# Goldfish jumped out of the tank!



## sydm (Oct 4, 2017)

My large goldie jumped out of his tank overnight. He was a little dried out when I found him, but he started breathing immediately when I put him back in the water. He's upside-down, and looks a little bruised (it was about a four foot fall to a hardwood floor). (My cats did not eat him!)

As soon as I get home from work, I'll set him up in a hospital tank -- I was thinking salt. I also have sulfaplex and kanaplex. 
Is the swimming upside down a swim bladder issue? What can I do about that?

(This is a big comet -- about 7 inches. I moved him from a backyard pond to an indoor tank last summer after I treated him for dropsy)


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## alang92jr (Feb 24, 2018)

sydm said:


> My large goldie jumped out of his tank overnight. He was a little dried out when I found him, but he started breathing immediately when I put him back in the water. He's upside-down, and looks a little bruised (it was about a four foot fall to a hardwood floor). (My cats did not eat him!)
> 
> As soon as I get home from work, I'll set him up in a hospital tank -- I was thinking salt. I also have sulfaplex and kanaplex.
> Is the swimming upside down a swim bladder issue? What can I do about that?
> ...


Any updates?


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## sydm (Oct 4, 2017)

She is still breathing, and still upside down. She's sitting on the bottom of the tank now, and managed to eat one pea this morning. She can swim and wriggle around, but it's difficult and seems to exhaust her quickly. :-(


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I had a large fire eel that got out of the tank once. It was kinda dried out but still alive when I found it - put it in a quarantine tank, were it lived for a few days. I ended it’s life when I found snails eating it alive.

Yes, swimming upside down is a swim bladder thing - it’s a symptom of a problem. In some cases the problem can be addressed and the fish fixed. In most cases it can’t, and that’s for fish that hadn’t jumped out of the tank. I’m afraid that there’s a good likelihood that the fish’s time out of the water has caused some degree of necrosis, for which there is nothing you can do. Large amounts of dead cells in the fish will lead to septicemia which will kill the fish. Again, septicemia is something that can be treatable, but not when the cause is necrosis.

Of course, I have no idea how long the fish had been on the floor. It may be able to recover if it wasn’t too long. Swimming upside down isn’t going to kill the fish, so I wouldn’t worry about dealing with that problem until you know if the fish is going to make it.


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## alang92jr (Feb 24, 2018)

sydm said:


> She is still breathing, and still upside down. She's sitting on the bottom of the tank now, and managed to eat one pea this morning. She can swim and wriggle around, but it's difficult and seems to exhaust her quickly. <img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Sad" class="inlineimg" />


Hope she gets through it. Never had a fish jump out of water before but every fish I had that had swim bladder eventually passed away, even with treatments.


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## sydm (Oct 4, 2017)

Still hanging in there. She's lying on the bottom on her side. She can get upright with effort, but can't stay that way. I may try to make her a sling.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Like alang, I’ve never successfully treated a goldfish swim bladder issue. Not even considering the problems stemming from jumping out, a big issue that arose was skin abrasions from resting on the bottom, so hopefully the tank it’s in has no substrate.


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## alang92jr (Feb 24, 2018)

sydm said:


> Still hanging in there. She's lying on the bottom on her side. She can get upright with effort, but can't stay that way. I may try to make her a sling.


Hoping for the best for your buddy. I'm Dealing with a sick guppy with internal parasites ATM. We're both trying to play doctor lol.


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## sydm (Oct 4, 2017)

No substrate. Just a bare hospital tank with a filter, bubbler, and heater. I'm treating with salt, kanaplex and sulfaplex, hoping to stay ahead of infections. I had a pond fish last summer who was very seriously injured when she was attacked by a predator, and I managed to save her, so I'm hopeful. From what I've been reading, when swim bladder disorder is caused by trauma, the only thing you can do is wait for it to get better. So, just trying to keep her comfortable and alive and hope she makes it.


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## Illion (Aug 24, 2017)

It might be too late but I'd recommend using good aquarium water only! Chemicals might do more harm than good..


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## Illion (Aug 24, 2017)

Unless the fish was sick before.. How long was the fish out of water? I'm sure its adjusting to breathing again.. If it has shown any sign of improvement, it should recover. 

I hate babysitting..


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## sydm (Oct 4, 2017)

I'm using treated water. I made her a sling, which got her off the bottom and off her side. She's not improving, but she's still alive.


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## sydm (Oct 4, 2017)

Tippi died last night. She seemed to be doing better, and I thought she was going to make it. She was eating well, and starting to swim a bit. I made a little sling for her to keep her afloat. But I guess her injuries, and her time out of water, were not survivable. :-(


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## alang92jr (Feb 24, 2018)

sydm said:


> Tippi died last night. She seemed to be doing better, and I thought she was going to make it. She was eating well, and starting to swim a bit. I made a little sling for her to keep her afloat. But I guess her injuries, and her time out of water, were not survivable. <img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Sad" class="inlineimg" />


So sorry to hear that. The feeling of losing one of your beloved fish is not a good feeling. From one aquarium hobbyist to another I feel your pain


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