You look in your tank and think, “Something’s just not right with my fish… it just lays around.”
It’s true:
Most goldfish (if they are healthy) will be swimming all over the place. So sitting at the bottom of the tank or in the corner lethargically is usually an indication that your fish isn’t feeling well.
But good news:
Not always. Determining what’s wrong can help you get your fish back to normal (if needed).
Are you ready?
Here’s the top 7 causes of bottom sitting in goldfish – and what you can do about it.
Goldfish Sitting on the Bottom: Causes & Solutions
1. Poor water quality
Water quality is really the first thing to check when you notice your fish resting at the bottom.
Is the tank newly set up?
If you didn’t cycle it first, you may be dealing with high ammonia or nitrites.
Both of these can cause the fish to feel bad.
When the fish feels bad from either of these, it may sink to the bottom and doesn’t look so hot.
Ammonia & nitrites are both toxic to fish.
How to tell if your water has them?
Simple…
Test the water.
You can use a simple dip strip kit or get fancy and use the liquid kind, either one works.
Look:
ANY amount of ammonia or nitrites can cause this behavior.
Now, what do you do to fix it?
If you have ammonia or nitrite in your water, the first thing to do is perform a large water change.
You may notice your fish perks up after a couple of hours.
This is because you’ve diluted the chemical in the water that’s making them feel lousy.
But don’t be fooled…
… In another day or so, it can come right back, especially in an uncycled aquarium.
So you will need to keep a close eye on the water via daily tests and water changes as needed to keep the fish healthy.
If you want to prevent high ammonia and nitrites when you add new fish, one option is to cycle the tank first before you get fish (if it’s too late now, maybe just log that away for next time, okay?)
So:
Are your ammonia and nitrite levels fine?
If so…
Let’s look at another possibility:
2. Parasites
This is another biggie.
As stated before, fish that are feeling poorly often bottom sit.
In many cases, this is actually due to a heavy parasite load that is making the fish feel just plain exhausted.
Several parasites that prey on goldfish chew away on the fish or even suck the fish’s blood.
(Yuck.)
The worst part?
You usually can’t see ’em.Ā
Flukes are a major cause of bottom sitting, especially in the first few months of owning your fish.
Heavy loads make the fish feel so drained they don’t have much energy.
These fish will often start swimming normally if you disturb them.
A dirty little secret?
MOST pet store fish come to you flukey.
If you suspect your lethargic fish has flukes, it’s important to treat quickly so you can turn things around.
Untreated, heavy fluke infestations can be fatal.
(Mainly because of the secondary bacterial infections they can cause.)
You can read more about diagnosing & treating flukes at the link below:
Other parasites besides flukes could also be the cause, though I would say not as common.
If your fish has internal parasites, those could be leading to a loss of body mass of the fish which affects swimming ability and therefore water orientation.
After ruling out water quality, performing a mucous scrape of the fish is a great way to identify parasites.
That said:
If you don’t want to do that, you can usually proceed to just treat for parasites with a broad spectrum treatment like that mentioned in the fluke article, but I’d recommend you rule out other causes first.
3. Other diseases
Not all fish that sit at the bottom will have poor water quality or parasites as the root cause of their behavior.
Internal diseases can cause a fish to do this as well.
Primarily thinking of internal bacterial infections here, which cause damage to the fish’s organs.
Fish that show signs of dropsy or an emaciated belly may be suffering from internal bacterial infections causing it to feel bad and hug that substrate.
Fish TB is one main one.
Internal bacterial infections can be pretty serious and fish may or may not recover with medication, depending on the cause.
- Read More: Fish TB
4. Stress
Now this generally is a less sinister problem but can be pretty common as well.
Fish that have recently been shipped have been through a lot of stress…
… As have fish that have recently been introduced to your aquarium after taking them home from the pet store.
See:
Sometimes it takes a few days for fish to adjust to their new surroundings.
The cure for this one is to keep the lights off for a bit and give them time.
Now let’s talk about…
5. Long fins & Body Modifications
I’ll let you in on a secret not a lot of people know about or understand.
But fish that have long fins can end up spending a lot of time at the bottom because fins weigh them down.
Generally, the older the fish gets the longer the fins get.
So the more time they feel like being lazy.
Fancy goldfish have had some pretty crazy things done to them to make them unique…
… And while this might look neat, things like big heavy eye sacks or big long fins or even too short of a body can disrupt the fish’s normal swimming patterns.
