Why does my fantail goldfish like to hide in the ornament?
by Aquaboy on Friday, May 28th, 2010 | 5 Comments
I have 3 fantail goldfish in my 10 gallon tank, and I have a coral reef ornament. And one of my fish is always hiding inside of it and laying on the bottom. But he always comes out when i come to the tank or feeding time.And he also likes to just lay on the bottom against the gravel. Is it just sleeeping or what? I just worry something might be wrong with it. Should I be worried? Does that sound like a problem?
No, fish are like that…he’s okay if he comes out..maybe he doesn;t like the other 2 or it’s a girl laying eggs?
he/she is just probely shy or scared
it may be sick but im not really sure you could get it checked on?
if you have just got the fantail fish recently it may be because it isnt very used to the new surroundings and needs to get used to it. But if it doesnt swim much or cant swim and only stays down it may be because it has a problem because that happened to one of our fish
It doesn’t sound like a problem to me. Most fish will hide in the plants and ornaments because it’s instinct for them to hide from predators like other fish, or even us, even though we don’t eat aquarium fish. Is he smaller than the other two fish? that could be one cause. It sounds like he’s decided that seeing you means that he’s getting fed, so if he’s really hiding, it must from from the other fish.
If you want to see him more often, stick a couple more decorations in your tank for him to swim around. I have found that the more fish have to hide behind, the more they swim around, so you see them more.
You could also check his fins and scales. If he is actually sick, it will show up soon. If his scales stick out from his body more than usual, or he has grey stuff or white bumps on him, then you will know he is sick and you can treat the tank from there. If he’s not sick though, it’s just normal fish behavior.
Edit: On a side note, I do also agree with FishStory below me…hopefully soon you can get them a bigger tank. Gold fish excrete a lot of ammonia from their bodies, so it’s recommended that they have at least 2 gallons of water for each inch of fish. Since you have 3 and they can get 10-13 inches long (as fantails…comet goldfish can get much longer), 55 gallons for the 3 of them will be bare minimum when they get to be full size. And good filtration is a must. Good luck though, and enoy your fish!
The only real problem your fish have is that their tank is way too small for them. They should be in a minimum of 55 gallon tank to start out.
Goldfish have the potential to grow to over a foot long, you can see that the 10 gallon is way too small for them. Get a larger tank and put a good filter on it, do a 20% water change every week and your fish will be happier and healthier.
Goldfish can live over 25 years.