Would a large goldfish eat 2 smaller goldfish?

Question

I recently bought my son 2 new small goldfish to keep his large 8 year old fish company and 1 of them has disappeared - the other one was dead in the corner of the tank looking rather grusome, missing a fair amount of flesh........ The small guys were about 2 inches long so too big to be an accidental mouthful! Has anybody else had this happen?

Answer 1

Yes. This is why goldfish need to be size matched :) They will and do eat smaller fish. I have been keeping goldfish for years, anything smaller then 3/4 of the goldfish already in the tank could be picked on or eaten, but generally just out competed for food, so they starve, die and are then eaten.

Best thing to do is raise them in a second tank, or if you MUST have them in the same tank it should be a very large well planted (only on one side so the larger fish has open room to swim but the smaller ones can hide) and put food on the open side first to draw the large fish away, THEN feed the smaller ones on the other side. Best to just keep them separate. Goldfish get to 12 inches, so require a large tank, but are social, so do need friends. Measure your fish and ask your local pet shop for a goldfish around that size - but be sure your tank is large enough or they will compete for space and food and could kill each other anyway!

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Would a large goldfish eat 2 smaller goldfish?
I recently bought my son 2 new small goldfish to keep his large 8 year old fish company and 1 of them has disappeared - the other one was dead in the corner of the tank looking rather grusome, missing a fair amount of flesh........ The small guys were about 2 inches long so too big to be an...

Answer 3

Do Goldfish Eat Each Other

Answer 4

Keep the vegetables to a minimum. That isn't what they eat in the wild. Also, don't get flakes. Get pellets. If you give flakes somehow they gulp up air when they are eating the flakes. If I would have known this I wouldn't of gotten flakes. Just to let you know, if you have live plants some goldfish will eat them like CRAZY! I had a goldfish who munched on them like crazy, but the other 2 didn't. Hope I helped!! Hope it all goes well!

Answer 5

We had 3 goldfish when I was a kid. 2 big and one small one. The 2 large ones attacked the little one and it ended up without a tail. It only lived for a couple of weeks after that though even though we separated them.

Answer 6

I had a goldfish that ate plenty of it's roomates. It's a common thing for Goldfish to do, I would sggest getting this gold fish a seperate bowl or finsing away to isolate it from the others.

Answer 7

Oh yes my 4 goldfish ended up being 2 goldfish then one died of fright i think , leaving me with JAWS the last fish!!! I put my lava lamp next to the tank hoping that it will send jaws mad watching those hot blobs go up and down the lamp allnight might make him think hes eaten something off!!! bullying goldfish whod have thought it eh??

Answer 8

cannibalism sometimes is cause by inadequate food supply. if you feed your large goldfish regularly it won't bother chasing the small fish. it will cost the large goldfish some chasing first before it will be able to bite the small gold fish. if there is available food, it will not go after the smaller fish.

however some fish are cannibalistic and territorial by nature.

Answer 9

It's normal, either you have to buy a 5 inch goldfish, or consider getting a large pleco.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?pCatId=837
A

Answer 10

Goldfish can be territorial. They kill each other in fights and the bigger ones usually win. And even though it's really disgusting, gold fish do eat each other.

-Jocey

P.S. But they do get along with snails! :)