Just added a new goldfish. Is this normal for an Oranda Goldfish?

Question

I just added an Oranda Goldfish to the tank today. Even before I added her to the tank (when she was being acclimated to the water) I noticed that she doesn't really use her pectoral fins like my other goldfish do. For a moment, I actually thought she had none, and I had somehow missed that when I was choosing her. But in fact, she was keeping her fins very close to her body, and just using her tail fin to propel herself around.

After I added her to the tank, she swam around for quite a while, and I stopped worrying. That is, until I saw her at the bottom of the tank, not moving. I thought she had died or something, but then I saw her move her mouth. (That's another thing - I've never seen a goldfish open it's mouth so wide! This happened even when she was being acclimated to the water, as well.) Really, she reminds me of my Betta Splendens, who just likes to sit around most of the time in his tank. But this is a goldfish! And I thought goldfish were much more active than this! She was perfectly active when I chose her at the pet store. Has anyone ever seen this behavior, or do I have to worry that tomorrow I might wake up to a dead goldfish?

Answer 1

There's a high chance it is sick, clamped fins and lethargy combined with yawning are all signs something's up. If it's in with other fish, isolate it to another tank and observe carefully, if your tank water parameters are perfect it's probably something it picked up at the store and has been triggered through the shock of moving. If it dies, take it straight back to the store with a sample of your tank water and you should get a refund.

If, however, there's a problem with your water quality, address that first as that could also cause the problems such as an ammonia spike in an uncycled or overstocked tank.

Also FYI Bettas should be active and swimming,not sitting about, the should only occasionally pause to sit on a plant, the rest of the time should be swimming and investigating their surroundings. Only OAP and sick bettas sit about.

Answer 2

Newly added Goldie's especially those like oranda's (and other fancy's) could be adjusting to your water.  Even acclimating them especially if the PH varied from your tank and the pet stores takes longer than 20 minutes.  Acclimating Goldie's should take closer to an hour. Unfortunately oranda's are the most picky when it comes to water temperatures, toxicity and PH.

As for the pectoral fins, they are used primarily for steering.  If the fish isn't swimming, it doesn't need to steer there fore doesn't need to used them.  This only means your fish is "Cruising" or checking out the new surroundings.  Since these types of Goldie's are more sensative with the water  she could just be acclimating.

As for her yawning, fish will do this for a few reasons, something is caught in the mouth or gill area, low dissolved oxygen or toxic water. This could just be the difference between your tank and the stores.  Not all goldfish are active swimmers.

Give her a few days to adjust to your tank.  This happens with fancy's sometimes.  They are usually fine in a few days.

Just keep an eye on her and be sure to test your tank water to ensure it is running where it should be.