# Goldfish with swim bladder disease **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-with-swim-bladder-disease/239106 "2004-04-09T03:07:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-with-swim-bladder-disease/239106/1 "2004-04-09T03:07:40Z")
My mom has a fancy goldfish that lives in a relatively small hex tank (not ideal conditions, I know). I’m quite sure its developped SBD. It struggles hard to get down to the bottom of the tank, and when not exerting itself, it floats near the surface, sometimes upside-down. Quite strong indicators of SBD. It actually still appears quite healthy - he’s still “normally” active and has a proper appetitie…I’ve read that fish can still remain healthy with SBD. So my question is can anything be done for him? Does SBD have a bacterial basis? (I’m wondering if erythromycin might be helpful here?). ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-with-swim-bladder-disease/239106/2 "2004-04-09T04:50:56Z")
I asked **Mrs. H** , who works for a fish store and has been in the industry for many years. She said that SBD can have a bacterial basis, or it may be that the fish is swallowing air when eating. Do the symptoms go away for a while? If so, it’s the air. She suggested bringing a water sample in to a good local pet/fish store. If the water quality is poor, and the SBD is bacteria based, medication may not help because the fish will just get reinfected due to low immune system caused by poor water. If it is bacteria based, she is not impressed with erythromycin, although that is recommended a lot. She said an antibiotic medicated food works better, but again someone at a pet store who knows their stuff can give you more specific information. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-with-swim-bladder-disease/239106/3 "2004-04-09T07:46:54Z")
> [@Trigonal Planar](#): > > I’m quite sure its developped SBD. It struggles hard to get down to the bottom of the tank, and when not exerting itself, it floats near the surface, sometimes upside-down. Quite strong indicators of SBD. It actually still appears quite healthy - he’s still “normally” active and has a proper appetitie…I’ve read that fish can still remain healthy with SBD. > > So my question is can anything be done for him? Just don’t leave Godska alone with the fish ever again, they’ll recover. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-with-swim-bladder-disease/239106/4 "2004-04-09T12:39:02Z")
It is said that pre soaking their food helps this condition. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-with-swim-bladder-disease/239106/5 "2004-04-09T13:48:57Z")
I don’t know anything about goldfish, but in bettas, swim bladder problems usually don’t arise from bacteria, but overfeeding. Pre-soaking their food is supposed to help here, which is easy for me since my guy eats itty bitty pellets. I don’t know how you could soak flakes. Of course, I didn’t have him home a week, and he developed fin rot. Poor little fella. He’s doing better now, though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goldfish-with-swim-bladder-disease/239106/6 "2004-04-09T14:06:51Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I don’t know how you could soak flakes. You soak them and they get soggy and don’t stick in his his gut when he gobbles them down. Goldfish don’t have much of a stomach, just a wad of their gut about the size of their eye.