Why Have Goldie's Friends Suddenly Decided To Eat Him?

[NicolaJaneGandy]

My goldfish has been sharing a tank with my silver dollars and angel fish for months and months without problem.  Then suddenly today when I look in the tank I see that both the angels and dollars are picking at the goldfish and had complete chewed off his tail and fins rending him unable to swim or defend himself.  He's still alive at the moment, but I don't see how he can stay that way.
 
He was perfectly healthy so why would the others suddenly turn on him like that?
 
And what should I do with Goldie?  They are now beginning to pick at his eyeballs.  I think I need to put him out of his misery.  How do you normally do this??
 
thanks
 
I feed the fish once every two days.  The tank is 115 litres.  
 
 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah, well, angelfish and silver dollars are fairly agreesive fish species and can eat small fish.
 
I would suggest that the 115 litre / 30 US gal tank is too small for your angelfish and silver dollars as they can row fairly big.
 
Here is a little more information on :
 
Silver Dollar / Metynnis argenteus
 
Angelfish / Pterophyllum
 
And as for your question on the best method to euthanize you goldie, well this can be a bit of a hot topic amongst some keepers, but generally different methods such as Clove Oil, freezing water & ice or physically either by clubbing with a blunt instrument or by a pin through its brain are considered methods. Not nice at all but sometimes its best to do things this way rather than letting them suffer.
 
I would also suggest if you can list what fish you have in your tank and how many etc, we can help by advising what is suitable for your tank size, also providing some water details such as pH, soft or hard water (you can find this online through your local water supply provider) or asking your fish store to test what water types you have, will help much more in finding compatible fish for your water and tank etc.
 
If you can provide as much information as possible, the better.

 

[NicolaJaneGandy]

Thanks for the reply.
 
I was aware that angels can be aggressive, but the attack surprised me after them having been tank mates for so many months.
 
Goldie has now gone

   I used the clubbing method.   Not pleasant at all.  But better than being slowly eaten to death I suppose.
 
I have 5 angels, 5 dollars, 1 remaining goldfish (fairground type) and one 'borrachito' as they call them here in Spain - a small tetra with a red nose and zebra stripes on the tail.  There were more tetras but they died shortly after entering the tank.   I haven't added any new fish to the tank for maybe 6 months now.  
 
The PH is 7.   I can't find information about hard/soft water unfortunately. I no longer have any live plants as they were all eaten.  Only plastic now.  

 

[Munroco]

Wondering why you only feed your fish once every 2 days?

 

[Alasse]

I dont feed my fish regularly, they might get fed a few days in a row and then not for a day or so, they might get 2 feeds in a day or they might get one.....they are about to go 4 days without food (i have to go away), wont hurt them. Does them good to purge the system

 

[Munroco]

I agree, but to feed fish only every 2nd day as a rule doesn't seem right to me. Little and often was the rule I was brought up with.

 

[cooledwhip]

wait. so you clubbed your fish to death...?

 

[Akasha72]

Wondering why you only feed your fish once every 2 days?

 
I'm wondering the same. My angels are utter pigs. If I didn't feed them everyday they'd start eating their tanks mates too

wait. so you clubbed your fish to death...?

 
yeah ... same thing is in my mind. How cruel 

 

[NickAu]

 
same thing is in my mind. How cruel

Actually no, Done correctly it is instant unlike clove oil.

 

[fluttermoth]

Done properly, clubbing is a perfectly humane method of euthanasia.

I'd always recommend clove oil myself, but I'm sure the OP did what they thought was best to prevent the fish suffering any more.

 

[NicolaJaneGandy]

I agree, but to feed fish only every 2nd day as a rule doesn't seem right to me. Little and often was the rule I was brought up with.

 
I have been told the opposite!.  
 
I was told that feeding every day can contribute to overfeeding and contaminate the water.    That is why I decided to feed once every two days.   

 

Wondering why you only feed your fish once every 2 days?

 
I'm wondering the same. My angels are utter pigs. If I didn't feed them everyday they'd start eating their tanks mates too

wait. so you clubbed your fish to death...?

 
yeah ... same thing is in my mind. How cruel 

 

Well, I came on this forum to ask advice about this matter.  And I followed that advice.    I didn't feel able to put a pin through the brain, don't possess any clover oil, and Iced water sounded slow (although I wouldn't really know).   Clubbing sounded like the fastest method so I went with that.   

 

[Akasha72]

sorry, didn't mean it to sound bad ... it just seems cruel when this fish could have been saved. There was no need to kill it. It could have been seperated long before it got this bad. 
 
What we have here is someone who's been given bad advice. Goldfish are cold water fish - so that's living in temps of around 18 degree's, and angels are tropical ideally kept at 28 degree's. Also angelfish are large fish and feeding them so little was bound to lead to them finding food elsewhere... and yes, that would include their tank mates.

 

[NicolaJaneGandy]

sorry, didn't mean it to sound bad ... it just seems cruel when this fish could have been saved. There was no need to kill it. It could have been seperated long before it got this bad. 
 
What we have here is someone who's been given bad advice. Goldfish are cold water fish - so that's living in temps of around 18 degree's, and angels are tropical ideally kept at 28 degree's. Also angelfish are large fish and feeding them so little was bound to lead to them finding food elsewhere... and yes, that would include their tank mates.

 
I separated the fish immediately.  The problem happened overnight.  There was no time to save him.
 
Living in a hot climate, I am unable to achieve water temperatures of around 18 degrees.  The temperature fluctuates between about 24 and 28 depending on season.   
 
Unsure what to think about the conflicting advice about if feeding every day is overfeeding or not.  

 

[Akasha72]

I feed my fish every day, twice a day. I've done this for all the years I've kept fish with no ill effects. My fish are breeding regularly and they don't attempt to eat their tank mates and I'm keeping angels with small fish that they could technicly swallow fairly easily.
 
It is true that there is often much debate on feeding routines and what constitutes over feeding but when fish turn their attentions to their tank mates and start eating them alive it's obvious that they are hungry ... not just hungry but starving.  

 

[fluttermoth]

It's extremely unlikely that the goldies tankmates were literally 'eating' him due to hunger. It's far more likely that the angels are now reaching sexual maturity and trying to hold a territory. For some reason, the angel/s have taken against the goldie. Once a fish is being picked on and starting to show distress or weakness, this sends a signal to the other fish to start picking on it also. This is very common amongst shoaling/herding animals; they want to get rid of any sick/injured individuals so they don't slow down the group or attract predators.

OP, your tank is quite badly overstocked; just too many big fish in a small space and I'm afraid if you don't get a larger tank or rehome some fish, you're going to suffer more and more losses and attacks like this