What can I do to ease loneliness in a goldfish?

[My_Goldie]

So Goldie and Pepper were best buddies and they stayed together 24/7 in the tank ignoring the other guys there.

Well Pepper got sick about 2 weeks back and died, and now Goldie is acting all sad and mopey. He continues to alienate himself from the other fish in the tank, just sitting by himself at the bottom on the opposite side from where everyone else is. The only time he seems like himself is if I am physically standing in front of the tank (or doing something in the kitchen-- he tries to get my attention) he zooms back and forth like usual being the attention hog that he is.

I know he isn't sick because I dosed the entire tank after I noticed that pepper was sick. And he hasn't been showing any of the symptoms that pepper had.

I just want to help him get back to normal. Any ideas?

 

[Flaringshutter]

He needs a new friend! Goldfish are very social creatures and will bond to a tankmate just like any other animal. I have two fish who are very close, having grown up together, and spend most of their time near each other. If you think your fish is lonely, you might consider finding him a new tankmate.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

what size is the tank?
what are your water parameter test readings from this evening/tonight?
what did pepper die from?
what medication did you dose the tank with when pepper was sick?
did you do water changes to remove the medication after, and run carbon in your filter to remove the meds as well?
what other fish are in the tank?
what is the temperature?

i would set up another tank to quarantine goldie, and just monitor him closely. if you can use a filter from another tank that is way better than having uncycled everything with a stressed fish. do daily water changes if necessary to keep the water quality up. do not dose any meds for now, just observation and clean water, IMO. i'd give him more attention too, since his buddy is gone and although i don't think fish get lonely (human emotion) he is probably feeling the effects of his environment changing, as in his buddy is no longer there and he is now without the buddy to interact with.

 

[Flaringshutter]

bettafishmommy, i do think that though goldfish might not get lonely and depressed like humans do, they do suffer from being isolated. just like horses, dogs, and other highly social creatures, isolation can cause listlessness and repetitive behaviors. i think goldfish may be even more susceptible to isolation issues since dogs and horses usually get more interaction with their caretakers than fish.

i do agree with you that it's important to take stock of the tank parameters, health of the current setup, etc before adding another fish. :thumbsup:

 

[BettaFishMommy]

ya learn something new every day. i did not think they would attach themselves to a buddy fish quite like that unless the two were a breeding pair.

i'm not sure if you can really compare goldfish to horses or dogs though.

 

[Kashta]

I've seen that same sad behavior when my goldies have been separated. They do mope around a lot.. can even stop eating or make themselves sick. I bought two baby wakins a few months ago that came from a large stock tank. They're in with my other goldfish but those two are still always together, even though they hang out with the others too. The bonding they form with each other is very strong.

 

[My_Goldie]

I've seen that same sad behavior when my goldies have been separated. They do mope around a lot.. can even stop eating or make themselves sick. I bought two baby wakins a few months ago that came from a large stock tank. They're in with my other goldfish but those two are still always together, even though they hang out with the others too. The bonding they form with each other is very strong.

This is like what Goldie and Pepper were like. They were together 24/7. Just kept to themselves away from the other guys who are mostly comets.

The tank is a 50 gallon. With 6 goldfish total (I know it is overstocked, but I change water every 2-3 days to keep it good)

The test levels have been coming back the same as usual.

nitrite 0
nitrate 10
ammonia 0
ph 7.5

temp is a bit high at 78 (it's starting to really heat up here)

Pepper died from what I believed to be an internal infection of some sort. He stopped eating, was lethargic, had long stringy white poop, and just sort of floated around. Seemed completely out of it.

At the time I dosed with a medicated food, it's for internal and external bacterial infections, and Melafix although it was not for Pepper, it was for one of the other little comets who got a bit beat up and his fins were a bit ragged and torn.

Goldie is doing a bit better now and is starting to integrate himself with the other fish and is sticking around Skid, my other fancy (Oranda). Although earlier he seemed to have just given up on life completely. He looked dead was hanging at a funny angle and just floating around. But I didn't want to take him out until he completely stopped breathing.
Because Goldie is a fighter, and last time I swore he was dead like 8 times and he made it through.

 

[Flaringshutter]

Well it sounds like you have plenty of tankmates for Goldie to warm up to. You'll find that after a while, he will stop moping around and make friends with the other fish. Goldfish can form strong pairs, but if one fish dies the other will eventually find a new "best friend". Keep an eye on him and be sure he's still eating well. Best of luck!