# One of my three goldfish... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 19, 2000, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694 "2000-09-19T04:37:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Catrandom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/1 "2000-09-19T04:37:08Z")
…is swimming upside down. It’s unnerving. ---
**Author:** ![dpr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dpr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dpr)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/2 "2000-09-19T04:51:14Z")
Are you sure it’s not just a special effect? No, I don’t think of myself as Generation X. Why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/3 "2000-09-19T04:58:10Z")
You think it’s disconcerting for you? Try being the fish! 😃 Sadly, it’s probably dying. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/4 "2000-09-19T05:32:20Z")
Yeah, that sounds like a death is impending. My rope fish (has an eel-like body) had a swim bladder disease. A fish’s swim bladder serves to keep the fish buoyant; disease can result in the fish being unable to lift itself off the bottom, or dive down away from the surface. Poor Falkor suffered from the latter–stuck at the surface and unable to travel to tank depths without immediately bobbing back up like a balloon. When he died, I never saw a corpse; he just…disappeared. Apparently, the 6" catfish made short work of him. Yummy. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/5 "2000-09-19T06:19:57Z")
I remember someone talking about their expensive fish having an infection so the stabbed the bladder with a needle or something and the fish lived long enough for the infection to heal up after that… I think. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![Gatsby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@Gatsby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatsby)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/6 "2000-09-19T06:26:31Z")
Not to be indelicate, but I suggest you scrub the bowl for a decent burial… ---
**Author:** ![Catrandom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/7 "2000-09-19T17:03:03Z")
Poor fishy (sigh). Abner’s head is very overgrown (he’s a redcap, and they have a hatlike protrusion on their heads) and, on further observation, I think it’s pulling him off balance so upside-down swimming is easier. It’s also grown over his eyes, so he may be disoriented. He finds the food fine, though, so far. I hope Abner’s not coming to the end, but he is very old for a goldfish. I don’t know what Crombie will do without him; they’re always together. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/8 "2000-09-19T17:12:27Z")
Welcome to Jack Batty’s psychic readings (only $3.99 a minute). Catrandom, Your third gold fish … A name is coming to me … :: gazes into magic crystal :: Your third gold fish’s name is … **Fitch**! I’m right aren’t I? It’s a skill, like anything else. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Catrandom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/9 "2000-09-19T17:49:09Z")
That’s amazing! Actually, it’s Fish, but it’s still a remarkable psychic demonstration. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2000, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-my-three-goldfish/33694/10 "2000-09-19T18:38:29Z")
Ah, well, the psychic arts aren’t an exact science.