As a birthday present to my friend's 8yr old son (who live in the next store apt) I gave him 2 goldfish with a small bowl last August. He always made a fuss over my fish when he visited so I thought it would make a nice present. But after the initial excitement, his mother basically took care of them. Anyhow one of them died almost right away, but the other one grew quite a bit and is a beautiful goldfish. But about a month ago the family went away for a week and asked me to take care of the cats and the fish. I ended up bringing the fish to my apartment. But the fish now seemed way too big (about 3 inches) for this little fishbowl, I noticed that he wasn't eating, seemed very listless and I ended up putting him into my 50 gal fishtank to see if that would help because I felt sorry for him. Well it helped tremendously, he was in overjoy shock, and in super energy for the rest of the week. My friend and the family came back but are leaving the goldfish with me. However I have learned that you shouldn't put goldfish in with tropicals (I knew that but I thought only 1 goldfish should be alright). The goldfish has much more energy than the tropicals, but they seemed to get along OK. But tonight when I came home from work, I was noticing the goldfish was constantly going after the other fish, especially the black mollies and nimbling on them, he wouldn't quit. He might have been being playful, but he has so much more energy than the others, I'm afraid they'll die from exhaustion, -but maybe I'm being ridiculous. And then maybe it wasn't as playful as it looked. I've never seen him do this for this length going on and on. So i ended up taking him out and he's back in the little fishbowl and swimming back and forth like mad, probably very unhappy. I feel sorry for him but I don't want the other fish to get hurt. -Any suggestions or thoughts on this situation?? :(

In my (limited) experience I have found that gold fish and tropicals don't really make the best tank mates for several reasons. Gold fish are basically poop machines, and when kept in a tank need a lot of water cleaning and high filtration. Goldfish don't really have a reputation as being nippy with other fish, but it could be the fact he was kept by himself in a small enviroment that is triggering something. Keep a close eye on the other fish's fins for signs of damage. If you see any, get him out and keep him out.
Trpoicals are also going to want the water temp. higher than a goldfish is comfortable at. Plus, keep in mind that he is going to keep growing! A goldfish can out grow an average sized tank quite quickly! How many other fish and what kinds in your tank? 50 gallons is a good sized tank, but a growing gold fish takes up a lot of space.

So basically I wouldn't advise putting him back in your tank. Maybe you can convince the mother of the child to get a tank herself and help her get it set up? If not, and she has no interest in keeping the gold fish any longer, perhaps you can give it to someone who has the proper set up for the fish. Some times local pet stores (mom and pop operations, not big box stores) will agree to take him for resale. Do not release him into the wild as gold fish can be invasive.

Sorry I can offer much help. Maybe someone else can jump in with some other suggestions. As cruel as it may sound, look out for your own fish and their enviroment first. It makes no sense to risk your fish (how many, what kind?)and tank to help out one fish.

It is a nice thing you did, and you obviously have the best intentions, but now it seems like you are the one stuck making the hard choice! Best of luck and let us know how it turns out.

Derrick

P.S. If you decide to give it away, sometimes a posting on your local Craigs List is all it takes.

Hi MC,

I had a fancy fantail that lived happily in my mixed tank of tropicals for many years. I don't think fantails are quite as energetic or nippy as a common goldfish though. I don't know of any common goldfish being bad like that. I know my baby koi will eat and kill a fancy goldfish (from experience :angry: ) If it was me, I would try him in the mixed tank one more time and if he is still bad I would do as Derrick says and try and find a home for him. Good Luck!

Thank you so much for your valuable advice, this site sure has me learning. :) Giving the fish back to my friend, probably wouldn't be a good idea since they don't seem interested at all in seeing hows he's doing or anything. :( -But this morning (before reading either of your advice ) while drinking my coffee, my I decided to try one more time and put the goldfish into the tank. Well thankfully he was much better and has been so all day so far, calmer and not aggressive- (probably exhausted from swimming in a worried frenzy all night in the little bowl. But then the whole month I had him, he wasn't overly agressive towards the other fish, just very energetic swimming all around the tank). Then after reading your advice I goggled fancy fantail goldfish, and sure enough, he's one of them! Like I mentioned before he's a very pretty goldfish. And to admit further the depth of my always feeling sorry for the underdog, I bought him in the feeder fishtank section of the fish store because 1)-I wasn't sure how well this little boy would take care of the fish, & 2) finances are tight and 3) I thought I'd give two unlucky fishes a chance. But since I do care about my own fish, I don't think I'll do this again. However i have another 10 gal tank if my fancy fantail starts acting up again and I can't find anyone to take him or if like Rt3Drummer says the tank just gets too dirty.

Ideally, you (or someone else ) would set up the goldfish in a 20+ gallon tank of his own with perhaps another goldfish friend. An even better choice would be to have a nice big pond for the goldfish. Goldfish can be very nippy and harass other fish including other goldfish. Equally, some "tropical" fish may also nip at goldfish. The goldfish would do increasingly poorly in the bowl so it's good that he's out of there. He'll do better in the mixed fish tank but may harm the other fish and worsen the water quality. I would only keep him there temporarily until a better home could be found. But, who knows, sometimes it works out. Fish are really individuals so some are well behaved and some not so much.

See http://www.fishpondinfo.com/gfish2.htm#other for my thoughts on mixing goldfish and other fish (written a decade ago though, no time for updates).

Good luck!

well good news, I found a friend who wants my 10 gal tank and my fancy fantail. And he seems truely interested and excited about starting a aquarium. So I'll get him another small goldfish for companionship and hope for the best. I neglected to tell him that goldfish are dirty, I'll just tell him to vaccuum and do weekly water changes B) . But we are truely good friends so I'm sure he'll be telling me of any trouble and I'll look out for a 20 gal tank for the future.