Why do my fish do this?

Question

They swim to the top of their fish bowl thing, and make this popping noise... it looks a bit like they're drinking the water but they have their mouths in the air?

It's really weird and i'm wondering if i'm doing something wrong?

Answer 1

they are not getting any oxygen from the water... so they go up to the top not neccesarily to breath but to get some sort of oxygen. put a bubbler in there or get a tank for him :)

Answer 2

They're not getting enough oxygen!  

Answer 3

Your fish is in a bowl isnt it? They are probably going to die unless you get a bubbler, with a filter attachment. Lower the water level so they have more surface to breath. If its a goldfish buy a bigger tank. 15 gallons would be ideal for a goldfish. If its a betta you need to buy a tank. Any size is fine really. Don't believe people saying 1 gallon tanks are cruel. They lived in puddles in Thailand!! They THRIVE in small tank. Just never buy bowls or cups. Cups are temperary homes. They probably don't like cups but they love 1 gallon-3 gallon tanks.

Good luck!!  

Answer 4

you must get an airator or bubbler fro your bowl. no, they wont suck in the bubbles floating from the top from the air stone, just having the bubbles there puts out oxygen into the water and they breathe it through their gills, putting it in their bloodstream and they wont have to do this strange "popping noise thing" and instead of them having to go up and get their un suitable oxygen from the top of the bowl, you will be able to enjoy them swimming and living care free when they have oxygen in the water everywhere they go. thats when you will be able to truly enjoy your fish. bubblers are very inexpensive, its just a small tube that carries air to the air stone that you put in the water (connected) and the whole hose is connected to a box like thing that takes in regular air and pumps it through the whole system silently. i hope the best for your fish and that you can get a bubbler before its too late, and BEST ANSWER PLEASE! i hope you can tell that my answer blew the others out of the water. i wish the best to you and your fish that will be much happier with oxygen finally in their tank!

Answer 5

Yes you are doing something wrong.  You are using a bowl.  A bowl is not an adequate home for any creature.  Your fish is struggling to breath and resorting to gulping air from the surface of the water.  But a real tank.

Answer 6

Yes my sister's goldfish used to do this and this was the answer I got from nosoop4u246...

"Its problem is that it's slowly suffocating, either because there isn't enough dissolved oxygen in the water (oxygen gets into the water at the surface, and a large surface area is essential to getting enough oxygen, so surface agitation is vital), or because its gills have been very damaged from high ammonia levels (very common in Goldfish kept in tanks less than 20 gallons). Common Goldfish will top a foot in length as adults, and have horribly inefficient digestive systems, meaning the produce a lot of waste compared to the amount of food they eat. Because of this, ammonia builds up quickly, and in small tanks, there aren't enough bacteria to convert this ammonia into less toxic compounds. Please get your fish into the largest tank possible, or just give it away, because at the rate it's going, it'll be dead quite soon..."

So yea you really want to get him out of the bowl and into a minimum 20 gallon tank.

Answer 7

Do you have a set feeding time for your fish? it's important to feed them only what they need, and to also never forget to feed them, they might just be hungry, i don't think anything is seriously wrong i have seen a lot of fish do that.

Answer 8

Your fish is not getting enough Oxygen supply and thats the reason.