I live in Melbourne (very close to the beach and city) so I'm at least 60 km from the closest fires. I'm well and truly out of the danger zone. It's amazing watching how people come together in times of crisis - even with the credit crunch Australians have donated $77 million to the Bushfire Appeal. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to lose everything but the clothing on your back, let alone losing family and friends. Thanks for keeping Aussies in your thoughts!

Hi everyone,

I've just noticed this afternoon that one of my comets is chasing some of my other goldfish (comet, shubunkin and calico fantail). I've had the comets for about 3 months and the others for a year. I've never noticed him doing this before. From what we can see, it doesn't look like he's nipping their fins but I can't be sure. It's like he chasing them round in circles and pushing into them. I'm not sure of the sexes of the fish but could it be a mating ritual? He doesn't seem ill or have any visible unusual spots on him. He's also not rubbing up against anything else in the tank.

I'm worried he's going to stress the other fish out!

Cheers,
Danielle

Sorry about the his/her... I assumed you were a 'her' but thought if I got it wrong you might be offended!!

Without sounding stupid - when you say 'bitesize' pieces, I assume you mean bitesize for the fish (like chopped finely). As for the veg, do you mean soft but not mashed... small, soft pieces??

Forgot to mention that I also have elodea in the tank, which they love to eat. Have another couple of potted plants but I'm not sure what they are - they don't eat those ones though.

Thanks Carolline and Suey2 for your advice.

Hi everyone,

Firstly I just want to tank everyone who responded so quickly to my first 'emergency' post - my comet is now fine and back to his old self. I only wish I'd discovered this forum a year ago when I first started my aquarium!

Coralline mentioned in one of her/his replies that I should vary the food I give my goldfish (2 comets, 2 shubunkins and a calico fantail). I only give them flake food at the moment. I used to give them this frozen food that came in blister packs but they never seemed to enjoy it that much. What type of vegies can I give them (apart from peas)? I don't like the idea of any live food but am opne to any other suggestions.

Cheers,
Danielle

Thanks so much to everyone. When I woke up this morning, he seemed back to his normal self again and was swimming about as usual (he also ate as usually would). He must have been a bit stressed about something. We'll try some different foods this week too.

As for the fires - I live in Melbourne (but close to the city) so I'm at least 60km from the closest fires. It is devastating though. They just keep finding cars full of bodies (a lot of them children). Things like this that make you realise how lucky we are.

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. One of our air stones is like a hose that runs along the length of our tank (is that what you mean by spraybar?). We also have a couple of live plants in there - I wouldn't think that lack of oxygen was the problem. He actually seems like he's perked up again now. I will check again in the morning.

We sometimes give them some crushed peas. Apart from that what vegies can you give them? Are there other types of food you would recommend buying from the aquarium? Thanks again to everyone for your help.

FYI... we've had the 2 shubunkins for a year and the comets and fantail for about 3 months.

Ammonia is 0 and tank is 69L. We feed them a few flakes (Wardley's) twice a day. We initially just had the filter and 1 air stone but noticed on the weekend that the water was a bit cloudy and a little smelly... so we went and bought a second air stone. After a water change, the water looks fine again.
Everyone tells you such different things about looking after fish... multiple staff in the aquarium shops near us told us that we could have up to 10 small goldfish in our tank as long as we did weekly water changes. We certainly would not have bought 5 fish had we been told it would not be good for them.

Thanks for the quick reply.
pH - 7.0
GH - 180
KH - 20
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20

We do 20-25% water change once a week and have a hang-on filter (300L/hr filtered - biological and carbon filter). We've had some really hot weather lately but the temperature is now down to about 25 degrees. They had red gills last week so we treated them with Melafix which cleared that up. We put some more in tonight hoping that it might help our comet that's sick.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and urgently need advice on how to treat clamped fin. I have 5 goldfish (a fantail, 2 shubunkins and 2 comets) in a 70L tank and one of the comets has tonight begun clamping his fins. He was fine up until a couple of hours ago and now he doesn't seem to be swimming around as much as usual. We've tested the water and it all seems fine (pH, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia). All the other fish are OK. We have a filter and a couple of air stones in the tank. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Danielle