Marble

[pearlscale_fan]

my pearlscale Marble had swimbladder problems her whole life
she was stuck on the bottom for about a year, and got really sick
we finally had her put down on July 15, and we all cried all day
the house feels so empty and quiet without a goldfish pushing rocks, and i still get the impulse to say "hi Marb" every time i go near the now-empty tank
i'll miss her, but at least she won't have to suffer to death:rip:

[Veil Gal]

So sorry about the loss of your fish. We all have been through it. A special goldfish that just didn't make it. I do think that fish that have constant swimbladder or swimming problems should not be bred, no matter how beautiful the finnage or how spectacular the body. It only perpetuates the problem.... I'm mentioning this in hopes my fellow goldfish breeders will take note.

[bekko]

fish that have constant swim bladder or swimming problems should not be bred I agree. But, it is both genetics and the culling/selection process. This is especially true when it comes to pearlscale. When you select the offspring which have the roundest shape, you are also selecting the offspring which will be most prone to swim bladder problems. A pearlscale which is less rounded and with a slightly longer body is as tough as nails and will seldom have any problems. However, the breeder must discard most of these longer offspring when fry or juveniles because he knows nobody will want to buy them later. We are attracted to the cute little round fish which are destined to develop swim bladder issues as they age.

It is much the same with oranda. Everyone wants an oranda with the shortest and most compact body. These are the oranda which will win at a show, are the highest price, and yet are most prone to swim bladder problems. An oranda with a slightly longer body form will grow huge and live longer.

This one of the great conundrums in goldfish keeping.

pearlscale_fan, I am very sorry you lost Marble and hope you can excuse this little rant.

-steve

[pearlscale_fan]

it's ok
i have to agree with you people, this is a problem which is only perpetuated by people wanting their fish to be wide rather than long
i've heard that fancy goldfish have a two-chambered swimbladder, and normal goldfish have a one-chambered swimbladder, and i'm not sure if maybe people just need to try to breed fish with a one-chambered swimbladder
btw, Marb wasn't show quality, just cute, and we got her by mail order
we got her with a "friend", who we had put down because "he" was dying of fluke damage from the breeder's tanks
(yes i'm absolutely sure Marb was a she-- she laid eggs a couple of times)
we had an autopsy done on her, and it sounds like she might have had IHN virus
would this require us to get a whole new setup, or just clean things (we want to keep our cycled tank for new fish)?

[bekko]

The ancestral carp has a two-lobed swim bladder too. No one has come up with a way to eliminate the predisposition to swim bladder problems while maintaining the short body form. Since a fish with a swim bladder problem is unlikely to reproduce, you would think that simple natural selection would have fixed it by now - but it hasn't. One thing about the illustrious history of breeding goldfish.... If it was easy to do, then someone would have already done it.

A half cup of Clorox per ten gallons of water should get rid of any cooties in your tank, including viruses and the filter's nitrifying bacteria. If I suspected a virus I would nuke everything and start a new cycle. IHN is mainly a trout and salmon disease, but goldfish have several viruses of their own.

-steve