6. Constipation
Sometimes constipated fish will sink down.
Once they get their system cleared out, they will return to normal.
Feeding peas may or may not help, but cutting back on the processed foods and feeding a more balanced diet usually does.
7. Swim bladder issue
A damaged swim bladder from a birth defect, injury or infection can cause the fish to loose their buoyancy.
This usually makes them sink like a rock and even skuttle along the bottom when they try to swim.
Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do for this problem, though some try flotation devices.
Personally I typically advise against them as they can cause injury to the outside of the fish.
Bonus Reason #1: Sleeping
Sometimes at night goldfish may sleep at the bottom like this but return to normal position during the day.
Bonus Reason #2: Eggs
A fish laden with eggs may spend more time at the bottom.
If the goldfish is egg-bound, this can increase the chances for this behavior and the fish may need professional treatment.
Conclusion
Finding the cause of your goldfish bottom sitting may not always be easy, but once you do it can give you much more peace of mind.
So, now I want to hear from you.
Have you ever struggled with your problem?
What did you do to fix it?
Share your comment below!
I have got a small one-year-old fantail goldfish in a 70L (18.5 gallons) tank, who is sitting on the bottom of his tank, sometimes getting up for a few minutes to swim around, only to then swim back down. Recently had an ammonia spike of 0.25ppm, but back in balance for now. I’ve had him for 6 months now, but unfortunately, we listened to the stupid filter instruction for his tank, and replaced the filter media, thus destroying most our beneficial bacteria.
Water Quality Currently:
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
pH: 7.5
It could be from the stress the ammonia spike and the various water changes it took to get on top of that. Or he is weakened by this and bacterial infection has begun, currently on a half dose of Pimafix to help this, if this is the issue, but I didn’t want to put in the full dose as it might increase stress.
Other new substances recently added to the tank that he has not been exposed to before is:
– Seachem Prime (to detoxify ammonia while is spiked and also a new water conditioner for water changes)
– Seachem Stability – To hopefully help the tanks emergency cycle
This might also cause excess stress, I’ve tried to use less light, but I have some live plants, and they are beginning to rot as a side effect (more ammonia!). His back dorsal fin if clamped, and he also has some red dots on his side (ammonia burns?), altogether looking pretty sad.
I feed him Omega One Goldfish Pellets. Haven’t feed him in 36 hours or so.
Thank you, please help!
You may have to be prepared for an ammonia surge if your cycle crashed, which it sounds like it did. Water changes daily is a good idea.
Thanks for the in side out
I bought 4 goldfish about a week ago, 3 of the 4 died within 12 hours. I got 3 more the next day. The 4th one (Jasper) just died overnight I did a water change and when I was putting him back, I think his fin got caught in the net and injured him. He didn’t recover from it. Today, one of the newer ones is laying on the bottom and acting strange like Jasper was last night. Fanta is laying at the bottom barely moving. I don’t know what to do or what I am doing wrong. Any suggestions?
Are these feeder fish by any chance? If so you may want to see the post on feeder fish and why many don’t make it very long.
I have had three fancy goldfish for three years in a 70l tank with filtration .recently all three crowd together on the bottom of the tank all day only swimming for food..my nitrate and nitite levels are zero.. I do a third water change weekly and use water conditioner and filter boost..otherwise they look healthy..the live plants are established ..what next can I do
Hi our red cap Oranda recently had a couple of red dots on his under belly and a tiny hole in his fin. He lives in a 40 gallon tank with another Oranda who is ok. We put him in a 10 gallon hospital tank and added salt and Paraguard and Stress Guard.
His dots have disappeared but now he has a white film on his head and body, milky skin and sitting on the bottom of the tank. We did a big water change 50% and added some of the water from the old tank for bacteria. Readings are 0 amonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate ph 7.5. KH is 6 and GH is 12. We added 2 ml Artemiss in his tank. We are not feeding him for 3 days as he may be constipated. Temperature is 75 degrees F. We removed the carbon filter and added a non carbon one. He is occassionally swims about but mainly sits on the bottom. We doubled the Stress Coat as his slime may be affected. Normally he is fed shelled peas in the morning and Repashy Super gold gel food at night.
Do you have any suggestions on what we should do for him?
