Hello everyone,

I recently got a new Wakin goldfish, (feeder tank rescue) and he seems really healthy except that he has a tendency to, as I refer to it, "flounder;" by which I mean he leans to one side when he swims. There is no side in particular that is the problem, but when he swims he always leans to one side; usually it is the direction away from the back wall of the tank. He doesn't seem to have any trouble with his swim bladder (he can move up and down without using his fins), and he has no fin tears that might unbalance him. Could this be a parasite problem? I really don't know much about parasites, but seeing as he is from a feeder tank, it seems possible.

-The ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are 0.
-The pH is 7.5 (I know it is a bit alkaline, I will buy pH down drops as soon as I can.)

If anyone has any ideas at all, I would really appreciate it if you shared them; I am drawing a blank on this.

Thanks,
-nanabmcd (Cyprinidae)

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Why are dolphins cleverer than humans?

-- Within 3 hours they can train a man to stand at the side of a pool and feed them fish!

Could be he has a tumor or some kind of gastro-intestinal discomfort. Eating too much, possibly? So long as he's not getting bigger or disfigured, I'd say he's fine. Chalk it up to him being "special" lol

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Did you cycle the tank? You should be getting some sort of reading for nitrates and don't mess with the ph drops, or any altering chemical, they are more times than none just a bigger problem, sorry I couldn't help with the atcual matter at hand..

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10g- 3 variatus, 4 guppies, 1 blue mystery snail
40g Breeder- 6 danios, 5 swordtails, 1 Opaline Gourami
"I was born with nothin and I still got most of it left."- Seasick Steve.

I don't think that he has been eating too much, and he is not disfigured, so maybe he is fine. Thanks for the feedback

As for cycling the tank, I cycled it for three weeks with a cycling accelerator,

I checked the nitrate again since I put him into the tank, and it is now around 10ppm, I am planning to do a 20% water change this afternoon.
The ammonia and nitrite are still at 0, and the pH is around 7.5.

Thanks for the feedback on drops, I will not use them unless the pH rises more.

__________________
Why are dolphins cleverer than humans?

-- Within 3 hours they can train a man to stand at the side of a pool and feed them fish!