Aggressive Goldie

I have a calico fantail that is very aggressive. Because of this, I have kept him in his own 30g tank, but I feel guilty for it. He really needs more interaction with other fish, but I am not sure how to go about it. I tried putting him in my stock tank this past summer and OMG, he tried to attack every fish in there and stessed them out really bad.
A little background: He was given to me by my neighbor who had him in an outdoor, uncycled, water pond thingy that was too small for all the fish he had in there. This calico ended up being the sole survivor and when my neighbor took the water pond out, he stuffed him in a 1g bowl, half full of gravel. The fish was about 3" long and I couldn't see him at all in the bowl when my neighbor brought him to me; that is how nasty the water was! He had kept him in the bowl for weeks before I got him.
So, any ideas on how I can get him to get along with my other fish? I have my other goldies in a 125g tank right now-another calico fantail (female) and a male ranchu and oranda. There are also two albino BN longfin plecos and some nerite snails in there. My other goldies get along great and actually swim together and everything. I just don't know what to do.

Some fish are just plain mean.
You could try dividing off a section of that tank with some egg crate and put him on his own side and then after a few weeks take out the divider and see how he does. He may do well he may not.....

with all the neglect he went through there may be in human terms brain damage. which affects his aggression. I had a betta that was similar he would attack everything and tore plants to shreds. Meanest betta I ever witnessed. He would have put fighters to shame and in Thailand I seen some mean fighter bettas.

He shared his 30g with another fish for a while, but I had it divided. Everytime I took the divider out, he went nuts and attacked. It may just be the way he is and I may have to keep him alone.

Sounds like you have a loner there.....
Think toys would interest him? Toss in a ping pong ball and see if he plays with it. If he will play with toys that should keep him amused while he is living by himself.

Yes goldfish love toys. Good idea Fern.

Ping pong balls, pvc fittings, plastic beach shovels. Those are toys my flowerhorns like!

Its probably a Ryukin goldfish, they are pretty mean as far as goldfish go. Most ryukins will bother other fish, you can try getting another ryukin the same size.

This is what a ryukin looks like btw

Thanks! Yes, I know what a ryukin is. This fish is a fantail. BTW, I believe that that old wives tale about ryukins being mean is just that...a wives tail.

SeaWitch wrote:

Thanks! Yes, I know what a ryukin is. This fish is a fantail. BTW, I believe that that old wives tale about ryukins being mean is just that...a wives tail.

Could be a myth but from what I've seen of Ryukins its pretty true. I've had quite a few Ryukin and only one of them has been completely peaceful. I've had to separate most of them from their tank mates for picking on others and I've never seen that level of aggression from any of my other goldfish. I've even seen Ryukins pick the eyes out of weaker or smaller fish (none of my fish) and one of my Ryukins picked at my Oranda's wen so bad he reduced one side of his head to tatters overnight. Maybe I've just had bad luck but I don't think so.

Fern wrote:

Ping pong balls, pvc fittings, plastic beach shovels. Those are toys my flowerhorns like!

Thanks, Fern! I am really liking the PVC pipe idea and the ping pong balls!

chicknefoot87 wrote:

SeaWitch wrote:

Thanks! Yes, I know what a ryukin is. This fish is a fantail. BTW, I believe that that old wives tale about ryukins being mean is just that...a wives tail.

Could be a myth but from what I've seen of Ryukins its pretty true. I've had quite a few Ryukin and only one of them has been completely peaceful. I've had to separate most of them from their tank mates for picking on others and I've never seen that level of aggression from any of my other goldfish. I've even seen Ryukins pick the eyes out of weaker or smaller fish (none of my fish) and one of my Ryukins picked at my Oranda's wen so bad he reduced one side of his head to tatters overnight. Maybe I've just had bad luck but I don't think so.

Wow. I myself have never had a ryuu, but many of my friends have and they have never talked about them being aggressive. One of my friend is on here and her ryuus have always been peaceful, especially with other fish. I notice that you have a 40g barrel pond. Are you sure you aren't overstocking it or something? That could cause aggression in fish. Just wondering...

SeaWitch wrote:

Fern wrote:

Ping pong balls, pvc fittings, plastic beach shovels. Those are toys my flowerhorns like!

Thanks, Fern! I am really liking the PVC pipe idea and the ping pong balls!

chicknefoot87 wrote:

SeaWitch wrote:

Thanks! Yes, I know what a ryukin is. This fish is a fantail. BTW, I believe that that old wives tale about ryukins being mean is just that...a wives tail.

Could be a myth but from what I've seen of Ryukins its pretty true. I've had quite a few Ryukin and only one of them has been completely peaceful. I've had to separate most of them from their tank mates for picking on others and I've never seen that level of aggression from any of my other goldfish. I've even seen Ryukins pick the eyes out of weaker or smaller fish (none of my fish) and one of my Ryukins picked at my Oranda's wen so bad he reduced one side of his head to tatters overnight. Maybe I've just had bad luck but I don't think so.

Wow. I myself have never had a ryuu, but many of my friends have and they have never talked about them being aggressive. One of my friend is on here and her ryuus have always been peaceful, especially with other fish. I notice that you have a 40g barrel pond. Are you sure you aren't overstocking it or something? That could cause aggression in fish. Just wondering...

I dont have any Ryukins in the barrel pond just two comets and two orandas. When I had Ryukins I had them in a 60 gallon and a 110 gallon; I also noticed aggression in the tanks at Petsmart but that could be from overcrowding.