Thank you
Arlene and Dwayne
How new is the fish? Any new fish added lately? Could be parasites if so, Herbtana or MinnFinn would be the choice for that instead
Hi, i have a question. I have 3 black moor goldfish. I have had them for nearly 2 years. From a 60 litre tank to 110. They are fed pellets that sink. I do a 50%-70% water change every 1-2 weeks. I am worried due to the fact the just lie at the bottom of the tank under real plants most of the day but when swimming, they swim lots, sometime 1 fish can be lying down and the others swimming around fine. All come up actively for food and alway eat. I think i have 1 female and 2 males, the males (i think) seem to chase why female (i think) round the tank not sure if this is aggressive or mating problems. Can you help?
Older fish are often more inactive. Periodic chasing can be normal during spawning season.
Hi i have a goldfish for 2 years now and recently he started acting strange staying at the bottom near the filter laying still there sometimes it looks like if he was dead fins down and all then he starts to swim again if nothing has happend, the other goldfishes who are female stay with him in that spot sometimes and sometimes they fight over that spot it gets crowded the male fish lost some scales on his body he has white spots I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’m really worried about him, can you tell me what\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’s wrong with him?
He might have an internal condition. The white spots could be from external sickness, difficult to say without a photo.
Hi Merideth, I need some sleuthing help.
I have 5 fancies in 100 gal. tank. 2 orandas, 2 butterfly telescopes and a ranchu. One of the butterfly and the ranchu are female. I\\\’m running a 525gph cannister with a UV filter, 2 sponge filters (rated 40 and 60 gallons) and an airstone. Tank is fairly well planted with hornwort, swords, a dwarf lily and some salvinia. Paramaters are good AND consistent. No spikes. No issues with nitrates or ammonia. GH, KH, PH consistent from week to week. Tank is mature, cycled and running steady since 11/2019 and water is changed at least weekly, more if testing shows nitrates at or above about 40.
Months ago we had a bout with ick, but resolved it. Fish recovered well and swiftly, though one oranda still has some, slowly fading, black on his scales that resulted from the ick.
A week ago there was some spawning.
Since then, at first with just the ranchu and the big oranda, but now with 4 of the 5, there is a lot of bottom sitting. No flashing. No gasping. No sores or ulcers. And there are periods of normal swimming. Everyone is feeding normally. But the bottom sitting seems to become more protracted, and involve more fish every few days.
I am willing to medicate, and I pulled out my mini minnfinn kit. Not sure if that is the answer. Not enough meds for more than one dose on that tank. I do have a hospital tank, but its only a 10 gal. I suppose I could put them in it in batches, apply 10gal worth of minnfinn and then do the next group. But… that wouldnt treat the water in the big tank and I dont know what I\\\’m chasing.
Any thoughts?
Spawning can be hard on fish. You might consider separating just the females temporarily. Spawning can also mess up the water, so water changes aren’t a bad idea.
I have two goldfish that weāve had for 8 years. Beautiful big fan tails. One is just hanging out at the bottom of the tank. It will take a quick swim and then go back to the same spot. The other one went limp yesterday but today itās swimming and eating. I had the ph tested. I added a bubbler to give more oxygen. This one stomach area is big. But this one that eats the most.
Any suggestions on what may be going on? Theyāre like family after having them so long.
Congrats on such long lived fish! Without a photo it’s difficult to say for sure. Depending on how big the stomach is there may be internal infection.
Hi Meredith, this article couldnāt have come at a better time. I just bought a new fantail goldfish a little over 24 hours now. Itās small maybe 1.5 in. The fish is currently in an uncycled 15 gallon quarantine tub with an air stone and a sponge filter rated for 30 gallons. I have and plan on doing 100% WC every 24 hours or more depending on ammonia levels. So far there have been no ammonia spikes, but my fish is laying in the bottom of the tub supper listless. He/she is so weak that the fish will move with the flow generated from the air stone and sponge filter. Fins seem a bit clamped too.
I decided to treat the fish with ich x, general cure, and Erythromycin. When I do the 100% WC I re-dose. Iāve had fish for some time now but never goldfish… Iāve never had a fish do this in quarantine. I know you mentioned it could be stress from the move but it seems pretty drastic that he doesnāt want to move to stimuli. Is this just part of their disposition, is it just a waiting game at this point? Could I be missing something.
P.s at my lfs the fish was really active and lively. Could he be depressed?
