Fish Spawning? Chasing femals!!

[Fantail]

I am new to the forum. Love the idea. You can only do so much reading and deciding on what you have is normal compared to what you read. I have fantails and comets in a 200 gallon pre-formed pond with 4 lilly baskets still semi-dorment but trying to sprout new shoots. Also, on the plants ledges I made very safe rock caves for hiding, they love it.

My question, all my water and salt tests for safe limits. My select few males, both comet and fantail, (I assume they are the boys) have been chasing and harrassing my "girls" for the past week. I am in Western New York and our weather is all over. However, my pond has been a consistent 44-45ish to 60-62ish _constantly. I did some feeding on the warm several days early on during the warm up. Well, they inhaled it. Have not lost ANY fish. However, the girls are stressed and getting fin rot or the males are indeed biting/nipping their fins. I carefully pulled a girl out and I only seem minor shredding. However, every morning the boys are chasing. I don't see "aggression" but the girls are stressing. Is this severity normal? My tank indoors for my more sensitive goldfish are doing the same thing but not constantly. They swim right next to the girls and push them.

What to do? Leave them it is natural?
Please Help

 

[DrDave]

If you have fin rot, you might want to isolate the ones with it and treat them with antibiotics.
You can search the threads for "antibiotics" advice on how to treat them.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Fantail, You should check ammonia, nitrate,and nitrites. It's actually better to wait to feed them until your pond cycles otherwise it can't keep up with all the waste. You need 3-6 weeks of temps consistently over 50 degrees until there is enough beneficial to keep everything in check. Also don't add any new fish until you are sure you have dealt with what's causing the disease.

 

[marla]

The tail shreding may just be to spawning. the males will chase and sqeeze the females up along plants, rocks etc to extract the eggs. This is natural but yes at times does seem excessive. You can always remove the females or the most aggressive male or just let nature take it's course with a watchful eye. It is easy to tell males of breeding age...they will have small white tubrecles (looks like grains of salt) on there gill plates, edges of the dorsal and pecteral fins...easier to see on the oranger goldfish then a shubunkin.
if the tails get to bad you can always pull them and with a cotton swab peroxide the edges..just keep it away from the gills.