playing or fighting

I have a small sized pond (1000 litres) with 3 goldfish (1 comet, 1
ordinary abd 1 shubunchkin) and 6 golden orfs.

They seem to hide on a regular basis underneath the waterfall and come
out when i turn on the underwater lights to feed them after 9pm.

They all seem a lot more active at this time. I've also noticed the
shubunchkin seems to follow the other fish around a lot. Either this is
in play or fight, I'm not sure. It looks like he's nippling at they're
tails most of the time.

Obviously, I'm unsure of the sex of the fish, how can you tell?

many thanks in advance




--
AlecTPR

"AlecTPR" wrote in message
...

They all seem a lot more active at this time. I've also noticed the
shubunchkin seems to follow the other fish around a lot. Either this is
in play or fight, I'm not sure. It looks like he's nippling at they're
tails most of the time.

It could be breeding behavior but you usually see that in the springtime; at
least where I live.

Obviously, I'm unsure of the sex of the fish, how can you tell?

I don't know about orfs but male goldfish get small white bumplike growths
on their gillcovers during the breeding season and females do not.
--
KL....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*

Köi-Lö Wrote:
It could be breeding behavior but you usually see that in the
springtime; at
least where I live.
Where do you live, I'm from Manchester, UK so starting to get a little
cooler, although it was cool before?

Köi-Lö Wrote:

I don't know about orfs but male goldfish get small white bumplike
growths
on their gillcovers during the breeding season and females do not.

I'm fairly sure the orfs are just playing, they're jumping around and
don't look like they're up to anything like that (can't believe I'm
spying on them like teenagers)
I'll try and checkout the goldfish but I've only had them about 3
months now...
cheers.




--
AlecTPR

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 10:31:02 +0100, AlecTPR
wrote:


They all seem a lot more active at this time. I've also noticed the
shubunchkin seems to follow the other fish around a lot. Either this is
in play or fight, I'm not sure. It looks like he's nippling at they're
tails most of the time.

Shubunkin aren't fighters, but they bump the females in the belly with
their noses to encourage them to release eggs during mating season.
I've never seen one nip a tail fin either and I'm sure they don't eat
small fry if they recognize it as a fish, so he is probably trying to
work up a little fish sex with the girls, but they may be going
through a development stage and this may pass over as play. Yes, they
do play. I dropped a water hose in one day to top off and watched a
couple swim into the flow to be swept away and circle back to start
again. It isn't unusual for them to become active at feeding time and
some get really friendly and eat right out of your hand.

Obviously, I'm unsure of the sex of the fish, how can you tell?

Females usually have bigger bellies for eggs and most of my males are
longer (thinner) with longer fins although I do have a couple long
finned females that I thought might be males. I just watch to see
who is chasing who, and most of the time several males will be chasing
a female.

"AlecTPR" wrote in message
...

Köi-Lö Wrote:
It could be breeding behavior but you usually see that in the
springtime; at
least where I live.
Where do you live, I'm from Manchester, UK so starting to get a little
cooler, although it was cool before?

I'm in the mid south of the USA. It's cooling off here as well.


Köi-Lö Wrote:

I don't know about orfs but male goldfish get small white bumplike
growths
on their gillcovers during the breeding season and females do not.


I'm fairly sure the orfs are just playing, they're jumping around and
don't look like they're up to anything like that (can't believe I'm
spying on them like teenagers)
I'll try and checkout the goldfish but I've only had them about 3
months now...
cheers.

--
KL....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*