Juvenile Orandas fighting?

[Tank Girl]

I completely understand. I really do. The simplest, easiest, and cheapest thing you can do is change the water and do it often. There is nothing you can buy at any store that will clean the water better than that.

 

[KatieBunky]

I do a water change every week, usually about 50% & I clean the filter

 

[KatieBunky]

I mean, I love my fish I really do, they're not "just fish" as some people say. To me they're family. I do try & take care of them as best as I can & I'm not perfect but I think I do a pretty decent job at looking after them but sometimes I can't give them the best tanks. One of my moonlight gouramis in my tropical tank loves being hand fed & now he's taught the other moonlights how to beg me to hand feed them XD so I'd say I'm a decent fish keeper, I just can't give them the best tanks

 

[Tank Girl]

With what you currently have in there, I'd probably do 75% twice a week at least. And don't over clean the filter.

 

[KatieBunky]

Wow really?

 

[Tank Girl]

I think that's awesome how much you love them. I know EXACTLY how you feel. And truly, the advice I'm offering is to help you, not to make you feel bad. That would be cruel.

 

[KatieBunky]

They're the one thing I'm really passionate about & I've applied for a job at my local lfs & eventually would like my own shop. It's weird how you get attached to fish. I cry when my favourite fish die. I'm dreading the day my red tailed black shark dies, is that a bit too weird?

 

[Tank Girl]

Not at all weird. I had to euthanize two of my ryukins. They both had developed swim bladder problems (all too common with goldfish, especially ryukins) and I cried my eyes out. It was the right thing to do because they were really suffering, but for me it wasn't any different than losing my dog. They were both huge - 9.5 and 8.5 inches, male and female, and I loved them dearly. The big male had a habit of swimming into my hand when I was cleaning the tank. I would gently shoo him away and he'd swim right back. He was the most hand tame fish I ever had. A very special guy.

 

[KatieBunky]

Swim bladder is horrible, I've only had one fish get it thank god. My guppies & mollies love biting my fingers & hand when I clean the tank & my red whip tail catfish love being held XD they're so cute

 

[jlk]

I mean, Maidenhead Aquatics are pretty reliable, they always give good information so I don't see why they'd lie about their fish. They had black Moor goldfish that were slightly different body shapes to Dale & they were a lot bigger so I chose the black Oranda

You have an oranda and a black moor (based on your pictures) despite what your lfs may have mislabeled them as. I breed them and their body shape, eye shape and finnage vary drastically. Both breeds grow easily over 10inches in a very short frame of time with lots of water and a good diet.

The aggression you are seeing is a combination of lack of space and unhealthy water. Even social, peaceful fish such as fancies will display bad attitudes in unsuitable conditions and their behavior and health will not be on the upswing with passing time.

If you do not have any immediate plans for these guys (as in the next few weeks), an inexpensive alternative short term would be a rubbermaid-type bin with decent filtration. A 30g plastic bin runs around $10 at any discount store (such as Walmart). A 50g for under $20. Easy and inexpensive. Craigslist/yard sales also offer deals on tanks if you do some searching.

In the interim, I would change at least 50%(+) of their water daily to try and keep conditions reasonable. Please ask any questions!

 

[KatieBunky]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted since yesterday, I've been busy with school, exams suck! So I've just been looking at my tank & just saw Dale go into the ship, which I saw was a tight fit for him to get in. So I'm thinking maybe he's just caught himself going into the ship & he's rubbed his scales on it by accident. Just a theory. My second little update is I've found some white spots on Chip's gills. I've heard about breeding stars but I don't really know much about them. I've also heard about people thinking breeding stars are ich & I don't really know what that is either. So any ideas then please let me know

 

[Tank Girl]

I'd get rid of the ship or anything else they can scrape themselves on. Plus, in an already small tank, you want to give them all the room you can. Breeding tubercles typically appear on the gill plates and/or along the leading edge of the pectoral fins.

 

[KatieBunky]

Okay I'll keep a look out, thank you

 

[KatieBunky]

The white spots have gone from Chip's gills. No idea what they were

 

[Tank Girl]

It's entirely possible that it's ich. It's always a good idea to have a separate tank to quarantine new fish for a few weeks and treat for parasites before you introduce them to the main tank and other fish.

 

[KatieBunky]

I treat the tanks with melafix for 3 days when I've added new fish to reduce the risks of diseases

 

[Tank Girl]

Three days of Melafix won't do anything. It has mild antibacterial properties, and it's not effective against parasites at all. Even if it was, three days isn't long enough. Prazi would be a much better choice. Keeping new fish in quarantine while you treat is a lot safer than infecting (and then having to treat) everybody. Also, damage caused by parasites leaves fish vulnerable to subsequent bacterial and fungal infections.

 

[KatieBunky]

It said to treat for 3 days on the back of the bottle. Oh well. It's probably nothing

 

[KatieBunky]

This is my tank after taking the ship out, It looks pretty empty though, they don't have anywhere to hide anymore. Any ideas of what I could put in the tank so Chip & Dale have somewhere to hide?

Typically British!

 

[Tank Girl]

I personally don't think it looks empty. They have more room to swim and that's really important. More room means less stress which means less reason to want to hide. Mine are very active most of the time. When they rest, they will settle near the back of the tank, often in a group or two. I don't have anything on the floor of my tank except sand. I'll try to post a pic later so you can see my set up.

If you really want to add something, put in a couple more plants. The goldfish will happily rest among them if they need a hiding place and plants are a healthy addition to the tank.