The Upside Down Fish

My toddler son got two goldfish last winter that he promptly named Scoop and Pour.  Both were wee fry when we brought them home, but have grown considerably.  Pour, the larger of the two, is sturdy.  Unfortunately, Scoop has trouble now and then...

I walked by the tank one day and did a double-take.  Huh?  Yup.  Scoop was floating upside down.

Naturally, I thought Scoop was dead or dying, but he was actually quite active.  I did some online searches and discovered that goldfish are descended from bottom-feeding carp.  These scavengers aren't meant to have overprocessed food flakes that float.  Some fish have more sensitive digestive systems and the air they suck in with the floating food causes them to have too much gas in their bodies.  Their bubble-filled belly rises to the surface, causing them to float upside down until they can digest the food and dispel the air.

 
It's funny to watch poor Scoop rolling around like a hot air balloon in the wind at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  But it is sad too.  That fish really struggles.  He will sometimes swim into the space under his bridge to keep himself from bobbing to the top, gasping and letting his fins finally be still for a moment.  It looks unnatural and exhausting.

I bought sinking pellet fish food and that really helped.  I also carefully limit how much I put in the tank and drop the food in on the opposite side from wherever Scoop is swimming so it will sink before he sees it.  Still, the sinking food is also overprocessed, so it still causes Scoop occasional trouble when he eats too fast or too much.

Hmmm.

When I'm tempted to get a treat at the gas station when I fill up the car or look over a restaurant menu, sometimes Scoop comes to mind.  Too much overprocessed food...too fast...too much...  Then we're struggling (inwardly or outwardly) to keep our balance.