Oh no!!! omg 1 of my red cap oranda is picking on the other 1... theyre the same size.I kept them in a 5 gal for a few days since theyre still tiny babys the tank had biological filtering.I noticed this when I was saying good night to them I didnt scare them or touch the tank...I was at a fair distance.the 1 being picked on isnt eating his flakes.Ive tried to give him goldfish stable but he wont eat anything I give him I put them both in a 15 gal today they nipped for a while but now are slow moving and not nipping are they going to die???if so I need to know so I can try to aid them or try to give them the good life for as long as possible.I haven't been considering culling them...Its not ick,dropsy,popeye,or any other thing I identify Its not swim bladder or constipation either...I really need some help.The ph is 7.5.I add chlorine and chlorimine remover to the water but its cycled theres no carbon.The ammonia level is 0 the nitrate is also.the tank has been running for a few days I have a air pump in there.I change 20% of the water weekly I dont vac since the tank is bare.My goldfish have these scars,blisters and open wounds on them... I seperated them I put the sick 1 back in the old tank I fed the nipper a extra 10 secs of flakes to every course then try adding the sick 1 back in to try to see if he is just hungry he keeps on nipping.I dont know why I got them at a good petco.they were happy there.. I give them java moss and ferns for hiding.




Please help me!!!!!!!!!!!! :crp

Holy, a lot is going on here.

You did say you seperated them, right? If so, that is one step in the right direction. All I can really say is to do lots of water changes. I'd do about 20% every other day or so. I would also add some melafix (if the tanks are being filtered) to aid in stress and also to help heal them. Is it possible for you to get some pics of their wounds?

If they are fighting, then I would not suggest putting them back together in the same tank.

The 1 being nipped is now diseased... He died in the emergency tank it was filtered and air-pumped but I guess he wqas already a lost cause...Argh if I only could of saw it sooner argh the nipper is alive and well...Im thinking about giving him to a friend as a feeder and getting a pair of shubunkins....Argh my poor goldfish:-(:-(:-(

Hi Red Cap, sorry to hear about your poor fish.

I suspect you may have had a water quality issue in addition to the nipping problem. You said the tank had only been running a few days... I would expect to see ammonia and possibly nitrite appearing during that time, especially as 5 gallons is too small for 2 goldfish, even tiny ones. The blisters and scars you described could possibly have been ammonia burns rather than physical wounds. The nipping may even have been caused by stress. I would give your nippy fish another chance and see how he does.

Goldies need a minimum of 10 gallons per fish (20 gallons each for commons, comets and shubunkins), even when they are young because this is when they need really clean water and room to grow and develop properly. I would not recommend you get any more goldfish until you have a larger tank, especially not shubunkins as they need TONS of space. They are really pond fish, not tank fish.

Hope this helps.

I traded in my adult for 2 red cap oranda's as you see in my sig and I also got 2 bronze ryukins I put them all in my 20 gal tank they seem fine... the 20 gals been properly cycled I housed my betta in there.the betta now lives in a 5 gal.Thanks for your help ppl.