Black Moor chasing Comet? HELP!

StarSapphire22

StarSapphire22

Senior Member and Goldie Enthusiast
May 3, 2012
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Fargo, ND
Real Name
Jessica
Hi! So....some background info on my tank. It's a 10 gallon and I have 2 inch-ish black moor in it (yes I know it is small, I am upgrading soon, promise, and am RELIGIOUS about keeping ammonia levels down...Using a bacterial additive and an ammonia neutralizer, daily testing, bi-weekly filter changes, and weekly water changes for now. Our 55 gallon died on me, and this is what we could afford. She's still tiny at least!) We got a comet goldfish today who, with his tail is probably close to 4 inches or so....2 inches without tail. Space wise they have plenty of room, and there's multiple hidey holes and planted areas if they want their own space. We floated the comet and got him all acclimated and put him in. Normally we wouldn't put a fast moving goldie like that in there, but this one's a big baby. He was shy to eat in his tank at the store and and wasn't as active in chasing as some of the surprisingly more aggressive goldies in there were. He has a tiny chunk missing from his tail where the others had picked on him. Blame it on my feminine sensibilities, but I just HAD to rescue him from the other big bad fishies. Not to mention he is BEAUTIFUL! Well anyways, I put him in and my DEFINITELY female black moor is ALL OVER him (or her, I guess...the comet isn't showing any gender signs that I can find, I don't think he's mature yet. I'm thinking with his tail, he's probably male?)! She would swim right next to him or behind him, and put make little fish kissy faces on his sides and chase him around the tank a bit, but HAS NOT ONCE NIPPED AT A FIN OR ATTEMPTED TO. I repeat, she has NOT ONCE NIPPED AT HIM! After about an hour and a half now of watching them, she hasn't been as clingy as she was, but if they are more than half the tank apart, she swims right over to him again! I thought at first it was because of the small tank size, and that maybe it was territorial, but she's not being aggressive really, just annoying the crap out of him. Like I said, he's a little shy. Are they just friends and playing? Is it territorial, or something to do with mating? I've tried looking this up, but the only thing I can find is Comets chasing Moors, or distinctly territorial issues.
 
UPDATE: As of day two together, Lydia (my moor) isn't in little Ratchet's face as much, but still follows him around the tank like a lost puppy. Still no nipping that I've observed and no signs of injury. Ratchet (the comet) is still a pretty reserved fish. He enjoys swimming around and exploring, and of course eating, but he hasn't showed any signs of aggression towards her either; in fact, he pretty much ignores her and just does his thing with her tagging along like an annoying little sister never more than three inches away. I'm not as worried about aggression any more, and mating isn't an issue (YET, at least, since Ratchet isn't old enough, if he does even turn out to be a boy), but I still want to know if any one has any theories about what the heck they're doing.
 
Goldfish love the company of other goldfish, your moor is probably just happy to have a tankmate. You'll have to upgrade to a much larger tank eventually though, and as the comet grows keep an eye out to be sure the moor is getting enough food at feeding time. Comets are much faster swimmers than moors.
 
It's probably a territory issue. They will work it out. As you have noted, a larger tank also helps with territorial issues. People don't think of something as benign as a goldfish as being territorial, but some of them are.
 
Yeah, I know I will have to upgrade....unfortunately some kids threw a ball through my apartment window, and hit my 55....glass was spiderwebbed all over the left side when I got home with my moor panicking (I had just bought her and the tank 3 days earlier too....UGH!). Now I'm scraping together money as fast as I can and scouring Craigslist for a replacement. :/

As of now, they aren't really competin for food....Ratchet still hangs back a bit, but he also still gets a little more than my moor...I could place food right in front of her and she'd be oblivious to it being there. She's still getting ENOUGH, but if it gets worse I'm going to have to divide them at feedings.

I hope it's just that they are friends!!! Somervell, you think it's territorial even though there hasn't been any nipping? (Love your moor in your pic by the way....very pretty!) .
 
One more question about this tank...bought a new thermometer, and it's saying my water is 80...gets to 82 when the light is on. I have no heater in my tank, since I knew they like colder water, and my apartment is in the 65-70 degree range. It's not next to an outer wall or anything, either....do I have a faulty thermometer, or is this actually possible somehow and I need to invest in a chiller?
 
I really suspect it's either territorial or spawning behavior. In a 10 gallon, I would guess it is territorial.

Eighty is a little high for goldies. My tanks stay at about 72 for fancies, and they are quite happy. Small tanks do heat up quickly, though, so it may be accurate. I would just stick with water changes to maintain temp. You don't want to shock them, but the addition of small amounts of cooler water slowly can reduce temps in the tank. I have to do that on my 60 in the summer.


Thanks for the comment about my avatar. His name was Casper, and I still miss him. One of the most beautiful fish I have owned in 20 years of goldie keeping :)
 
Well, the chasing and....kissing, I guess is what I would call it, lol....have pretty much stopped....occasionally there's some nuzzling of tails, but for the most part they just stick together around the tank....never very far apart. I hope they're just friends, but I will definitely keep an eye out for any aggressive territorial behavior.

Turns out my thermometer was defective. I exchanged it and my tank is at 70, 72 with the lights on. Good to know that I can do some minor changes to keep water temp down though, it can get hot in here in the summer too. Thanks for the tip! And yay happy fishies! :)

He was gorgeous! And that's a great shot, love the angle, you can really see his eyes. Sorry to hear he's not with you any more. It's always hard to lose one of our finned/furry friends.
 
Glad things are working out. I have actually had to separate fish permanently (most of my males are kept in one tank unless breeding.) Sounds like they have worked things out-- kind of like college roommates. If you see one of them with a can of spray paint drawing a line down the center of the tank, you have problems, but otherwise, it sounds like all is well that ends well! :)
 
I don't have anywhere near as much experience as Anne (Somervell) with goldies, so, I would really go with what she says more than what I say. I can tell you, though, that my moor, Nell, gets super excited if a new fish is added to the crew- she swims up and does a lot of what you are describing all over their sides, and generally swims around them like crazy for the first few days. It looks like she is giving kisses- putting her mouth on them & opening & closing it, but not actually biting- no harm is done, and the other fish didn't mind. She also seems to cuddle and rub all over them. (pretty sure she's a female- 2 of my males (had about 3 tubercles on cheek plates for a week at the beginning of last month, each) have tried to spawn with her in the adolescent, practice spawning games after water changes- and she is always the one being chased.) She does the same thing to my arms when I put them in the tank to clean stuff up. I've always just assumed it is her checking it out, and since she can't see too well- she is using her other senses to investigate, as well. On the other hand, she LOVES to eat- so, she can get sassy and pushy with the other fish over food (they all get their fair share, she is just a bossy little water piglet, and will knock other fish out of the way with her big old shovel head to get more food, on occasion, if she feels like it- She only seems to target the fish her own size, or larger, and she never takes it too far, or I would break it up, and possibly move her), and is DEFINITELY the most inquisitive fish in the tank- the first one to check out anything "new", and stays checking it out for the longest time. Your moor may just be like Nell, and super friendly about having a roomie... I know these guys are very social fish!

God luck with your goldies- they are definitely a lot of fun!
 
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