Black Moor nipping my Oranda

[LittlePrince]

Two questions, actually. I'll start with the fish problem.

I recently, two days ago, added a red cap oranda to my 65 gallon tank that has a shubunkin and a black moor in it. They all seem to really get along except I came home this evening and noticed that my black moor is following around the oranda and shoving it's face in the oranda's rear end. What's the deal? The oranda is not retaliating and doesn't seem incredibly bothered by it. The black moor isn't damaging the oranda, just being very invasive of personal space. Note that the black moor is at least 1/2 inch smaller than the oranda. My tank is in great condition with no sick fish. Since I turned out the light for the night the black moor has stopped bothering the oranda.

Second question: My goldfish pellet food contains algae. Will this create algae growths in my tank or is that a really stupid question?

I'm very new to fish keeping so bear with me. Thanks in advance for any comments and suggestions.

[Meatloaf]

My telescoping eye goldie is now doing this to my ranchu too, and he's half the size. The oranda sometimes chases them around too, getting in on the action.

I have no idea what's going on though.

[Brhino]

my black moor is following around the oranda and shoving it's face in the oranda's rear end. What's the deal? The oranda is not retaliating and doesn't seem incredibly bothered by it. The black moor isn't damaging the oranda, just being very invasive of personal space.

Mine do this too sometimes. I think it's just a bit of posturing/interaction. Unless you start to see any damage I wouldn't worry about it.


Second question: My goldfish pellet food contains algae. Will this create algae growths in my tank or is that a really stupid question?

Nah, it's processed. An algae pellet isn't any more likely to create live algae then a corn muffin would create a stalk of corn if you stuck it in your back yard. Large quantities of uneaten food of any variety can create problems, though, so make sure you're not over-feeding and you're keeping up with substrate cleaning.

[Bristley]

Don't know myself about the behaviour issue, but I agree with Brhino about the pellets. I wouldn't worry about algae issues. The pellets won't cause an algae outbreak unless you are overfeeding and then again it's not the pellets themselves it's just that there is nutrients left over for the algae that's already in the tank to feed on.

If you are having algae problems there are several things you can do from varying your lighting schedule to adding some/more live plants to adding things that eat algae. Usually, as long as you're not overfeeding and keeping up with substrate cleaning (like Brhino said) you shouldn't have too much of a problem.

[LittlePrince]

Thanks! My black moor seems to have stopped bothering the oranda, thankfully. My fish all just got in on some very exciting live black worm feeding. I typically feed my fish the sinking goldfish granules in the morning around 5am, a snack of black worms in the afternoon between 1pm-4pm and a very small dinner of more pellets or peas before bed around 10-11pm. There is never any food left over after feedings and after introducing the live black worms I have seen significant growth in my dojos. They almost won't even eat the pellets any more. They have also stopped eating my shrimp so I'm going to go get more shrimp because they are great for keeping my substrate clean.

Nothing really builds up in my substrate because half the tank is sand and the other half is very fine gravel that is mostly planted or has decorations sitting on it. So what I tend to do with every water change is just wave the gravel vacuum over the sand and gravel to kick up any loose particles. The shrimp are really good at getting anything left over.

I haven't spotted any algae growth in my tank, despite having a lot of direct sun light and the tank light being on from 5am-9pm. I'm going to invest in a timer for the light soon. I do see some very thin white fluff on one part of my drift wood but I'm thinking that's just because I didn't know to wash it before I put it in the tank??? My shubunkin has been eating it.

Thanks again to all of the great advice! This forum is way better than the other one I was on.

[Brhino]

I do see some very thin white fluff on one part of my drift wood but I'm thinking that's just because I didn't know to wash it before I put it in the tank??? My shubunkin has been eating it.

That's a fungus, actually. It's normal to see it growing on driftwood, it's harmless, and, as you noted, fish eat it.