If your goldfish is eating other fish in the tank, you should find the main cause of this problem. You can easily fix this problem by following the steps mentioned in this article.

Can a Goldfish Eat Other Goldfish? Yes, a Goldfish can eat other goldfish because of the presence of dead fish, preying on eggs, small-sized tank, less food, too many fish, jealousy factor, and loud noise.

We have added proven techniques to make your fish live happily with others.

Can a Goldfish Eat Other Goldfish?

Here are 10 real facts about this behavior of goldfish. Many fellows are concerned about their goldfish when it starts to eat other fish in the aquarium.

Too Many Goldfish

They usually need a lot of space for swimming. They do not like to share their space. 

They can live with their species for some time but not for a long time. The presence of too many animals also shortens the availability of oxygen in the aquarium.

They try to get their space back, but it becomes a survival game for them. The fish that are bigger and stronger will most probably consume the other and gain back its territory.

Preying on Eggs

Female lays dozens of eggs at a time. They mostly do not prey on their eggs. If you are keeping them hungry for a long time, then they will not hesitate to consume their eggs as food.  

Another reason is that if the eggs take too much time to hatch, their parents will eat them. You should provide food to the baby fish to prevent this, baby mollies need more food.

They may think that their younger ones will not be able to fight and protect themselves after hatching. They may become the food of predators, so to avoid this, they consume their eggs. They can eat African Dwarf frogs also.

Using Dirty Water

They prefer to live in a fresh and healthy environment. It does not like dirty water in which wastes and food particles are moving all around them.

Dirty water also contains ammonia and nitrate that results in breathing problems for them. 

If your pet is continuously swimming in dirty water, then it might get offensive. Your pet may as well stress out. This situation will end in attacking its tank mates and eating them. Fish can turn orange because of this issue.

Presence of Smaller Goldfish

They usually see the opportunity to prove their strength. They are always trying to get the upper hand. They try to show that no one is more strong and powerful than them.

Many of them grow faster and become huge in no time. Bigger ones are muscular, have more power and potential than the small ones.  

These bigger animals prey on smaller, trying to prove dominance. So, to terrify them, they either start eating their parts or will consume them all together.

Loud Noise

Your pets love to stay in a quiet, eco-friendly environment. Its mood remains happy; otherwise, it can have a heart attack.

The use of too much loud noise in a room where your aquarium is present might disturb them. It will start attacking its species.

It will have adverse effects on their hearing. It also damages their internal tissues. 

Smaller Size of Tank

The size of the tank also matters a lot. If you are using a smaller one and putting too many fish in it, it will cause chaos. 

A smaller tank means a little space for them to survive. Food mostly goes to the bottom or is not equally distributed, and it becomes a reason for riots.

Presence of Sick fish

Feeding it too much food makes them sick. Underfeeding it results in mood swings, which leads it to consume body parts of it and ultimately consuming it alive. 

They do not always show mercy upon their species. If you put a sick animal in the aquarium, then they will start attacking it. They cannot fight back, and it may fell prey to others.

It can transfer its sickness to its mates as well. As a result, they also get sick. It can also be the reason for attacking.

Jealousy Factor

It is a common thing that your pet gets jealous of one another. If you give more food to one of the pets and keep the other one hungry, then it gets jealous. 

Similarly, putting a new pet in the already filled aquarium tenses the situation. The older one will try to get back its territory. It causes a fight between the two. The older is usually the one getting alive out of it.

Eating the Dead 

Some of them die a natural death. If it passes away, its corpse stays at the bottom of the water. The presence of a dead body is like food to them. They then start eating the body parts until it’s all wiped clean. This is common for their species, and you should not worry about this.

How to Stop Goldfish from Eating Each Other Fish?

You can use a large aquarium for your pets. There will be no problems with an excess of ammonia and nitrate in it as well. They will enjoy living in a larger space. It will provide more oxygen to it. 

Use a divider to separate your old and new ones. If you do not have enough money to buy a new large-sized device, this is the best solution. 

Putting a separator in it also serves its purpose. There will be no fighting and hence no killing.

Provide good quality food to your pets. Give such food that contains nutrients and proteins. You can also give them meat and plants. Such food is available in meat shops or online stores.

Similarly, you can make a time table to feed them properly. It will not get hungry and will never attack each other.

The cleaning of the aquarium can be another solution to this problem. You can clean it after a week. 

If you see that the water is getting dirty and the waste material is mixing with fresh food, you should clean it. You can do this by putting them in some other aquarium or bowl. 

You can use various kinds of small plants in the aquarium that will easily fit in it. These plants allow sick and new pets to hide from the older ones and protect themselves. 

You can make a small spot in the tank where the big pet cannot go. In that spot, you can easily hide the eggs and wait for them to hatch.

You can also protect the eggs by removing them from the tank. You can put them in such an environment where they do not rot. You must take care of these eggs. 

After hatching, sustain them in some other tank for some time. When it grows bigger, then you can put it back in its older tank.

You should not put more than two pets in a normal-sized tank having approximately 20 liters of water in it. If you want to put more pets, then you can use a tank separator. 

Watch them for any signs of stress. If it hits the tank walls or moves in a different pattern than usual, then this means that it is in tension.

Put your aquarium in a room where there is no loud noise and where you do not turn on and off the lights. It will help them to relax. 

If you see the body of any dead fish lying at its bottom, then remove it immediately, if it stays at the bottom, then it starts polluting the environment, and your pets will get sick as well.