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Would a large goldfish eat 2 smaller goldfish2007-11-24 23:44:33

I recently bought my son 2 new small goldfish to keep his large 8 year old fish company and 1 of them has disappeared - the other one was dead in the corner of the tank looking rather grusome, missing a fair amount of flesh.. The small guys were about 2 inches long so too big to be an accidental mouthful! Has anybody else had this happen?

Answers:

Yes. This is why goldfish need to be size matched :) They will and do eat smaller fish. I have been keeping goldfish for years, anything smaller then 3/4 of the goldfish already in the tank could be picked on or eaten, but generally just out competed for food, so they starve, die and are then eaten.

Best thing to do is raise them in a second tank, or if you MUST have them in the same tank it should be a very large well planted (only on one side so the larger fish has open room to swim but the smaller ones can hide) and put food on the open side first to draw the large fish away, THEN feed the smaller ones on the other side. Best to just keep them separate. Goldfish get to 12 inches, so require a large tank, but are social, so do need friends. Measure your fish and ask your local pet shop for a goldfish around that size - but be sure your tank is large enough or they will compete for space and food and could kill each other anyway!

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yes. i watched it happen to mine. greedy sod

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Yes. Carp (including goldfish) are rather carnivorous.

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Goldfish can be territorial. They kill each other in fights and the bigger ones usually win. And even though it's really disgusting, gold fish do eat each other.