# oranda madness



## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

my oranda is driving me bonkers. not sure if he's ill or just a little touched in the head. all my params are great.he has taken to gobbling air at the top of the tank and spitting it out at the bottom. he looks as though he is playing.then he gets buoyant, then he farts bubbles. or he gets clear-ish poop with bubbles encased in it.i attribute the clearish poop to eating aufwuchs (awfuchs) while he was fasting ( may be constipated?). i've just fasted him for about 3 days. now he'll get peas for 3 days. he looks great otherwise. just hate seeing him struggle to swim when he does this. my other oranda is unaffected. my fish are about 8 months old and 4" long, this excludes them from being egg bound. oxygen levels are fine. my other oranda has a much deeper body than this one, and honestly thought the other one might have buoyancy issues first. anyone else experience anything similar?


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

yeah i think hes constipated and peas will definatley help him digest ^_^


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

it's that or an internal parasite. he is fed garlic twice a week, i have been feeding nls pellets and lots of veggies. probably wouldn't hurt to use dewormer on them. gotta be careful with this fish my whole family has become horribly attached to him/her. they are still too young to sex at this point. i really want to get a hold on this before i move them to their new 40 gallon breeder. it will have a fluval 306 and a sun sun 303b with uv. 337% filtration too much? output will be pointed at back wall to dissipate the flow.


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

Orandas get to be quite large. i don't know your tank size, bit they could be dealing with water chemistry issues. either way, when you adx them to your 40, i wouldn't add any other fish. thekoimaiden, who is kinda the resident goldfish expert around here, may come in and tell you more info soon, but i would honestly upgrade those fish ASAP
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

i change their water twice a week at 50%.they will be in their new tank by the end of the month.i test the water twice a week also. params are ammo-0, no2-0,no3-5, ph-7. only a few nerites will accompany them to their new home.just waiting for their new stand to be built.in a year or two when my family moves i plan to get a 75 gal or larger.looks like the peas are working though, he has a pea green poo, about 5 inches long coming out of him.quite a few bubbles in it.right now they are in a 30gal.


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

sandybottom said:


> it's that or an internal parasite. he is fed garlic twice a week, i have been feeding nls pellets and lots of veggies. probably wouldn't hurt to use dewormer on them. gotta be careful with this fish my whole family has become horribly attached to him/her. they are still too young to sex at this point. i really want to get a hold on this before i move them to their new 40 gallon breeder. it will have a fluval 306 and a sun sun 303b with uv. 337% filtration too much? output will be pointed at back wall to dissipate the flow.


hope he gets better! :-D


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

thanks i appreciate that litelboyblu.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

A couple of things come to mind. 

1) Gill parasites. Goldfish from stores often have them because of the poor conditions in which they are kept. Prazi is my favored way to remove external parasites. What you are seeing is not gulping but the fish trying to flush her gills. 

2) Bad habit. I know this sounds funny, but I had a ryukin that developed this habit. I had fed them floating food at the time (now knowing it is horrible for them), and he learned that food came from the surface. His gulping at the surface was his begging for food. Koi will do this, but when they swallow air it isn't such a large problem. To avoid this feed sinking foods. A lot of NLS are semi-floating. Put the pellets below the water line with your fingers. This discourages air gulping when feeding. 

3) Food problems. You did say you feed commercial pellets. Some fish just can't handle them. I tried all kinds of things with my floaty ryukin before eventually giving up on anything that had wheat in it (as much as those good foods like to play up their ingredients, they still need binders like wheat). You could try gel food or even just fresh veggies and frozen foods. 

As for the size difference, if the smaller one isn't sick you can chalk that up to genetics. I have two goldfish of similar ages and appetites, but one is certainly larger than the other. I talked to a breeder about this the other day; out of the same batch of eggs you can easily get runts and massive fish even when fed the same thing.


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## sandybottom (Nov 29, 2012)

i think the begging issue is actually what i was thinking. my other oranda doesn't beg. atari (problem fish) begs every time you come into sight. he also spits water at you to get your attention. you can hear it hit the tank cover. he got me in the eyes a few times. i was two feet away and he got me good. his diet is varied. cucumbers ,spinach,peas,green beans,minced garlic,carrots,squash. nls soaked in garlic or water,algae wafers, and fruit like watermelon or cantaloupe a few times a month. they are in a well planted tank and leave all the plants alone, so they are getting their fair share of veggies. i feed twice daily, not at all on sundays. he may be a horrible glutton. i know you're thinking "goldfish with gluttony tendencies,no way!" i guess i will try to condition him away from these habits. it will be difficult as he is always waiting for me.


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