# My goldfish are bullys - please help!



## Tillycat (Feb 28, 2006)

Ok im kinda newish to the keeping goldfish thing, so ill have to explain things as much as i can(which wont be too detailed):withstup: 

Ok, i have currently, 4 goldfish. 2 gold/white and 2 all gold. The white/gold ones are somwhat smaller than the allgolds, but are beating the hell out of one of the all golds.. I recently had to seperate one of the gold ones anyway, cuz it was sick , and since i moved it the two smaller ones are now starting on the other gold one. :chair: 
Ive moved the one that was being beaten, into the other tank where the sick one was, and straight away the sick one started to chase it. I cant keep seperating them as i have no other tanks and cant afford one. 
i dont want it to die, but i cant keep watching it stress out because of the fighting.  
Please help. This has never happened between anyone of them before. any help would be great.
Tilly


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

My goldfish are so peaceful, wut size tank r they in? Becasue I can almost be positive in saying your tank is way to small.


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## Tillycat (Feb 28, 2006)

its about 81 litres, and 30 x 15. so its not small at all


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Yeah, too small. I think the goldfish experts here will recommend much larger tank.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

81 liters = around 20 gallons... you'll need 2X that for four goldfish... however, its weird that they'd be attacking fish like that... usually goldfish attack/eat the wounded... not healthy fish...


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## RockabillyChick (Nov 18, 2005)

tank size?
water perameters?
are the goldfish comets (long, torpedo-shaped bodies) are they fancy (fantail, short round bodies) or ultra-fancy (bubble eye)

comets will pick on fancies and utra-fancies, and the fancies will pick on the ultra fancies. you cannot mix them. also, they will start picking on each other if the tank is too small.

comets need 40 gallons for the first fish, and 20 for every other fish after that. fancies need 30g for the first fish, and 15 for every other fish after that. so for 4 fancies, you'd need a 75g tank once they're all full grown. you could probably get away with a 55 though.


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

note to Tillycat-GOLDFISH GET UP TO 30cm/1 foot! I'm guessing you have fancy varities but if you have the streamline "feeders/comets" they reach the full size but the fancys get alittle smaller, around 8 inches total. If kept in a small tank there will be build up of GIH(growth inhibator hormones) and they will stay small...on the outside. As he GIH builds up they don't grow for awhile but then there organs and bones continue to grow while there outsides don't grow. Leading to either swimbladder problems, a twisted spine, or a myriad of other problems leading your fish to painful deaths. If you have four fancy goldfish a 45 gallon would be the minnium but if you have comets or feeders you need a pond


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## manda (Feb 9, 2006)

too bad more people dont know about goldfish, or research before they buy.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

yea i know, my girlfriends grandma has a 10 gallon, with about 8 different golds in it, cant tell her anything either. i tried to tell her, she wont listen, she called us over because one of the fish had an "egg sack" hanging from it, looked like its bowels were comming out. i felt really bad, its tail had severe tail rot and was pretty much gone. and what ever that sack was (petsmart assured her it was an egg sack) some poeple just wont listen no matter what.


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## sambi7878 (Dec 23, 2005)

Its really weird to hear goldfish are bullying others. I guess your main culprit is the tank size. Everyone is correct about their tank size rules. You should have at least 40 gal for 4 fancies. About mixing fancies with the commons, Im really not sure that it will bully the others. Ive mixed a shubunkin and oranda before but no bullying seen. The only problem was that the shubunkin grew fast and are fast swimmers. So, I had to separate them in the end.

IMO it would be best to give the others if you still can and you may keep only 2 at most for your 20 gal tank. :fish:


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## Tillycat (Feb 28, 2006)

Thank you so much everyone for your advice. I admit im not an expert, but ive never had goldfish die on me,(ive had them since i was 5years old, im 19 now) and so seeing them fight is kinda scary cuz its new to me. 
I think ill follow your advice and remove two of them as i dont want to be responsible for thier deaths. plus itll be nice for them to have more room. 
Ill post on how it goes, and thanks again everyone.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

nice decision tilly, way to be responsible and correct your mistakes! Hope you found this site to be helpful and we'll help you out even more!


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## manda (Feb 9, 2006)

thumbs up for tilly


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## fishboy (Feb 26, 2005)

man 14 years under those conditions, it's a marvel. You must do water changes regularly to keep the GIH from getting dangerous. They are stunted though. Goldfish live over 20 years, the oldest goldfish I've ever heard of was 75 but that age is rare


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Glad you are going to take 2 out, it will be much better for them.


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## x-Golden-Lucy-x (Jan 14, 2006)

75!? the oldest goldfish was 44.. in the guiness book of records.


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