Question about fish

[pistonbroke]

My inlaws recently bought my son a fish tank with a couple of goldfish. I've had goldfish before so know the basics of looking after them, but my recent dealings have left me stumped.

 

First off, on the second day, one of the fish developed a white sore on its head, I got some fungal treatment for it but the spot quickly spread across its whole head, then a huge hole appeared across the whole of the top of its head. The fish didn't last long after that and I found it dead the next day. Googling it has revealed that my fish had hole in the head disease (how horrid is that?).

 

I cleaned the tank out and decided to get another fish to keep the other company (and to try and get it before my son noticed one was missing).

 

The new fish was introduced into the tank, and is a complete lunatic. He flys around everywhere doing flips in the water and harrassing the other fish. It started off with it just chasing the other, but then I noticed last night that the new fish was nibbling the fins off the other fish. I got up this morning and the new fish has killed the old one. It was bashing the corpse into the corner and had taken chunks out of it.

 

I've since googled 'aggressive goldfish' and it's not anything new, but this new one clearly has some anger issues.

 

My last 3 golds lived for nearly 20 years, so to lose 2 in such a short space of time is a bit worrying.

 

So what can I do about getting another fish before my son notices. Are there any other types of fish that can live with golds that he won't harass/kill/eat.

 

Here's a pic of the little blighter...............

 

 

[Safely Insured]

Stick a pirana in there, they should get on like a house on fire

[sams]

Siamese Fighting fish would be a good match to place with the gold fish, teach it some lessons

[AndrewOW]

I once had a lovely tropical fish tank with a whole variety of top/middle/bottom feeding fish in it, and was all going great, until one of the tiger barbs started growing, and while that was happening, I noticed less and less fish in the tank. He'd eaten all the others, until he was the only one left. Talk about cannibalism!

 

I think yours is more of a territorial thing. Sorry about the other fish though.

[pistonbroke]

I'd have to stick one of these on the front of it

 

http://www.rssmediastudies.co.uk/images/18certificate.png

[catfish man]

how big is your fish tank? ive kept fish of all types for years , i know it sometimes happens in tropical fish , and when they are breeding etc but ive never heard of it this with gold fish ? allso are you treating the water with tetra safe when you do a water change? does the tank also have a filter? i know other cold water fish that will live with your gold fish but i need to know how big the tank is first cheers paul

[pistonbroke]

I've not treated the water with tetra safe, as the previous hole in the head fish was being treated with protozin and I didn't want to stress the fish too much with more chemicals.

 

There is a filter shown on the left of the tank, I also bought the bus thing (my son picked it) which the bonnet opens every 15 seconds on a seperate pump, there is also a bubble bar running across the bottom of the tank at the rear to help oxygenate the water (and the fish love it).

 

 

[catfish man]

tetra safe is fine to use , it just takes out all the bad things in our tap water that can harm the fish and you should use it every time you do a water change , also when you change the water you should only take out half and leave half in the tank as this will have bacteria that is good to the water qaulity, if you take all the water out you are losing the good bacterias that help balance the water , the tank looks a bit small from the photo for two fish as you know they will grow bigger , if you still want to get another fish place the things in the tank a diffrent way round , and get a bigger gold fish place the new fish in the tank on the night when the lights are out and leave till morning , i have done this with bully fish and it has worked for me in the past

if you want a bigger tank i have one you can have it for free and its got its own stand and lid , light

[Thorin]

Danio's are pretty hardy, as are white cloud mountain minnows, both much smaller than goldfish. If you had a few fish in there it might be better than just having the one other for it to go for.

 

Weather loaches are cold water and living mainly at the bottom would probably be OK.

 

Guppy's can tolerate cold water too.

[JustGav]

Siamese Fighting fish would be a good match to place with the gold fish, teach it some lessons

 

Hardly.. fighters aren't actually agressive fish. I breed them and I actually have 3 males and 5 females in one large without ANY fin nippage

[Thorin]

Hardly.. fighters aren't actually agressive fish. I breed them and I actually have 3 males and 5 females in one large without ANY fin nippage

 

Plus Betta's (Siamese fighting fish) wouldn't last too long in cold water. Must be a fairly big tank for 3 males to coexist happily though I should imagine?

[Guest Luke Hero]

Get rid of that one and buy 2 calm ones from the same tank Stick that one in a pond or something, if goldfish can live in a pond? I have no idea lol

[AndrewOW]

Get rid of that one and buy 2 calm ones from the same tank Stick that one in a pond or something, if goldfish can live in a pond? I have no idea lol

 

 

I think they live quite well in the toilet bowl too, but for how long, I have no idea!

 

It may come back as an enormous mutant piranha/goldfish combo, and bite your ass though, so may be not worth risking!

[patrikbrunt]

ive got a similar size tank and also had goldfish initially, but they very quickly died for no particular reason... now I have a number of smaller fish, Danios and Minnows, and they have lasted ages, one of them must be about 3 years old now. I also have a bottom feeder (called a pleck i think?) and that seems to keep the tank and gravel nice and clean which is a bonus

[Guest Luke Hero]

Plecks are window lickers

 

They are ace and they keep the tank clean

[JustGav]

Plus Betta's (Siamese fighting fish) wouldn't last too long in cold water. Must be a fairly big tank for 3 males to coexist happily though I should imagine?

 

350l community tank, usually they would fight, we can only assume since they are sibling and they have been together since birth they are okay. Do keep a close eye on them, but they are now a year old and there hasn't been any issues so far.

[Thorin]

350l community tank, usually they would fight, we can only assume since they are sibling and they have been together since birth they are okay. Do keep a close eye on them, but they are now a year old and there hasn't been any issues so far.

 

Cool.

 

We have a small 10 gallon (45 litres?) tank downstairs with just a siamese in, we want to get him a girlfriend.

 

 

Also currently a 240l tank upstairs with a few tetra's and guppies in. Looking at getting a new tank for upstairs to replace the 240l one as it's a bit old and hopefully a couple of siamese in that too.

[pistonbroke]

if you want a bigger tank i have one you can have it for free and its got its own stand and lid , light

 

Blimey mate, that's very kind of you. got any pics of it?

 

Where abouts in kent are you?, If you're not far, I'll take it off you hands this weekend.

[Tricky-Ricky]

The most likely cause of all your problems, is likely to be down to water conditions, and i suspect a non functioning or immature filter, cold water filtration will take up to three times longer to establish, and its usually at least a month for tropical.

 

A bigger tank with a sensible sized filter is a very good idea, however you will either need to cycle it first, or get some proprietary bacteria seeding and add with fish and monitor/test for ammonia, nitrite, on a daily basis.

[catfish man]

Blimey mate, that's very kind of you. got any pics of it?

 

Where abouts in kent are you?, If you're not far, I'll take it off you hands this weekend.

you have a pm

[pistonbroke]

Thanks to Catfish Man, my psycho goldfish has a nice big new home.

 

Got a giant filter system which is more than capable of handling the size, just need to sort out some plants, and longer vacuum tube for my sons yellow bus and bubble pipe.

 

Thanks to all who helped.

 

 

[evinX]

Cool.

 

We have a small 10 gallon (45 litres?) tank downstairs with just a siamese in, we want to get him a girlfriend.

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/attachment.php?attachmentid=108300&stc=1&d=1271432882

 

Also currently a 240l tank upstairs with a few tetra's and guppies in. Looking at getting a new tank for upstairs to replace the 240l one as it's a bit old and hopefully a couple of siamese in that too.

 

I had a male and wanted females..i was advised by a pro to get 3 females becuase the male more than likely would kill the female, so need 3:S