do fish float to the top when they die?

Do GoldFish Always Float To Th Top When They Die ?
My goldfish is lying at the bottom of my tank ! :D. Its not moving and has no eye ? And its mouldy ? But i thought they always float to the top when they die :O? His Names FhishhFood :D? Is He Dead ? Or Sleeping :)?
Where did his eye go? He sounds dead and if you have other fish, they probably have been pecking at it and eating it.
You can nudge him with your net and if he doesnt move just take him out. You should be able to see his gills move if he was alive.

Goldfish dont usually float to the top when they die. They will eventually the longer you leave it in there. The goldfish will start to decompose interally and this will produce oxygen and other gas products as waste. It are these internal gases which will allow the dead fish to float. Even trapped air.

It sounds like your fish has been dead for a while now.

Im sorry to hear about your loss.
All freshwater fish when they die will float to the surface, it has to do with the way they decompose. After a while they sink to the bottom, and since yours is starting to mould up, its been dead for at least 1 week....give or take a few days. Sorry about that. There are a couple of exceptions, and they are mainly in the Catfish family.

On the plus side your now learning about the time frames involved with death and a fish tank, at least the moulding cycle.

In the almost 30 years I have kept and the last 15 that I have been breeding fish I have had a little more than a hundred (100+) fish die for a variety of reasons, some of them mine, some due to the fish jumping out of the tank, and some doe to mechanical/electronic failures (Filter or heater). Its an unfortunate part of fishkeeping.
Source(s):
30+ Years of Fishkeeping Experience
Former employee of 3 different pet stores (Fish Department)