Can a bigger fish bully a smaller one?

Question

We have 2 goldfish and for awhile the bigger one has been chasing the smaller one and beating him to the food at feeding time (well most of the food), during the last week the smaller one has been hiding at the bottom of the tank either in plants or under a bridge, this morning the smaller fish died. The bigger fish is ok but could he have bullied the smaller one to death????

Answer 1

Yes its very possible, If it was chasing him all the time,

Answer 2

yes by dominating the tank and intimidating the smaller fish, the small fish may have got run down and thus died as a result, I've had it happen with my tropical fish, although they won't necessarily eat the dead fish unless its left in the tank too long.(they may just pick at it instead) Try to purchase your goldfish together making sure they are all about the same size, I would recommend that you buy a few which might convince the larger one to back off, one fish will always try to "be leader" and take most of the food, so you can't really prevent one fish becoming larger than another, and deaths of smaller fish can occur,but its better to be in a group so try to buy at least a couple of Goldfish next time and see what happens, good luck!

Answer 3

My old teacher had something like this happen. One goldfish was small and got bullied by ALL the other goldfish. She separated him with one of the fish mating baskets (to keep baby fish away from the big fish) and stuck him in that. It separated him away from the others and it lived a happy life (as far as I know, she left the next year).

Yes, fish can bully the others, and if you want to get a second fish again, if the big one bullies the other again, I'd separate him off.

Answer 4

We had a male Molly and a female Molly and the female had 3 lots of babies in about 6 months, she died recently and I think that he shagged her to death so I would say that it is very possible. Honestly, he never left her alone not for one minute. Poor thing. We have also had larger fish who have eaten the smaller ones, you have to be really careful when outting fish together.

Answer 5

Yes. I had two goldfish and the larger one dominated the small one and bit it's tail off. It may not have been completely mental, but the big goldfish of your definitely was territorial towards the smaller one. I always thought goldfish were ok together, but I guess it depends. Stick with one goldfish per small bowl, and get angelfish if you want a community tank. They are very gentle.

Answer 6

that's what occurs. you place a small Goldfish in with a bigger Goldfish, and you have got bullying issues. Goldfish go with to form a sort of chain. The good, healthful Goldfish bypass onto the coolest, and those on the backside which incorporate unwell, susceptible or small Goldfish, would be bullied, nipped, and finally be killed from rigidity. This additionally occurs whilst the tank is in basic terms too small. i'm no longer saying that's in basic terms too small, for the reason which you have diverse sized Goldfish, in spite of the incontrovertible fact that it may additionally be a small possibility as nicely. I advise once you get yet another Goldfish you're able to make particular that there is adequate space for all, your filter out is rated double the quantity of your aquarium, and you're able to %. out comparable sized Goldfish. the excellent portion of do perfect now's placed him in a Quarantine tank. go away him on my own in the Quarantine tank. If he manages to stay on the evening, save him in there until he heals up.

Answer 7

Yes, i happen to know somebody who had 2 fish and the bigger fish ate the smaller one.

Answer 8

Yes. Darwin theory again, "Only the string survive." The smaller fish didn't get enough resources and died. It happens all the time. Sometimes they just eat the smaller ones.

Answer 9

Not precisely bullying since this involves intent, thus intellect, and fishes are not that high in the evolutionary scale. But in the competition to acquire food, the big one displaced the small fish and probably led it to death by lack of nourishment.

Answer 10

Yes it can happen, your poor little baby died from anxiety and hunger, If you keep the bigger one and get more fish I would suggest you get a separator for your tank.

Answer 11

absolutly!! i can't believe that u could be so dumb not 2 separate them!!! is ur bigger fish a boy? becuz he could b fighting 4 teratory (most male fish do 4 female fish, the male fish usually fights another fish, kills them, which givs them a boost n more teratory!) if i were u i would've separated them a long time ago. ur lucky that u even feed them!! if u didn't, ur big fish could've killed ur smaller 1 a long time ago, n ate it!!! btw wat kinds of fish r they? becuz some r extra aggressive. like flower horn fish. also those small like little yellow ones they may seem samll, weak, powerless, but t hey r very mean! i hav them. they use2 gang up n beat up my huge goldfish!!!!