Fish Fighting?

[Mere313]

Hi. I have a 10 gallon tank containing 4 black neon tetra, 3 golden barbs, and a goldfish. I know the goldfish and barbs are an odd combanation, but I've had them together for 2 monthes, and they seem to leave each other alone. Today when I got back from class, I noticed a red spot on the back of the goldfish, just behind the dorsal fin. The fin also seems slightly jagged. Could this be from the fish fighting or is it from something else? And is there anything I can do for him? He's been swimming around, and doesn't seem to be hiding from the other fish.


Also, on a different note, does anyone have any ideas on keeping a tank cooler? I'm at college and can't control the temperature of my room, and the water temp of my tank is getting kinda high.

Thanks!

 

[Richer]

I would look into redoing your tank... there are a few problems with your tank to say the least.

Goldfish should never be combined with tropical fish. They are a temperate fish, and thus like to live in cooler temperatures. Tropical fish live in higher temperatures. Another thing, many experience aquarists will advise at least a 30 gallon with good filtration for one goldfish (10-20 gallons per additional goldfish, depending on filtration). You have your goldfish in a 10 gallon.. one top of that, there are other fish in there.

What are your water conditions? Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates? If you don't know, get testers for each one of those. How often do you do water changes? and how much? How long has the tank been up and running for? What kind of filtration?

My solution for you for now is to remove the goldfish, give it back to your lfs, find someone to take it in, etc. That goldfish has to go.

Till you give us more info, thats all I'll say for now.

HTH
-Richer