Comet goldfish aggression

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I had one 4 inch comet in my 1000-1100 gallon pond and this weekend I got two more (same size). One of the new ones has chased the original one and also the other new one pretty much constantly since I put them in. I keep cichlids in indoor aquariums and most of them are naturally aggressive. Usually they stake out territories so its that big of a deal. IF it does get bad, a divider can be put in. In the pond though, that is not an option. I was never expecting this. So what do you guys do about it?
 

fishin4cars

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Let them do there thing, Goldfish aren't naturally aggresive, I agree with Koiguy, sounds like they are trying to spawn. If they are just chasing it will calm down soon. They really don't attack each other like cichlids do. They will either be doing a little fin nipping which in most cases is very minimal, or they will be spawning in which case there will be quite a bit of pushing shoving and splashing and eggs attached to plant leaves.
 
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I have noticed it with the comet i have too in my pond. I did realize they are spawning or trying to....:lol: I also noticed lot of fish digging into the plant bush now and then. Is that a sign of all eggs have become food for others?

Out of curiosity.... how does one breed comet in a pond full of fish?
 

koiguy1969

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yes it could be theyre eating the eggs off your plants and pots, liner. and anything else theyve stuck to. they will eat every egg they find.
 

fishin4cars

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itsmesiva said:
I have noticed it with the comet i have too in my pond. I did realize they are spawning or trying to....:lol: I also noticed lot of fish digging into the plant bush now and then. Is that a sign of all eggs have become food for others?

Out of curiosity.... how does one breed comet in a pond full of fish?
You have three options,
1-let nature takes it's course, if there is sufficient hiding places some fry may survive.
2-Remove plants that have eggs and raise thefry in a seperate container.
3-remove all the fish from the pond leaving the eggs in the pond to grow out.

results- 1- you may or may not get any fry, they may eat all the eggs or larvae before they get big enough to live on there own. 2- you have a better chance of raising them seperatly but very time consuming. 3- you'll get the largest amount of fry to grow up but you'll have to leave all the bigger fish out until the fry reach about 1" in size.
 
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Well i do know how hard it is to catch them in a pond larger than 2000 gal as i did just prior to last winter. I was not sure if they will survive the winter so i struggled and manage to catch 10 fish out of 14 and brought them in for the winter. Later i realized the 4 that i couldnt catch did well over the winter and so i have decided to never go after them. It was hard as hell! not to mention the frustration and leaving the pond with fallen stones and uprooted plants...;)

Anyways..i will leave it to the nature...i dont want too many fish anyways....:lol: thanks for the respond! Learning some thing new everyday !
 

fishin4cars

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that's what it's all about, I've been doing this for many years and I still learn all the time. There is a good chance some will survive on ther own in that size pond anyway. take a look at Addy1's pond, she didn't do anything and has lots of very nice looking babies that survived.
 

j.w

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I discovered something by accident w/ the little just hatched fry. If you have plenty of plants and eggs are laid near your floating plant rings w/ screen covered bottoms the fry will fit through that screening and stay in there for safety. Then when they get big enough I can take them out and let them be w/ the other fish. Only thing is if they all survive I will be giving away a lot of fishies :lol:
 

addy1

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I had a ton of fry survive this year, but had a very low fish load. Next year I am sure fewer will make it, which is what I prefer, let the pond balance out. I tried to catch a few for a friend...............an hour later had 7 ..........darn fish are fast, and pond is big. Even tried throwing in food to do a sneak attack.............yeah right they are smarter than that.
 
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Uh oh .... then how in the world am I supposed to catch my goldies if I want just koi in my pond in the end? :) Guess they will all get to stay. I've become quite attached to them all anyhow, and each day I could them. Few are missing or have been found dead (goldfish) but that's all part of it. One koi jump ship, darn it, but otherwise have not lost any koi. Very fun project!
 

fishin4cars

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No reason not to leave them mixed. I have kept both for years and enjoy the goldfish just as much as the Koi, Oh and on koi, I have standard and butterfly but of those two butterfly koi are my favorites.
 
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brad_A, If it's just one male chasing two females you will not have to worry about too many fry fish. It usually takes a few males to wear down a female goldfish. I have 8 active males for two females. Didn't plan it that way it just happened.
 

addy1

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I had plants in the pond when the fish decided to start spawning, actually had plants long before I had fish. Saw the chasing, never saw the eggs. But now have seen eggs off and on, all different size of fry. Fun to watch them duck into the side algae to hide from the larger fish, they just dive head first, wiggle and disappear.
 

koiguy1969

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itsmesiva said:
Well i do know how hard it is to catch them in a pond larger than 2000 gal as i did just prior to last winter !
i chase down my fish twice a year...in the fall to transfer them to the basement wintering pond. then in the spring to get them back outside. its not all that difficult for me as i pump the water between ponds. as the water level falls, so does their ability to evade capture.
 

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