One of my new goldfish is chasing/fighting/nipping? the other new goldfish, what should I do?

Question

I have a new 35 litre tank with good filtration and 2 new goldfish, they have both been in there a week but there is one persistently chasing/nipping the other. No scales have been lost by either of the fish. But the littler one seems to be getting fed up by this I think.

I'm wondering if this will just calm down as they are both new in the tank or do they needs something more drastic like separation. I'd hate to think I was harming one by keeping the other in there.

Answer 1

Are they both the same type of fish? As in are they both fancy goldfish or is one a common (commet, etc) and the other fancy (fancy, oranda etc). If they are that could be the problem. If not it may be that your tank is too small and they are getting territorial. A goldfish needs 20 gallons and each additional fish needs 10 gallons. Goldfish are normally peaceful and aren't often aggressive.The one that is getting chased is going to get stressed out, which will make him more susceptible to disease or the stress will kill him. If his fins are getting ripped watch that closely because it could develop into fin rot.  

Answer 2

take the one thts chasing it out for a lil

and leave the other one there

Answer 3

Hmm. Is the chaser nuzzling the vent of the other fish, or is he really trying to snap at his fins for a snack?

if it's the former, you probably have a male and a female. They behave like this on and off (and might spawn for you!)

If it's the later, aggression in golds can be a PITA. You can buy tank dividers (plastic mesh that divides the tank) really cheap so that you can separate them for, say, a week, to see if the behaviour changes. You could also make a divider yourself -- got a plastic basket hanging around? Just make sure water can enter and exit the basket very easily.

I have an aggressive ryukin and after doing everything I could think of, I had to move him into another tank. Now I have two calicos in the same tank and it annoys me. But it's better than having 1 calico in each tank with fish missing eyes and fins, so there ya go.

Hope the divider works for you.

By the way, I hope you're careful about ammonia levels in your new tank. Here's a good article on goldfish care:

http://thegab.org/Articles/GoldfishBasic...

Answer 4

sounds like they're establishing a 'pecking order' they will probably sort it out between them. are they the same size? my first 2 goldies were 1 big and 1 smaller, the big one kept doing that to the little one, and chased it every time it came out of the corner. i had to take the little one back to the shop, they said the stress could kill it. but now all my fish are the same size and get along great, but when i add a new one, there's always some fin nipping for a couple of days so the new one knows whose the boss. just keep an eye on them, get a tank divider just in case you have to seperate them

Answer 5

Kill him in front of the others. Don't worry they only have a memory span of 3 seconds