I bought an aquarium with 4 goldfish who keep fighting. Can I put one of them in the naughty corner?

Question

yes I feed them regularly. Their food seems quite boring to me though, but there's hardly any alternative I can buy around here. But I don't think they're hungry. I think they're just vindictive.

Answer 1

Sounds like space issues, especially if the goldfish are of the same breed. Its less common to see abusive goldfish, though not unheard of. I don't think putting one into a naughty corner will solve your problem. Depending on the capacity of your aquarium you may wish to return one of them to the local pet shoppe. If your tank is very large (40 odd gallons) then theres something outside capacity bothering them and it will unlikely find resolve.

I see you're preparing a larger aquarium for them, which suggests its very much a capacity issue. Goldfish are coldwater pondfish by definition, and do best in those environments. The controlled breeding of goldfish which has provided offset species of them has changed this somewhat, but they will always do better in an outdoor pond.

In a nutshell, the anatomy of a goldfish produces excessive amounts of ammonia, which is not only toxic to fish, but highly irritating to them. It can trigger any mood swing, and can be fatal if the ammonia levels are high enough. Most frequently when we read of ammonia spikes, its in a new uncycled tank.

Goldfish need almost twice the capacity as a typical aquarium fish because of their sediment discharge anomaly, so please consider this when setting up your new tank.

Many firm believers state a goldfish requires a 20 gallon environment for just 1 fish. I would say this may be excessive depending on what type of goldfish you're working with, but its a fair estimate for any type. Keep this in mind also, if you only have a 20 gallon aquarium, avoid placing more than 2 goldfish in it. If you would be interested in investing 20 bucks into a heater, you could easily purchase some timid community fish instead and see your tank being much more active. Tetras for example...

Hope this delivers some insight for your problem, if you want more advice let us know what type of goldfish they are, how large their current occupancy is and what size tank you're preparing for them, if you have a heater, and what temperature they're living in.

Should be able to narrow it down significantly from there on.  

Answer 2

Are you feeding them enough? Sometimes fish fight because they are no getting fed enough. Good Luck!

Answer 3

Goldfish don't normally fight unless they are overcrowded or there is a large size difference.  4 goldfish would need a minimum of a 50 gallon tank with really good filtration.  Crowding them also leads to stunting and organ failure.

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Answer 4

Fish don't know they are being naughty and they are incapable of equating a punishment with their natural behavior, so no you can't do anything to stop them besides permanent seperation.

Answer 5

it takes over a month to cycle and  set up an aquarium properly

why did you buy the fish at the same time