How do I know if my goldfish are alright?

Question

I have just recently acquired three goldfish. I have been taking care of them just like I was supposed to. BUT now suddenly all three of them have been coming to towards the top of the tank. Not floating but it looks almost as though they are eating the top of the water? Which is weird because I feed them as much and as regularly as I am supposed to.

Answer 1

You may be feeding the goldfish a bit too much.  They also may be at the top of their tank because the food is rotting and they aren't getting enough air.  Try feeding them only what they can eat in two minutes, then scooping the rest out.  Change half of the water in the tank now, vacuum the bottom of the tank, and get an 'air stone' that you can put in the bottom to give them more air.  There is one other reason your fish are coming to the top of the tank though ... goldfish are very social fish and they like people, especially the people who feed them, and they may be reacting to you looking into the top of the tank at them ... hoping for a bit to eat, of course.  Goldfish are the sort of fish that will 'beg' for food even when they are 'full.'  Don't be fooled ... just take good care of them and they'll be fine.  

Answer 2

Change your water in there. After that, put some live plants in there. It's because of air.

Answer 3

well if you feed them very ofton just as snakes the will be come and think that getting feed so very often so the fish  want you to feed the but try ot to feed them alot of the times ok

Answer 4

How often do they do it? If they come to the top of the tank everytime you come by, and you're the person who feeds them, then they're hoping you'll feed them. Goldfish will overeat if given the opportunity, so it's important to monitor how much food they get. Goldfish require real live meat from time to time. Pellets aren't enough, and it isn't a proper diet. Buy a good book on keeping goldfish. My mother-in-law who had 3 large goldfish would occassionally go out to the backyard after a rain and bring in a nice long worm. She'd cut it up into bite size pieces and feed it to her fish. They all lived for about 12 years. She must have been doing something right. A good book, and find someone knowledgeable on raising goldfish would be helpful too.

Contrary what others are saying, goldfish aren't used to ahighly oxygenated habitat. In their natural environment, they live in ponds and in water that doesn't move much. They usually come to the surface for oxygen.

Answer 5

goldfish only have a three second memory so they are probably thinking... "air I need air, wait i'm a fish. Air  i need air, wait i'm a fish".

Answer 6

Are they moving and alive? If their front fins aren't moving that may be a bad sign.

They may have dropsy if they look bloated.  

Answer 7

Too much ammonia, not enough oxygen.

Do a 25%-40% water change and make sure you've got your filter cartridges changed, a bubbler and if possible, live plants.

Answer 8

do you have an air pump in the tank, because if not then they might not be getting enough air, which could cause this behavior

Answer 9

Is the water oxygenated enough? Maybe they are coming up for air?

Answer 10

What's your tank size?  How much filtration do you have?  What are your water parameters?  Did you cycle the tank first?  

It sounds like you may have a water quality/lack of oxygen problem.  If your goldfish are fancies, you need to have them in a 40 gallon tank, minimum.  If they're commons...you need a 100+ gallon tank, and a pond would be better.

Read up on tank cycling and get some water quality testing kits, if you don't have them already.

Answer 11

They might be stressed. Or it could be that the tank isnt clean enough.

Answer 12

Fish do that sometimes. My beta was doing that the other day and I thought something was wrong also, but he's o.k.

Answer 13

If they are not floating upside down.