Article - Companion Fish
Having fish in your quarantine tank
This was the first year my goldfish in the quarantine tank spawned. In fact, it was the first year I had more than one goldfish in the quarantine tank for a potential spawn. It was so rough in there that my round-bodied opalesque female actually died during the spawning. I had bought her as a little baby during a koi emergency about 8 years ago. She had been my koi “companion” fish. (Goldfish are able to live in solitary while koi require another fish in their environs.) She actually grew into a beautiful big silver fantail fish and I didn’t even know she was a she until it was too late. Naturally, I found out the hard way. I had brought in some very large “rescued” comets late last fall. The only place to put them at the time was the quarantine tank. There was no way I was putting a bunch of big fat rowdy goldfish in my beautiful koi pond!
All joking aside, it is important to have one companion fish ready when you need to quarantine a fish. This is a fish you know isn’t harboring any deadly parasites and is used to your water. That little silver-white fish was perfect for her job. She showed new fish where the food was at feeding time and kept koi comfortable in the quarantine tank, so I had no problem with jump-out suicides. In return, she had a good life in a 300-gallon clean-water quarantine tank. This fish had but one purpose in life, to be a companion fish when needed.