Regular Member Peanuts Posted February 16, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 16, 2007 Do mature female Goldies release chemicals into the water, like pheromones or something similar? I?m asking because I?ve got 5 goldies all of varying ages and genders. My oldest two are a moor and a lionhead which I?ve had for 18 months. I?ve a pearlscale that I?ve had for a year and a Ryukin and Ranchu which I?ve had since October. I?m 100% sure that the Pearl and Lionhead are female, both have laid eggs and both get chased by the other fish. I?m also sure that my Moor is male, he has Breeding stars and he seems to be the most dominate one in the tank. The Rachcu also harasses the ladies, so I think he may also be male. But my problem is this, over the past few days I?ve had major problems with my fish. My 2 ladies have started laying eggs and my boys have gone CRAZY chasing them and beating them up. My Lionhead has lost scales, stopped eating and looked almost dead at one point. (She fine now) I?ve removed the boys from the tank and all parties have now started to heal and more importantly calm day. I know that many koko members have separate tanks for their boys and girls but my family are dead set against me getting another tank. So tomorrow I?m off to buy a divider to split the tank and then the boys will have to go back into the main tank. So basically I need to know how good is this idea? Will the boys start getting nasty again when in the same ?Water? with the girls even though they can not see or get to them? Will the Moor (the larger of the 3 ?boys?) start to pick on the others? Any help or advice will be most appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member viscosity2004 Posted February 16, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 16, 2007 You're right about the pheromones. Goldfish are very good at "sniffing stuff out" so you may still see your males go crazy even after you've added the divider. What temperature is your tank? Do you have a heater? You may want to consider turning the temperature down a few degrees to help ease the fish out of breeding mode. Keep us updated and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peanuts Posted February 16, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 16, 2007 You're right about the pheromones. Goldfish are very good at "sniffing stuff out" so you may still see your males go crazy even after you've added the divider. I was dreading that. What temperature is your tank? Do you have a heater? You may want to consider turning the temperature down a few degrees to help ease the fish out of breeding mode. Keep us updated and good luck! The temp is 20degrees C, and there isn't a heater in the tank. The first night i took all the boys out i had to have them all in separate tubs in the kitchen because they wouldn't stop beating on each other. The Rachcu was like a little possessed monster chasing anything that moved But he and the other smaller 'male' (I'm not sure if they are both male) settled down over night and where ok to be in with each other the following day. But i'm too scared to put the little ones in with my Moor, Luckily (Well not really poor thing) He's had a bad eye for few weeks now so he'll be staying in qt for a while longer. But the little ones will have to go back into the main tank soon. My family can only put up with water filled tubs littering the house for a little while. My Granddad offered to have a tank for me at his house, but that's miles away, so I guess I?ll have to give the divider a go and see how the little ones take to it. Thanks for you advice Nenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member viscosity2004 Posted February 16, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 16, 2007 Wow, that's only about 68F. Does it seem like the temperature in the tank floctuates at all? Hows the temperature in your house? Ever turn on the air conditioner or the heater? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peanuts Posted February 16, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 16, 2007 The temp stays around the same all year round, it may have dropped a little during the winter months, but only by a few degrees. But we've been have some really warm winters in the uk but last week we had a snow storm, but even then it wasn't really too cold in the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member d_golem Posted February 17, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 17, 2007 Peanuts, I was in the same situation as you and I did the exact same thing (difference is my "divider" is a floating plastic basket). I found that method to be effective. The boys will certainly still smell and react to the pheromones, but after a couple of days they'll realize that they'll never get to the female and eventually settled down. I always take the basket away after a week or so, and sometimes the boys will get rowdy again. If that happens, I'll isolate them again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peanuts Posted February 17, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 17, 2007 Thanks d_golem, I've got the divider now so i'll have the younger boys in the tank by this evening i'll let you know how it goes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peanuts Posted February 18, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 18, 2007 Hi guys just a quick update: The divider is in and the boys and girls are in their own 'rooms' And everyone seems very happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member viscosity2004 Posted February 18, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 18, 2007 Yay! That's great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member claire_uk Posted February 19, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 19, 2007 mine are in breeding mode at the moment, mainly my male shubunkin chasing my ladies around. it gets quite 'excited' shall we say and quite rowdy in there, but the ladies seem okay, and they are strong and healthy so im not too worried about them, shubunkin may well be venturing outside in the summer. hopefuly things will calm down for you, mine go mad for a day, then calm down for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peanuts Posted February 21, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 21, 2007 Claire: I think the problem for me is that i have two very large females that are now over 1yr old, the large 'Bull male' (shall we say) is injured and had to be removed from the tank. So basically i think the little juvenile now thinks he has free reign over the girls. I wouldn?t have minded if it was just a little bit of chasing but my Lionhead has lost scales and was bashed around by him. But it's been about 4 days since guys have been in their own room and all parties seem very happy. I?m even going to redecorate their rooms! *grin* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member claire_uk Posted February 21, 2007 Regular Member Share Posted February 21, 2007 glad things are ok now, my Ryukin lost some sclaes, but they are growing back nicely now. things have been calm in my tank for a few days now, touch wood! my little 'baby' just followed the shubunkin and chased around when he did, but he has been fine since. i guess its just nature! have fun redecorating, i have just finished cleaning my tank, and did some redecorating myself, made some more room in the middle, but no doubt when i get up tomo they will have moved everything around to hoow they like it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peanuts Posted February 23, 2007 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 23, 2007 I know what you mean, my guys never leave anything alone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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