Why Was My Fantail Attacked By My Other Fish.?

[STEVEUKGUY]

I have 2 tanks, 1 large one and 1 small one, .. ok here the story.
Wife employer brought the tanks, gravel, pump, ect, but not the fish. Wife got the fish just this weekend passed..she got 3 fish, goldfish type. here a image of one

i later decided to buy some more fish on Wednesday, 2 mini gold fish & 1

I put them in with the fish we got he weekend and they all seemed ok, but later that night the wife and kids told me that the FanTail was being attacted. I thought they was joking, as when i got there he looked ok, i was about to walk away, when i saw it myself, the 3 original fish was bumping into the Fantail, looks if they was biteing it, and keped attacking the rear.. I decided to remove it and put it into a bowl over nite... The next day i went out to buy a cheap tank, but the guy only had 1 for around £20, mor than i wanted to pay, but i decided to buy a 2nd FanTail fish for the one i have that home, and More Gravel, Pump, food ect..

I asked the guy in the shop why the other fish was attacking the FanTail, and he tols me that Fantail is Fresh wather while the others are Aquarium, but the same guy told me a day befor that all the fish i had brought from him would live happely together, but now he says they may now. So in the end i spent out another £40 on the tank, and 1 more fish.

i got home washed the gravel, got the water a littel warmedup, COLD, but not freezine cold, i put the FanTail New one and the one i had in the bowl into the new tank, They seem very happy with wach other as both Fantails came from the same tank in the shop....

Now what i dont understand is the 3 fish we got on saturday (IMAGE 1) dont seem to fussy with the small goldfish, they seem to be happy with them being in the same tank, so why did they pick on the larger Fantail, and make me spend out more cost on buying a 2nd Tank.???

just another thing..The Big tank has a inner Filter and tha Fish tank has a light we can turn on and off, the 2nd tank, smaller, just has a Tank, and no light, but the Fantails seem ok with it, Now the thing is , the inner filter in the Large tank is rather noisey, dont know why, it is new, and is just over 3/4s in the water. While the other inner filter (Aqua Pro M200) i got yesterday and is in the 2nd FanTail, is a lot less noisey, they filters are of simular makes, but i cant find the box from the other to give the full name and model type.

Any advice or help greatfull on my my fish attacked the fantail, and why 1 pump is very noisey while the other is'nt..

 

[kelly528]

I asked the guy in the shop why the other fish was attacking the FanTail, and he tols me that Fantail is Fresh wather while the others are Aquarium, but the same guy told me a day befor that all the fish i had brought from him would live happely together, but now he says they may now. So in the end i spent out another £40 on the tank, and 1 more fish.

The Fantail is freshwater while the others are aquarium?! What the bleep is that supposed to mean? This guy sounds like a complete joke

Goldfish generally fall into 2 categories: Fancy, or doubletail goldfish and common, or singletail varieties. Fancies are quite 'deformed' for lack of a better term and therefore move very slowly and awkwardly, while common goldfish are quite fast and strong. For this reason the two should NEVER be mixed! Commons can seriously injure and easily kill fancies, either purposely or by attempting to mate with them (goldfish like it rough ).


If you haven't thrown out the reciept, I would slyly take down the new tank, put it back in the box and return it. You are seriously wasting your money-- goldfish are the MESSIEST fish inch for inch and despite how small they look now, will mature at about 30cm long (Well Fancies grow 15-30cm, commons grow 30-60cm). For this reason you will need 80L for a single fancy and 40L for each additional fancy. And commons... you are looking at easily 200L per fish.

Goldfish make great pets and can easily live for 12-40 years, depending on variety. Unfortunately the boatloads of misinformation out there often lead people to cramp them into small tanks, which can lead to such dilemmas as

-The fish become stunted
-The fish live shorter lifespans
-The fish get poisoned by the byproducts of their waste (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate)
-The tank begins to stink from all the waste produced n such small quarters.


I'm sorry this is the way you had to learn the truth about how "low maintenance" goldfish really are... just sit tight and we will talk you through everything. Correcting mistakes like this in the best interest of the animal is a great way to teach your kids the importance of researching and preparing for pets, as well as teaching them respect for all life forms. My parents made the mistake of listening to the pet store employees (and some terrible books) when I was 8 (we put 2 fantails in a 8L) but after discovering our errors and putting together a well-planned community I must say.... even if my parents drive me CRAZY in every other way I will always respect them for what they taught me about caring for animals.

