Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today I've noticed that my gold fish has swam to a shallow part of the pond and doesn't move much and just keeps looking like it's gasping for water. I don't know if it is a male of female. It isn't scared of my hand hovering over, like all the other fish are, and seems to have lost its appetite. The interesting thing is I tried to bring some food closer to it and it moved away, but then came back to the same spot. What should I do? I don't want to lose this fish. Thanks for any help.

It may be looking for water that has more oxygen or maybe its having problems with other fish chasing it. have you noticed any breeding behaviour as it could be tired out.
if you can, try and get it into a spare tank or holding tub for observation. adding some oxygen to the pond and tub may also help. have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph recently?

I don't know if the other fish have been chasing it, I have noticed that its fins aren't up like the others, dorsal, tail, etc, and it's been that way ever since I got it. It's made me wonder if it is a different gender from the rest, but I don't know how to tell. I haven't checked the levels, I've used the detoxifier and the pond has a nice size plant. I will check the levels as soon as possible. This fish is the only one acting like this, the others seem ok. I will try to seperate if I don't see any improvements tomorrow morning since I'm writing this late at night. Are there any natural ways to add oxygen to the pond? I've heard of the pumps, but I was wondering if there are any plants or natural materials that could do that job. I aslo heard about deeper parts make good for higher oxygen spots. I'm planning on making my next pond pretty deep. Thank you for your post.

hi
you can get a plant called elodea which is really good at oxygenating, but the downside is the fish love to eat it which is good so you may find yourself regularly replacing it and thankfully its cheap.
How long have you had the clamped fish and have you noticed it scratching?