CONSTIPATION
What is it?
Constipation is very common in goldfish, as they are often fed the wrong sorts of food. Goldfish are actually vegetarian.

It usually arises in an aquarium with no live plants and with a fish that is fed mostly pellets or flakes. The symptoms are very similar to swim bladder problems.

Symptoms:
Bloating, lethargy, loss of appetite, floating, inability to keep equilibrium and an inability to swim regularly.

Cure:
More Roughage is required in the diet. The food that would help best here is live aquatic plants, they can be very cheap (Elodea is a attractive, fast growing and very cheap variety). Plants also help keep the water chemistry at a high quality.

Although many people use pellets, I personally wouldn't recommend them. They are very dry and escalate swim bladder problems. A better alternative is flakes, (vegetarian varieties are available, as goldfish a mostly vegetarian.) Normal goldfish flakes will do, however. If you do continue to use the pellets, I recommend soaking them in aquarium water (in a dish) for about 10-15 minutes before feeding time. This will allow moisture to penetrate and will not be so drying to the fish. Only soak the amount you intend to use that particular feeding, however.

As for roughage, there are many choices. Peas are excellent, remembering to remove the outer skin of the pea. Spinach, lettuce or cucumber (not cooked) also work well in stabilizing the diet. Just use one or two small portions, about 10cm (4inch) in diameter. Let the fish pick at it for about a day but remove when it starts to go rotten or limp. You can repeat this process as often as you like, fish can't get enough vegetable matter! One thing to note though is that you need to cut off the cucumber skin, the fish find it difficult to get past this.

Fish love this type of vegetable matter added to the aquarium, and it will ensure they keep regular if implemented into their weekly diet.

For the meantime I would suggest feeding your fish frozen blood worms as an alternative to pellets or flakes, just for a week or two until the problem settles down. After that, flakes will be fine ensuring you keep up the vegetable matter. This usually isn't a problem in an aquarium with an ample supply of live plants.



Remember, water quality is always extremely important- so always check that first as it is often the cause of disease in aquarium fish. When treating sick fish, try to put the least amount of stress on them as possible, as stress will hinder the heeling process. Another thing is to remember is that generally, a healthy fish is a happy fish.

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