Question regarding actions of my fantail gold fish

by Sandman1969 Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:02 pm

First topic message reminder :

To start, I know they are dirty fish, but this seems to take the cake.

I have recently noticed my fantail seemingly eating at the poop hole of the koi that is housed with him.
Never seen this action by it before and only saw it happen about a week ago.

Is this normal?
I feed them once a day in the mornings when I get home from work.

On a side note, my female pleco that is housed in the larger tank, her eye is still sticking out farther than the other eye & it's been a week or so.
Last water change was last weekend & I also tried adding Melafix to no avail.

Should "eye" be worried? She seems to still be able to use it fine as I saw her "blink" it.

by **Sbenson11** Thu Aug 14, 2014 11:04 am

This is a thread for a 210G I have been slowly working on the past year (or so). It's a plywood tank, but will have glass front panels.

https://www.canadaquaria.ca/t679-210gal-l-shaped-in-wall-reef-tank-reposted-from-cac

Steve

by MEH Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:16 pm

GaryE wrote:Those are healthy, vibrant looking fish.

When I bought my first 33 gallon tank, I thought it was enormous. It took space and resources in the house, cost a fair bit and was a focal point in the room. I kick myself still for what I had in it - too many fish.

30s are still a good size, but hard experience means I first look up the maximum size of a fish before I take it in, and only take it if I feel I can provide 8-10 inches of tank for each inch the fish grows to. I always start with the maximum, so that a fish that is in the store at 2 inches but grows to 7 inches would need a six foot tank, or nothing. It has to go into a tank that will still be appropriate when it has grown out, as that come pretty quickly. You koi will reach half size at 2, but can live past 30.
With delicate fish like my beloved Geophagus or Satanoperca, I calculate 25 gallons per adult in my 6 foot 125 gallon. Sadly, I decided I couldn't keep those fish anymore because I lacked room.
Goldfish and Koi can be tough, because they do tolerate crowding better than most fish, but if you care for them, they will always outgrow the tank. Then you have a fish you really like that you can't keep anymore, and that's discouraging. They can be hard to find homes for - Oscars, big hobby "sharks", pacus, common plecos, koi, goldfish - we all make the same mistake once with them, and realize there are a lot of people in the same boat also trying to give them away. They are cute when little, but not often welcomed when they grow.

"Goldfish and Koi can be tough, because they do tolerate crowding better than most fish, but if you care for them, they will always outgrow the tank. Then you have a fish you really like that you can't keep anymore, and that's discouraging."

I don't know if I totally agree with this.
I mean, I understand koi belong in ponds.
With goldfish, they can live quite comfortably in a tank so long as you stick to the 20 gallons/fish rule...also keeping in mind that a shallow/wide tank is a benefit too.

by MEH Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:22 pm

Sandman1969 wrote:The reason we got the koi was because the goldfish needed a friend and there weren't any goldfish his size at the LFSes here. Hence we got the koi.

Unless the smaller goldfish in your lfs's are fry, usually it's not an issue having smaller goldfish in the tank with your larger one(s).

by **Sbenson11** Mon Aug 18, 2014 4:39 pm

MEH wrote:With goldfish, they can live quite comfortably in a tank so long as you stick to the 20 gallons/fish rule...

Oh man am I screwed. Smile

Steve

by MEH Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:06 am

Sbenson11 wrote:
MEH wrote:With goldfish, they can live quite comfortably in a tank so long as you stick to the 20 gallons/fish rule...

Oh man am I screwed.

Steve

Goldfish are tough to resist.
Razz