Muddyfingers Posted February 2, 2008 Report Share Posted February 2, 2008 Hello all! I hope someone can come up with some ideas for my dilemma….I was very good last year and was given a 200L aquarium for Christmas. Prior to this, my 5 poor goldfish lived in our bathtub for approx 6 months having outgrown their old tank. I always had my suspicions that I had a bully fish, but put it down to a lack of space. It seems that 1 male (a shubunkin) is always “on heat†(always has the sex spots on his gill covers and fins) and he provokes the other males into hounding the 2 females. Anyway, on transferring to their new home, I rapidly learnt which ones definitely were males & females…I have 2 females & 3 males, and lots of fry! I know I should keep the 2 sexes separated, but lack the space, time & energy to have more than 1 large tank (I’m due to drop my own little bundle of joy in 3 weeks). I was planning on selling my 2 females & keeping the males, and getting another 2 males in their place. However, Friday I arrived home at lunchtime to find both females had done a Houdini trick out the open tank lid and were lying on the carpet, dry as sandpaper! They had been right as rain when I left for work in the morning. I thought that was the end of them, but on picking them up for disposal, they both gave feeble flicks of their tails. It’s now 24hrs later and they have both made a miraculous recovery, albeit in large buckets, and one of the females is now laying eggs in her bucket like crazy. I can only assume that the females were either hounded so much by the males to spawn that they decided the carpet looked a better option, or, did the males tried to commit murder??? I tried reintroducing the non-egg laying female back to the tank, but within minutes the males were holding her out of the water and pushing her all around the tank, so I quickly took her out again. The 3 males are now placid and as quiet as can be. I have never seen this ferocious behavior in 15+yrs of keeping goldfish!!! Now I am at a loss of what to do with them both. I feel I can’t sell them because they have now gone blind and no longer look aesthetically pleasing with white cloudy eyes. I assume this is due to the out-of-water experience drying out the eyes. They are about 6 yrs old and have a body length of approx 15cm. 1 has a short stubby tail about 5ish cm long and the other had beautiful long flowing tail fins about 10cm long – which are now looking very raggy. Do you think that a breeder would take them? I feel so bad about what has happened to them and want them to go to a good home, but don’t know who to approach or who want to take them in their sorry-looking state, even though they were healthy up until Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted February 2, 2008 Report Share Posted February 2, 2008 wouldn`t get over concerned,they will probably be dead within a couple of days from fungus/and/or other infection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayci Posted February 2, 2008 Report Share Posted February 2, 2008 That's abit harse repto and doesn't do anything to help muddyfingers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskas Posted February 3, 2008 Report Share Posted February 3, 2008 Sounz like you got some lil horny devils there Muddyfingers!! Could you put the females back in the bath and give them some time to recover more fully from their time out of water before selling them? Or perhaps you could sell 2 of the males, who sound like they are VERY healthy and obviously know their job when it comes to breeding Or put a lid on the tank and then the females won't be able to do a flying leap, and perhpas put in a divider (i currently have a plastic/wire fridge shelf in the tank at work to keep my bully Bristlenose away from the only surviving goldy, it is working well) until the urge to breed has gone? It may just happen this year/season due to the change in environment etc and next year there will be less chasing etc. these are just some of the things i would possibly try depending on the fish Good luck with whatever you decide to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthewY Posted February 3, 2008 Report Share Posted February 3, 2008 Thought I'll add that I've had one of my gold fish fly out of the pond for a few hours baking in the sun / mud. I too thought it was the end of him, scooped him up and put him back into the pond (covered in mud / gravel). Didnt see any life so went to fish him back out. He spashed back to life as soon as he had left the water.... about 6 months later, hes still happy and alive.... my 2 cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddyfingers Posted February 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Thanks for all your suggestions! Yes, there is one particularly fertile male who is very eager to sow his oats - the others do all the right actions but seem to be shooting blanks so to speak (no fertile eggs gained when I seperated them to spawn with the girls individually). With the females out of the tank, the males are behaving very docile! Mum's offered to take the girls and try them in with her waterlillies, in large clay pots. She's had fish in them before but a kingfisher took them before she could get netting over the pots!!!! The girls seem to be o.k, for now, I dosed them with blue tonic soln as soon as I put them back in water to try to combat any fungul problems - the longer finned female feels a bit 'sandpapery' on one side, but is swimming and eating well. I've thought about using a divider, but wondered what to use for such a large tank. Local petshop didn't even know what I was talking about when I asked! I do have a lid on the tank, but have had it open as it seems to trap heat and cause the tank to heat up faster in this weather. They haven't tried escaping from the bath so far. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Muddyfingers keep us updated on how the girls make out. It's good to see that they are doing well so far! Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeous Posted February 6, 2008 Report Share Posted February 6, 2008 I do have a lid on the tank, but have had it open as it seems to trap heat and cause the tank to heat up faster in this weather. They haven't tried escaping from the bath so far. Thanks again! maybe a net over the top?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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