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goldfish fighting :(2007-11-24 23:32:30

i have 3 small common goldfish fry (ranging from 1" to 1.5" ea fish). until recently they were getting along fine. the tank finished cycling a few weeks ago and i have been feeding them and keeping the tank clean. for some reason whenever i feed the fish, the biggest of the goldfish would harass and push/nudge the other 2 smaller goldfish. while they are searching for food fallen on the gravel, the big one would constantly push and chase the other 2 goldfish around the tank. the smallest one doesn't seem to have too much trouble, he just swims away quickly and stays away from the biggest one. the medium fish would fight back and push back but always ends up running away after the short scuffle. often he would be pushed into the gravel or against plants and objects in the tank. they aren't much different in size, only about 1/4" difference between each of them and they all have been in the tank for the same amount of time.

how can i get them to stop fighting?

Answers:

Adult goldfish do not exhibit this tendency as much as fry do.I have raised these critters and notice that a few grew very quickly, as the general population took a dive. For some reason, these fish exhibit canabalism when they are very young, and some of these fish are more aggressive than others. My advice is to remove the culprit and keep him by himself until the others catch up in size, then all will calm down. I have had 3-4" koi and goldfish that took a dislike to one fish or another and ended up killing the fish. We assume these fish are timid, but they are not that fimid that they will not hog food, etc. I have a koi pond full of all different sizes, and believe me, at feeding time, it looks like a feeding frenzy! Smaller fish are shoved out of the way as the larger ones get the lion's share. Good luck

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Wow you must really love your gold fish to write that much about them!1 Go to petco or petsupermarket and ask an associate

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what size tank they in?

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In short yes fish do fight, You have to study the types of fish you keep

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goldfish are bottom-feeders so they can a lot of food from cleaning rocks ect from the bottom of the tank..i wouldnt worry about the two who gets bullied.they will get enough food that the big one lets drop

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try putting them in differnt cages. or when the big one pushes them try to take the bigger one out of the cage and put him in a differnt one untill the others are done eating. he'll understand that its not right. and if he never learns keep him out of the cage.

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While not usually aggressive, goldfish have personalities. I would ask is your tank too small for the size fish you have. Are you feeding them enough? Try spacing out two feedings one an hour after the first or one at night and one at day. If the scuffle is injuring the fish you may have to separate the two. Or else the stress alone may kill the little one.

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How big is your tank? If its to small they will get on each others nerves. What you can do is take the larger fish out for a few days then re-introduce him, doing this causes the other two to bond more and causes him to feel lonely and in my experience they get on great when he goes back in. If your tank is to small though this wont help at all. If you want to email me with your tank size I can give you some more information. You can also go to feeding them more then twice a day, as long as they are eating everything within a few minutes then its fine, also provide shelter for them when they are tired of being around each other and it will ease the tension.

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they aren't fighting, competition for food is normal, just make sure enough gets down to the smaller fish