Animal Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Lucy has recently got her old pet goldfish (Mr. Pib) back from her dads and for her birthday I bought her a 60l tank (the poor thing was only in a 14l bowl), filter, plants and 2 more fish (a goldfish with black tips to fins (Umlaut) and a little black Comet (Trevor)). Mr. Pib is probably about 12 years old, no idea what it is but has very long silky fins & tail. They've all been fine for about a month but over the weekend, Umlaut which is not too much smaller, has been constantly chasing Mr. Pib, not letting it feed and generally being a pest. An internet search made me think that Umlaut is male and after some scale on scale action with possibly MrS. Pib. Lucy rang me today to say Mr. Pib has lost the bottom half of it's tail and will not come out from behind the plants. As soon as it does it gets chased again. Umlaut is now in the naughty bucket to think about what it's done and I've told her to get some Melafix to help heal Mr Pib. Any sensible advice before I get home on Friday and have to brick Umlaut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Mitchell Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Umlaut needs to go or Mr.Pib will get battered. I would suggest filling to bucket in with cement. I also know gold fish are about 28p, just get one that looks like the replacement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Lol, that was my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesy Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Umlaut needs to go or Mr.Pib will get battered. The new Mr Pib? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merckx Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 You could always take it back to the shop and put it in part exchange for another after getting their advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bambisdad Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Umlaut will have to go otherwise it wont end well. Either a separate tank or down the big white flusher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra joe Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 The naughty bucket lmao. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drift_bear Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 im not sure if im right but it is common for goldfish to attack weaker/sicker fish if this is the case you may need to place the fish in a quarantene tank and see what treatment it needs. Has it changed any in apperance at all, Spots or anything? OR It also sounds like mating attempts, Water changes often trigger a bit of loving as the slight reduction in temperature sets them off lol, When i had mine and were in the mood for love the male swims against the female, nips her bum, shoves her around, sits on her head etc. etc! It can be exhausting for the female, expecially if she has two of them after her so keep an eye on her and consider removing one of them for a while if it gets too much Keep an eye on her for injuries especially if they are shoving her against stones. Females usually have an 'outie' vent and males have an 'innie' but it's not always that easy to tell especially if the fish is round bodied. The fact that the suspected female is wider is an indicator that she is indeed a female. HTH - poor little girl! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Cheers dude. They are different breeds of goldfish, but I was fairly sure it was mating behaviour. The smaller new fish constantly swimming up against the older fishes vent or rubbing side by side. I tried to look for white spots on it's gill as a sign of it being a male and think it might have, but it's hard to say as it's more silver than gold on it's sides. The problem was it was just not leaving Mr. Pib alone at all, everytime it went for food, the younger fish would barge it out of the way. Now with the tail damage, I don't want to put it back. I did think about trying to get another younger female for it to harrass instead, but no idea how easy that would be, or if it would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Bad photos, but: Mr. Pib (the victim) Umlaut (the bully) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesy Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I'd chuck a pirhanna in there and see how billy big b****x thinks he is then!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
listy Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 :Rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l33wgn Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Reading this has brightened my morning up no end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Lol, this is amazing Give the naughty SOB a flick in the eye. That, or see how easy it is to shoot fish in a barrel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Mr. Pib maybe the greatest name for a fish ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 This is a weekly problem for me mate. Why can't all fish get along nicely. In our house we're 5 tropically tanks because of segregating naughty fish. A few so called "community fish" started getting aggressive and fin nipping other fish plus the constant battle of sexual dominance means we have a 'no tolerance' rule on fighting. Hhave a tank for makes, females, babies, cold water and homosexual fish whom seem to get jiggy with everything including porny prawn and mr suckie. Theses days i just thrown any fighters down the turd shoot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Plethora Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Its about time domestic goldfish violence was taken more seriously! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 I dread to think what you do with a fish called 'Mr. Suckie', Ed, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Mitchell Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I dread to think what you do with a fish called 'Mr. Suckie', Ed, lol. Sounds like a tai boy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 He is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazz1 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Buy some crabs if he kills him . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ricky Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 You can always send Umlaut to me, I'll introduce him to my Malawi's, he will soon know how it feels, shortly before he becomes a tasty snack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Shane_ Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I'd chuck a pirhanna in there and see how billy big b****x thinks he is then!! was going to do this with my piranhas but was advised against it as people said the goldfish can harm the piranha as they have diseases when been digested etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guigsy Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I used to have a tank enforcer "mr crab" he was our tank badass and ruled the roost. Until he crawled out the tank and died. I also had a tank of tiger barbs. And anything aggressive got put in there. That happened to my red finned shark. He loved it and is well behaved now even after all the barbs died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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