goldfish in mourning?? plz help!

[LadyWang]

Ok so the day befor yesterday as soon as I got home from work I realized that my female fantail goldfish was stuck in an ornament in my fish tank I got her out as carefully as I could, her tail fin was ripped really bad and the scales by her gills were hurt really badly too I had no idea what to do about this so asked on another thread and was told to just let her be and keep the water really clean. I checked the water and everything was perfect so I was going to wait another day or two before I did a pcw. Yesterday tho I was browsing the Web and decided that today when I got up I was going to set up a hospital tank and treat her with melafix, this morning tho when I got up to my horror she was dead. I took her out and put her in a cup untill I could bury her and ever since then my male black moore has been pacing back and forth around the area where I found her. This is not like him at all hes usually is all around the bottom of the tank being hungry and looking for food constantly. I tried feeding him his favorite pallets and he wouldn't even go near them. has anyone ever heard of goldfish acting like this and what do I do? They have been together for almost 2 years, is he as sad about her death as I am? Or is he just used to another fish and being alone is wierd. I thought goldfish were supposed to only have a like 5second memory. Any advice on this is very appreciated I just dont know what to do.

 

[jlk]

I am very sorry I lost one of ryukins yesterday, so I understand how hard this is. I hope you have removed any ornaments or decor to prevent future problems. Ok, the 3-second memory thing is a TOTAL myth! Its been scientifically proven goldfish are actually quite intelligent (for a fish) and have a memory capacity thats quite remarkable. They are VERY social creatures. I do honestly believe they get 'depressed' and 'anxious' when isolated or lose a tankmate although attributing these human emotions to a fish is a bit questionable, I have witnessed it with my own guys. The best you can do for now is to limit stress for your moor as much as possible. Keep the lights off, keep the water very clean and try offering some foods you may not typically offer (but should!) such as cooked broccoli florets or defrosted bloodworms. And give him some time. I hope this helps a bit!

 

[Laser]

Sorry to hear about your goldfish both of you. I agree with JLK though. I think goldfish are remarkably more intelligent then most people give them credit for.

 

[Tetra1990]

I don't really know if goldfish are schooling fish, like tetras, barbs ect. but it could be your black Moore realizes it's tank mate is gone. Now as far as fish grieving for a lost tank mate, like other animals do, I doubt it. The advice given before is good. Try and keep the stress level low as possible. And maybe down the road try and introduce another goldfish.