Diet and Work Out routine for swimming?

Why do peas work so well at helping goldfish with swimming bladder problems?

• My giant twin tailed lion head type goldfish had serious swimming bladder issues- for weeks, he was upside down 100% of the time, and could only eat off the bottom while on his head... I was inches from deep sixing him down the garbage disposal or toilet, when i discovered simple green peas might help... So I fed him peas...and amazingly, he's right side up now and full of energy. It worked!!!! I'm curious- why did it work? How did peas cure my fish? I discovered peas have to be a regular part of his diet, because if he goes off the peas, he'll flip over again... So, how often should i feed him peas, and how many? I thought he had swimming bladder disease- but is it it possible he had intestinal issues, like gas? He gulps air when he eats, so I figured he swallowed a lot of air, which disrupted his buoyancy..

• Answer:

  Fancy goldfish have deformed bodies where there internal organs are compressed. This makes them more prone to getting constipated, they cant poop, and pressure builds up inside. Then they loose the ability to control their swim bladder, which is a pouch of air inside them. Normally they can control the amount of air to give them neutral boyancy. Bit if they loose that control they either float or sink. Peas are like fresh friut are to us, cant poop? Eat a whole packet of prunes and you will. This gets their gut moving again, takes away the pressure on the swim bladder and then they can swim normally again. It wont allways cure them as there are several causes of swim bladder upsets, but it can help if the cause is constipation. If it works for your fish, just keep feeding it peas. Ian