Thanks for any advice you can give! -Ally
It sounds characteristic of stress. He has been uprooted at least twice and it takes a lot out of them sometimes. I would recommend reducing the flow as much as possible, add hides and reduce lighting.
Hi, we recently bought 3 Shubunkin for a very small garden pond. we\’ve never had fish before so don;t know much. Two of them are very happy and are growing, and we see them regularly. The third has not grown so much, hides all the time, and eats less. It only comes out if we rummage around to find it. We don\’t know which are male or female. We have tested the water quality and it is fine. Shall I treat for flukey & see if that helps?.
Not a bad idea. Some fish are more weak/sickly than others.
Hello, I just introduced 3 new fish to my tank that just had 2 healthy active fantails. Now they are all on the bottom and only move to eat? I\’m thinking the recently purchased ones were sick? Can the others turn sick so quickly?
Yes, very possible. Especially without QT.
We have two ~8 year old comets in a 220 litre tank. They seem to spend a little time sitting at the bottom of the tank (normally hiding their heads under a leaf) and then swim around for a while and repeat that all day. They\’ve done this for years and otherwise seem normal and they eat well. Any idea what could be wrong?
Sounds like its just their normal behavior, if you don’t see any other signs of illness.
Hi Meredith, Iāve had a fantail in my outside (smallish pond) for around five years. I believe she is the mum, grandmother and great grandmother of the pond as she has been chases around A LOT over the years. For the past couple of months she has been lying at the bottom of an old terracotta pot that I put in over summer. She has very long fins and Iām wondering if this new space is simply a better place for her now sheās so big (Other fish are being chased now- although there are only 8 in total) or whether sheās poorly. I change around 1/3 to half of pond regularly but not too regularly ( I water the plants with the old water-they are thriving!) All other fish are fine. Itās just Bertha who seems to be sticking to the bottom. Thanks in advance, Sharon
Hard to say without a photo of the fish, a video could also be helpful. I’d recommend posting in the group.
Hi! I have had a comet goldfish for about 5 years now. It is in a 10 gallon tank. A few months ago I cleaned his tank, replaced the filter, and moved the tank to another location in the same room. He hasnāt been the same since. I think he might be eating less and does not swim actively anymore. He mostly sits at the bottom of the tank in the same 2 spots. Iām not sure what to do.
I would recommend testing the water, especially pH.
I have a beautiful clean 50 tank 2 fancy goldfish. most of the time they just lay at the bottom. if the light is out they will swim a bit , I always ck my water for ammonia, use stress coat and feed them a good food. i just can not figure it out. i have had tanks of fancy gold fish for almost 50 years.. this is baffling..
Are they old or have long fins?
Hi meridith
My beautiful old goldfish, always been a big eater …fancy goldfish about 10 cm …..had it for about 9 years…not sure of sex
But I will refer to her as a she , lives with a smaller fancy and they are good buds
She has always got relief from a pea every now and then when she seemed constipated …and then all would return to normal….I have been feeding very sparingly now that I realize perhaps it was me Over feeding her….and feeding sinking food as I felt she was taking in air at the surface with flakes
Generally a happy and energetic girl
But after we went away and I left them in the hands of a housesitter
On our return she suddenly went head down body up
And could not right herself
I suspected swim bladder
Did everything…epsom salts , antibiotics twice ……now in her hospital tank she lies on the bottom all the time, but feeds happily on tubluflex worms …and then returns to the bottom
Belly seems very large ….almost like a pin prick is required to release the air \\\’\\\’
I would welcome some of your input
Thank you
Xxxx
She may have egg binding, collapsed swim bladder or an internal bacterial infection.
I have a 400gln outdoor pond with around 20 goldfish a mixture of fantail and shubunkin, have been checking water quality weekly and is showing good, I have put another fish from my daughters small indoor tank he has very bulging eyes which are milky, been in for 2 weeks now seems to be having problems locating food when on the surface and now is spending all the time on the bottom only moving when I disturb him with a net .
Could be a bacterial infection.
Hi Meredith, I have 18 x 3 year old goldfish in an outdoor pond and have recently removed 1 deceased well grown fish which had raised scales! I now notice there is one who lays on bottom and occasionally struggles to surface then down again!it is approx 1/3 the size of all the others.Can you please help? It doesnt appear to be eating and would love to save him.
It could be several things, but if you had a loss from a fish with raised scales that can indicate bacterial infection.