comet nipping at fantails

s0nginmyheart · 07-07-2008, 01:46 PM

Hi everyone,

I have a 46 gallon tank that has two large fantails (one male and one female) and some clean up crew (cory cats, oto, etc)... anyway. I introduced a small comet goldfish about a week ago and I started noticing recently that it would nip at the fantails, both fins and body. I don't think it's a breeding behavior because the comet does this to the male as well. I am just wondering if anybody has any insight on this type of behavior... I don't want anything happening to the fantails which I've had for almost two years now. Any help is most appreciated!

Thanks in advance~

cuttingras · 07-09-2008, 09:37 PM

bump...anyone?

ReefPlayground · 07-10-2008, 08:31 AM

Well, how do you know you have a male and female? have they paired off already?

Nipping like that does happen in the goldfish realm, especially with fantails. If your fans are your priority, I would remove the comet out of the system.

BTW, what kind of cats and other fish are in the system?

R34dawn · 07-10-2008, 08:41 AM

try getting a nursery tank for your comet, you know those in tank kind, and isolate him for a while before is too late, maybe he will loose his interest, or trade him back to the lfs.
have you consider salt water?
try a piece of lettuce or something like that on a clip, maybe he go for it

cannedmulder · 07-10-2008, 08:56 AM

Comets are famous for biting long fins of anything...beta, fantails,angels. In my experience, which I am much better at with freshwater than salt, you shouldn't have a comet if you are worried about fins. There really is no breaking them of this. You could have him in another tank. I have some small feeder golds in one tank to feed my needlenose and the feeders nip at my angels flowing fins all the time. Good luck

s0nginmyheart · 07-10-2008, 02:47 PM

I know that the fantails are male and female because they spawned last year.
I wasn't too sold on the idea of the "single tail vs. double tail" hoopla because I had shubunkins in the same tank with the fantails a while back and they never exhibited aggressive nipping behavior. I did isolate the comet for a few days in a baby tank but I have since returned him to the lfs.

Thank you for the suggestions though, I really do appreciate it.

JewelsOranda · 07-20-2008, 04:10 PM

Do you notice this behavior during feeding? Sometimes, after introducing a new fish to a tank you will notice this and usually it wont last. Theres many reasons why GF become aggressive. Many times it's due to feeding, small living situation, territory, etc... What size is your tank? Also single tail fish need lots of room...