You might want to connect with greengoddess, a member here who came to the forum with a similar dilemma. The family is now cycling a large tank for their new goldfish, who will probably grow up with their kids thanks to a goldfish 'intervention' on the part of those of us on the forum.

 

[Curiosity101]

The only thing I'd like to add is that you also need to read up on cycling as by the sounds of it you've added alot of fish to an uncycled tank.

Beginners resource center

There are essential links in there to info about cycling. I'd suggest you read 'What's Cycling' 'The Nitrogen Cycle' and 'Fish-in Cycling'.

 

[coldcazzie]

he tols me that Fantail is Fresh wather while the others are Aquarium

I can't believe I just read that. Puts me in mind of the guy who I emailed about a tank a while back who told me he had 3 tropical goldfish. *sigh*

Steveukguy: if you go to the beginners section you can read up on how a fishtank works, how a filter works at cleaning the water, etc etc. And you should definitely take at least the fantails back with the tank they are in. Either that, or take your others back and put the fantails in the larger tank - maybe ask the kids whether they prefer the shebunkins/goldies or the fantails and keep the ones they prefer?

 

[kelly528]

he tols me that Fantail is Fresh wather while the others are Aquarium

I can't believe I just read that. Puts me in mind of the guy who I emailed about a tank a while back who told me he had 3 tropical goldfish. *sigh*

Steveukguy: if you go to the beginners section you can read up on how a fishtank works, how a filter works at cleaning the water, etc etc. And you should definitely take at least the fantails back with the tank they are in. Either that, or take your others back and put the fantails in the larger tank - maybe ask the kids whether they prefer the shebunkins/goldies or the fantails and keep the ones they prefer?

On this thought, it would probably be best to rehome the singletails (find a neighbor with a nice big pond where the kids can visit them from time to time) and keep the fancies. Shubunkins or any common goldfish for that matter simply require far too much space to make them feasible candidates for a home aquarium!

Hard to do, but a good opportunity to teach the kids that tough lesson; 'If you love them , let them go' :laff:

 

[fishnovice]

I agree that tank is seriously overstocked and most of those fish need to go back to the shop or be rehomed elsewhere. Too late for fishless cycle now but with regular frequent water changes they should be OK.
READ fish-in cycle in Beginners Section and folow instructions and your goldfish will be OK.

 

[nessar]

I think the sizes of the tanks you have, either in litres or gallons, would be useful to anyone that wants to give you advice

 

[STEVEUKGUY]

Thanks for the input guys, i will check out the beginners sections over the weekend.

just to let you know the Fantails are in a smaller tank, as im sure they wont frow that big, well thats what the sore keeper said, i do like those fish reason why i kepted it and got a 2nd one to kep it company
The other fish are in a Bigger Tank,its a AQUAONE Model 300 tank there 6 fish in there all no bigger than 1.5 to 2 inches long, 1 being a long brownish flat fish that ment to clean the tank, cant remeber the name of this fish.. The other tank is a Clear Seal tank this has the 2 fanTail fish in it, again they only around 1 & 1/2 inches long. we will later look into getting a bigger tank for them all, and keep the fantails seperate, as these 2 fish are mine and my sons fish, the other in the aqua-one tank is the wifes and my 2 daughters fish... im not sure just how long these fish will last, i do rember winning some gold fish at a fair once, and they only lsted a year if that,so we dont want to spend to much cash for starters right now, but we can put some pennies away each week to build up and save for bigger tanks when time comes.

1 of the Fantails looks a little fat to me just wounder if it could be a female,looks a bit pregnat to me, but could be wrong, just it looks differant to the other fantail, little bigger /fatter, could be where it fed on to much feed while in the shop i dont know.. i try and get some photos done later in the week if i can grab my daughters camera.

how do you tell if a fish is a male or a female.???

Cheers

Steve

 

[coldcazzie]

With goldfish you can't until they get much older and start thinking about breeding. Bear in mind though - while you're saying "the shop guy told me they wont get that big" - goldfish get the about a foot when given the right amount of room to grow (ie. in a pond), and can live for 20 years. Why don't you build a pond for them?

Also, the guy in the shop isn't really that bothered about whether your fish are healthy. If your fish die what will you do? Answer: go back to the shop and buy more, making the shop more money. Therefore it is in his interest to make sure you dont keep them in the right conditions because they'll make more money out of you that way. Its sad but true for most shops. Just like you cant buy a washer or a hoover anymore that will last a lifetime, because theres just no money in making that kind of product. They make more money out of products which break just after their warranty expires.

