Are they just playing around or mating?

We have a tank of 10 goldfishes in all different sizes. We have two that are about the same size, I don’t know if they are female or male. But one of them as been constantly chasing the other one real close to where its mouth is right next to the other ones butt. Are they just playing around or perhaps mating?

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Answer #1

You have a classic case of “Stay Away From My Area Of The Tank”. :) The butt-biting is a sign of aggression/dominance and it basically means, “Go Away. I don’t like you right now.” Unless there’s a huge size difference, I wouldn’t worry about the victim getting hurt or killed.

Answer #2

dude their playing fish dont mate they females lay their egg then the male fertilize the eggs so no sex hope this helps

Answer #3

Iaskloads is right for the majority of fishes

BUT - there are a number of popular aquarium species that are known as livebearers. They include mollies, swordtails and guppies. The male of the species has a specially adapted ventral fin that inserts a sperm packet into the female, and the female carries the fertilized eggs inside of her until they hatch. At which time the young emerge from the female as fully formed baby fish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live-bearing_aquarium_fish

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Are they just playing around or mating?

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