Why does one of my gold fish pretend its dead?

Question

Ive had the gold fish for almost a month and a half in a 30 gallon tank with 7 mollies and a betta. The goldfish looks like its dead with all its fins down floating at the top, but when I tap it, it starts moving and swimming normally.

Is it dying????

Answer 1

usually when fishes are floating on top it means they're dead.

Look at the fishes face, does it have a " IM SCARED" look? if it does, than its probably dead. In your case, to me, i think your fish has a disease or is sick and is on the verge of dying. I suggest you dont poke it, you can hurt it! Just buy another fish, they're cheap. Oh btw, if your fish is dead, take it out of the tank immediately just in case the other fishes catches soemthing from the dead fish.

please: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 2

yeah :(

Answer 3

i think so. i had 2 gold fish, and they both did this right before they died. id be ready for the worse. sorry.

Answer 4

if you ever went fishing and put a fish in a bucket it would do that i dont know why your fish does that

Answer 5

It's not pretending. It's going to die soon.

Answer 6

Maybe it wants a trip down the toilet.

Answer 7

i dont think so i used to have a goldfish that did that and it lived for like 3 yrs and it did that the whole time i had it so it may not be dying.

Answer 8

no its not dying.

It apparently just likes to lay around.lol

I had a fish once that did that sometimes.

I guess it's normal..

Answer 9

problem with it's swim bladder.

I see it all the time when I put a fish caught deep into the livewell.

sorry I don't know the solution.  or whether it's fatal.

Answer 10

no its actually its own way of sunbathing.... they like to get their bellies dry for some reason. dont worry about it

Answer 11

brain damage

Answer 12

It doesn't want you to have him anymore

Answer 13

probably :/

but my friends fish did that for like a year before it died

Answer 14

Maybe it thinks its a dog that can play dead you never know.

Answer 15

It plays dead? What kind of treat do you give it as a reward?

Answer 16

maybe, or its just a survival instinct. btw, bettas are supposed to be in their own tank. Just a vase or something, they get air from the surface. If you put two male bettas together, they attack one another until one of them is dead.. Just thought id warn you.

Answer 17

I think it might be dying. Maybe it got attacked by the others?

Answer 18

Yes I had a goldfish as  a kid that did that, it was slowly dying.

Answer 19

Because you touch yourself and that makes it sad :(

Answer 20

it might.. try touching it.. if it hardly moves, it might.. if it jumps like something attacked it then its fine

Answer 21

No, it's a show fish. Take it to Hollywood, it wants it's limelight. Buy it a nice tank.

Answer 22

Hi Christian, Never tap on tanks-you will stress even healthy fish by doing this & most likely hasten the death of any that are already sick from the shock waves.

  Your tank is [over]stocked with incompatible fish-what are your parameters? You need to ensure ammonia & nitrite are zero & do partial water changes using dechlorinator to dilute any toxins-your Goldfish is almost certainly suffering from this. You need to get separate tanks for your tropicals as Goldfish have no compatible tank mates except other Goldfish-check out the 2 links below.

  On a general note, what a bunch of sad, c**p, ill informed, ignorant & just plain dumb answers-the spamming trolls are certainly out in force tonight. I've seen some rubbish answers on this forum but this motley collection wins the contest hands down. Well done SUM22 & Harper-so far the only voices of reason in a depressing morass of mediocrity, no wonder the poor Goldfish is the world's most abused creature..

Answer 23

It either means he's sick, or he's acting submisive for the Beta. Is your Beta male or female? If it's male, it might be beating up your gold fish from time to time.

If you are truly worried about the fish (like, he's never done this before) than you could put him in a baggie and take him to the vet to check out.

Keep in mind, Betas and Mollies take to a different temperature of water than a gold fish, so it could be your water temp and chemical level.

The best first step is to take a sample of your water to a local pet store for testing. Go from there.

Good luck!

Answer 24

It's dying.  Your aquarium is incredibly overstocked right now.  Goldfish live for more than twenty years with proper care.  If one lives for a year or three after displaying this behavior it didn't die of old age, just died slowly.  The goldfish is the one suffering the most right now as it needs much more oxygen then mollies or bettas (being a cold water species).  In addition you are most likely keeping it at a temperature it cannot do well in.

EDIT: If you don't know the answer please don't post.  You only make it more difficult for the questioner to get any useful information

Answer 25

Check your water parameters. Get a liquid test kit to test for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. If you have ammonia or nitrites, do a 50% water change. If you can't test, I'd recommened doing a water change right away.

What is the water temp? Goldfish are cold water fish. Goldfish won't do as well if the water temp is too high, say warmer than 72 degrees. The mollies prefer a higher temp of 76-78 degrees, so they aren't exactly compatible.

Does it have a hard time swimming to the bottom? Maybe it has swim bladder disease? Try soaking the food in water before giving it to the fish to see if that improves the condition.

Answer 26

Fish don't do that so I'm afraid it is dying you are just interrupting him

Answer 27

Well.. it might just like playing tricks on you.. but if it isn't, then yes, I'd say it might be sick or going to die.

Answer 28

Maybe its scared from all the fish, Lol

Answer 29

YOU DID a good job training it

Answer 30

its trying to escape..

it wants you to flush it down the toilet...

all toilets lead to the ocean..

then it can be reunited with its dad..

jk... i dunno why.. mine did that for a bit too..

Answer 31

Maybe the goldfish is sleeping? Ask a vet, he will know the answer. just calm down!