My point is, anything he says - take with a pinch of salt, and then come here and check with us, because we dont benefit from giving you advice like "build a pond" - it's simply done with the best interests of the fish in mind. The fish might be little now - but they'll grow REALLY quick if you give them the right place to live. Plus if the goldies are in a pond then you're more likely to get babies - I'm sure the kids would be excited about that prospect?

 

[jennybugs]

Oooh. The Aquaone 300 is only a 20 litre tank which I'm afraid isn't big enough for one fish let alone 6

I would deffo rehome the singletails as requested and also the fantail too. They are beautiful fish but they won't survive in such a small tank.

20L tanks like that are more suitable for some shrimp or a single male betta both of which would need a heater to warm the water up.

Best thing to do is ignore the so called (dreadful) advce you've got from the shop. Go in to other shops and do some window shopping. Write down the names of the fish you like the look of and don't buy them. Come home and research while your tank is properly cycled Cycling time is not wasted time as it's giving you the space to look into what fish are good for your tank size and your water statistics (ph etc)
Askt he knowledgeable chaps and chapesses on here about anything you're not sure of...we only care about the fish, not making money from you, unlikt the LFS owners. It's also good to ask peeps here about what fish shops in your area are reliable. There's usually someone who lives closeby who can recommend somewhere

 

[Curiosity101]

6 1" goldies and a common plec in a 20l tank is asking for trouble. I'd be surprised to see them last more than a couple of weeks as they will currently be being poisoned.

Here is some information for you
Fancy Goldfish - Should grow up to 30cm and live anywhere from 12-20 years. Follow the link for detailed info.
Comet Goldfish - Reach 1ft in length easily if kept in a pond. Should also live up to 20 years aswell with good care.
Common pleco- Grow up to 2ft and also live a long time. Not only that but they're also tropical, not coldwater like goldfish so it would actually be suffering in there even if it wasn't being poisoned. Oh and they don't clean the tank. They eat algae but it's only specific type, they do need their diet supplementing and they also create HUGE amounts of waste.

Overall you REALLY need to read the beginners resource links I suggested ASAP. And don't listen to the fish shop guys advice anymore, he clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. I know it might be hard to believe as 'he sells fish right...surely he knows about fish'. But you don't have to be a fishkeeper to sell fish. You don't even have to like fish to sell fish. For the time they are in the store you only need to know enough to do water changes and feed them correctly.

 

[kelly528]

As well I doubt your fantail is pregnant, the goldfish sold in stores are very, very, very, VERY young. TINY, compared to their adult size. I have a 4 inch telescope goldfish (a fancy variety) with a body the size of a mandarin orange. And she is less than half grown.

The reason you never hear of goldfish getting big is because they are so often kept in too-small tanks in which they experience severe skeletal stunting and shorter lifespans.

 

[STEVEUKGUY]

With goldfish you can't until they get much older and start thinking about breeding. Bear in mind though - while you're saying "the shop guy told me they wont get that big" - goldfish get the about a foot when given the right amount of room to grow (ie. in a pond), and can live for 20 years. Why don't you build a pond for them?

Also, the guy in the shop isn't really that bothered about whether your fish are healthy. If your fish die what will you do? Answer: go back to the shop and buy more, making the shop more money. Therefore it is in his interest to make sure you dont keep them in the right conditions because they'll make more money out of you that way. Its sad but true for most shops. Just like you cant buy a washer or a hoover anymore that will last a lifetime, because theres just no money in making that kind of product. They make more money out of products which break just after their warranty expires.

My point is, anything he says - take with a pinch of salt, and then come here and check with us, because we dont benefit from giving you advice like "build a pond" - it's simply done with the best interests of the fish in mind. The fish might be little now - but they'll grow REALLY quick if you give them the right place to live. Plus if the goldies are in a pond then you're more likely to get babies - I'm sure the kids would be excited about that prospect?

Hi..
well if the fish do die, i wont get any more fish from that shop, i'll look else where. with building a pond, i would but were in a rented house and the garden is to stoney to do much with it, even when the wife want to plant Fruit & Veggies, it take a few days just to clear enought room to make a decent plot...Also I dont want to build a pond if we suddenly get up and move out to a new house at any time to..

 

[STEVEUKGUY]

I will do my best in getting some photos of the fish sometime this week, maybe tomorrow, if not befor mid week,i have to borrow my daughter camera as it is better than mine.
Once i get the photos done i will post here fot you to see.


Steve

 

[walkers101]

please give that plec back to the shop straight away