moor but they both died ? consipation i think or swim bladder i try’d pea, soaking food in oil and solution but they still died? i came home today to have one of my other fish dies to but this time it covered in blood ? Are my other fish bulling the other? i didnt have shbukins before there fairly newish! but i did have gold fish black moor and ranchut!!!
May 16th, 2010 at 5:19 am
My goldfish is lying horizontally on the top of the water, it keeps getting trapped behind the filter but i moved it. It hasnt been eating for about a week and it is still breathing and twitching every minute or so. I have another goldfish which is healthy though. Whats wrong with my fish?
Jun 4th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
hi
i had got 2 gold fish a month back,both of them r fine but,from last 2 days ,,some red colourings r seen on one of its body,is this a symptom of any disease,both of them r taking food properly,,please advice me.
Thanks
Jun 18th, 2010 at 11:32 am
My fish’s scales were rotting, they had fungus all over them, they also had ick, and they swam awkwardly. It turns out I just added some medicine, and the next morning they were fine. Is this normal?