Oh! I dropped my goldfish!

[chickbea]

While I was moving my goldfish yesterday from their indoor winter tank to their summer pond, I dropped one! She fell about 4 feet or more onto the carpet. So far she seems to be fine, but I'm a wreck that I'm going to find her floating over the next couple of days.
I know a lot of people don't care about fish, but I've had these two for many years and I'm very fond of them. They have their own little personalities too (just like chickens); you just have to invest a little time in getting to know them.
I have a message in to a goldfish forum I'm part of to see what advice those guys have, but it doesn't have nearly the number of members we have (

), so I'm cross posting to see if you guys know of any ways to help a fish that has had a trauma...
I'm full of guilt about the whole thing.

 

[thechickenchick]

I am sorry I don't know alot about fish. However please don't be too hard on yourself. Accidents happen. I hope someone can offer you some helpful advice soon.

 

[arlee453]

We used to have a tank with suicide jumpers. We'd find them from time to time flopping around on the floor. We'd drop them back in the tank and they never seemed to be any worse for wear.

Hopefully your fish will be fine too!

 

[texaschickmama]

Back in October of last yr at my son's Halloween Carnival at school, he won 6 gold fish. They were all in separate baggies with water. We got home and I only had 5 gold fish. I search the truck, the ground, traced my steps back into the house, no gold fish. I conjured up that I dropped it back at the carnival and some happy child found it and gave it a good home.

ONE WEEK LATER, 7 WHOLE DAYS........................ My husband found it, still in the baggie, between the seat and the console of the truck. It was still ALIVE. I could not believe it. I quickly put in the tank with the others and it is still swimmin' strong. I could not believe it. It did not have that much water in there, I am still amazed it lived.

 

[Equest94]

Goldfish are pretty hardly fish and can adjust quickly to circumstances. Like most types of carp, goldfish are mostly bottom feeders and are use to crashing and bumping into rocks, etc. I'm sure your fish will be fine.

I understand how you feel, but there's no use worrying about what could happen. Chances are that if there was a problem, you would have noticed it already.

 

[chickbea]

Thanks for the support! I'm feeling better. Someone on the goldfish forum explained what a bruise looks like on a fish, and she isn't visibly bruised, so I have my fingers crossed.

I'm very fond of these two fish - I bought them years ago out of a tank of feeder fish. They were about a half an inch long and their fins were all ratty and chewed on. I called them Raggedy Ann and Andy. Now they are both over 7 inches long, bright and shiny and beautiful!

 

[bangor777]

Oh, good luck. OUr goldfish survived an unfortunate dropped bowl crash and were none the worse for wear. I'm sure yours will be fine. I have one giant goldfish (named Jaws) that has a terrible habit of appearing near death all the time. Everytime I think "ok this is it" he 'recovers'. I just did a water change in his tank and as usual he is floating on his side...despite my checking water temps and doing the water change gradually and all that. If I didn't know any better I'd think it was some kind of survival thing, like 'play dead'. Even though he's done it a milllion times I'm checking on him every half hour with my heart in my throat.
Good luck with yours!

 

[SoccerMomof7]

Well once when I still lived at home with my mom I had given her a beta for Mothers Day, we called him Lucky because we I purchased him from Wal Mart he only had enough water to lay on his side. Well one night when we were changing the water we were moving him into his temporary home and some how when we were pouring him into it we missed the bowl (which was sitting in the sink) and he went down the garbage disposal. I was bawling, I turning on the water and ran for my brother. Neither my mom or I will touch a fish, so it took my brother probley 15 minutes to catch him swimming around the garbage disposal, but needless to say he survived! So I am sure your goldfish will be just fine.

 

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

Your goldfish will be fine chickbea. However I have a story where the fish did not turn out to good. I bought a betta from PetSmart to save it, well I didn't have anywhere to put it, so I put it in with an oscar (a type of cichlid) and an aggresive catfish (it was that or put it in with an oscar the size of my fist that could swallow the poor betta). So I put it in the tank, and a few hours later it was on its side just barely alive. It died

. I am so mad at that oscar. He died a few weeks later because he was getting beat up by some baby fish (

). So I think your goldfish will be fine.

 

[Nichole77]

Ooops.... Hope it's ok.