ForestLass

I returned from a 48 hr. trip to find one of my fantail goldfish (Larry III) with it's tail chewed(?) off. There were only 3 fish in the tank, another fantail (Curley) and a plecostomus (Shemp) and all had been together for months.

This is the second time this has happened... the first time a fantail's (Larry II) dorsal fin was removed. Both damaged fish were removed from the tank and another fantail introduced within a month or two.

Curley & Shemp have been present when the other fantails lost their extremities. I feed with a time-release weekend feeder when I travel. I have never witnessed any fish acting aggressively.

Is Curley eating his tank-mates? Is it some sudden disease? Any suggestions?

Tony G.

it could be the pleco, they like to eat the slime off goldfish, maybe he had a go at his tail

Lucy

Hi welcome to Fish Lore

Sorry about your goldie. It's hard to tell what's going on. Gold fish will nip each other.
Any chance there's a sharp object that they're getting caught on? Filter intake too strong that they're gwetting sucked in?
Could it be fin rot?
It's possible they're feeling cramped after a year. The pleco (if common) must be getting big. In fact he should be in a 55g tank.


Plecos are normally docile fish. Are you maybe thinking of a CAE?

ForestLass

Thank you for your responses.

Shemp is definitely a pleco, has been in the tank for a year and is 3" long.
http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Pleco.htm

Both fantails are/were 3.5" long (including tail). I didn't think 3 fish of this size were too much for 13 gal. tank.

Don't think filter intake is too strong. They swim by it with no problem.

No sharp objects unless they're swimming upside down and rubbing dorsal fin or backing up to rub tail on rocks. Both fantails were tank mates for 6 mo. or longer and I did not witness any aggression. However, the surviving fantail (Curley) is always the same. The only change is that I used the time-released food both times.

Not sure about fin rot. The resulting loss of fin and tail occurred during my 48 hr absence. I will research and see if I can find images of fin rot and how to treat.

Lucy

Gold Fish can get pretty big. They really should be in a larger tank. Also the goldies and the pleco are pretty big waste producers, too much waste for 13g's of water.
I think fantails are one of my favorites.

Do you know what your readings are for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!!

im with lucy and in that size tank, im going to make a guess that the nitrates and maybe ammonia are huge and making them weak and they are getting stuck on the filter intake ...

can you get us a reading for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates like lucy said? that will let us know where the tank is...and in the mean time, they need a much bigger tank asap as their waste even as small fish, is like having a 14 inch fish in that tank...goodluck!

gremlin

Fancy goldfish should really be in at least 20 gallons for the first and an additional 10 gallons for each additional goldie. The pleco (if it is a common pleco) needs at the very least 40 gallons. So, with the pleco and 2 fancy goldfish, they should all be in at least a 55 gallon tank. Common plecos do not normally bother goldfish. I have two sailfin plecos in my pond with my goldfish and have had no problems - other than the fact that they went from about 1/2 inch long to about 10 inches long in about 1 year... Do you know if the goldies are male/female? It could be that the one that survives with no damage is a male and is chasing the other to stimulate spawning - or to show dominance. Or it could be that the vacation food is not sufficient. I would almost suggest growing moss on a couple of rocks and using that for the vacation food. They would be able to graze as they wanted to while you were gone and the 'food' would not get moldy or buried in the gravel. You could try it when you were home to make sure that they would graze the moss and to see how long it would take for them to clean a certain amount of moss - the pleco alone would probably clean a fist sized rock in one night. Do you have pics of the damaged fins? That might help to see what is wrong.

Attached Images

	06-18-08 two new plecos for pond.JPG (144.1 KB, 18 views)
	DSCN0225.JPG (227.7 KB, 17 views)

chenwb

Don't use the time release food. If you are gone for just 48 hours they can do without feeding. Time-release food is not a nutritious blend and it messes up the water quality. Not to mention, the fish don't seem to like it much.

As everyone mentioned, this tank is way over stocked. You should only keep one goldfish in there.

By the way, are there blood streaks in the fins?