Question about my gold fish

[Tatika]

I bought one of those bug eyed gold fish several months back and put it in the same tank as our koi's. Our koi's are rather large, but the guy at the pet store said that the gold fish would do good in the same tank. They have done great together until now. I noticed that they koi's were eating the tail off of my gold fish. My question is, will his tail grow back? I had another 20 gallon tank here that was not being used that I have set up and moved the gold fish into that tank by himself. If his tail will grow back, does anyone know how long it will take to grow back? Also, is it okay if I go ahead and purchase some more gold fish to put in the tank with him, or do I need to wait until his tail is better? Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.

 

[mrvincent]

Lol, people here are much better than LFS guys... They pretend to be pros, but they noobs and give bad advices most of the time !!!

Except some LFS guys that own multiple tanks with hightech setups, they can give you good advice

There's a dude here in quebec working at "Animalerie Dyno" that I think he's paid to say he already own a product wich you want informations... If what he said was true, he would have all the LFS product in his home including all the lights fixture and fishs !

 

[Koopamaster]

As long as you give your goldfish clean and healthy water conditions, yes his tail will grow back. Seeing that this tank is previously unused and uncylcled however, frequent water changes are necessary in order for the water to remain free of ammonia and nitrite concentrations that would kill your fish. Make sure to test your water everyday using your test kit (API is the best if you don't have one) If you can keep him safe and healthy then his tail should grow back in 2-3 weeks.

As for other goldfish tankmates, I would not add any more until you have cycled the tank. If you were to later make sure it was another breed of fancy goldfish instead of a common or koi as the problem can reoccur and they would outcompete your telescope/"bug eye" goldfish for food. Also only one more fancy goldfish could be added to this tank since fancy goldfish should have at least 10 gallons per fish.

 

[mrvincent]

+1 to koopamaster on cycling,

I personally would add a cycling product like Nutrafin Cycle. I got good results with this thing (according to my test kits when I cycled my tanks).

 

[GreenLily]

How big is the tank that the koi and goldfish are in now? I really wouldn't recommend adding any fish until you figure out why the koi is picking at the goldfish's tail. Could they be overcrowded? Koi also really need to be in ponds rather than aquariums, because they do grow so big and require at least 1,000 gallons, unless of course, you can find a 1,000 gallon aquarium for them.
As far as the tail growing back, more often than not, the tails will grow back. It depends on how much of the tail was eaten. Welcome to AA.

 

[Greta1981]

Hi Tatika
This is my first ever response post here at AA. I'm a brand new member, but I've been keeping goldfish for a while now and know something about them.
As other posters said, his tail will grow back with clean water. That said, the rules of thumb I was taught for goldfish are as follows:
55+ gallons per adult fancy goldfish
100+ gallons per comet, common, or shubunkin
1000+ gallons per koi

My friend who raises and sells goldfish says 20 gallons is too small for even one, so adding more fish would be seriously overcrowding the tank and would be risking illness, ultimately. Since your bubble eye is already injured, it would be better to keep him alone and, whenever possible, to upgrade him to a tank big enough to accommodate the 8+ inches he will grow to. Hope that helps. Like I said, I'm a newbie here and just learning the ropes.