Awww, how sad. Sounds like my sweet dog, Laddie, when his bonded buddy, Mickey, passed away. I hope you find a new buddy for him. Who knows, even a younger, smaller fish might give him a new lease on life.

Anne

At first he seemed rather frenetic - I thought maybe he was looking all over trying to find his friend. He'd circle around the pool following a particular pattern over and over. But I've also just seen him sit in the water immobile. I don't know how he feels but figure he has to be lonely since he is the only fish in the pool now.

Lynx,

I don't know all that much about fish, but I'm certain they are pack animals. I do know a lot about herding dogs, and they need to be in a pack to be mentally healthy - which affects physical healthy.

I've got 3 4" comets and 3 baby comets. The oldest of the baby comets is now hanging out and packing with the big boys. It is cool to watch a 4" fish and a 1/2" fish side by side grazing.

I would be inclined to go pick up some comets. They sure seem to grow fast, and they will probably all start hanging out before you know it. And that will give your buddy some company while you look around for a perfect gentleman friend.

~dianne

I'll see what I can do. Here is a photo of the two fish taken in 2006. The top one in this photo is the fish I lost a month ago. You can see the tubercles (white dots) showing he is a male.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:228064}}

The smaller new fish will hang around the larger fish in pretty short order. They like to be with other fish. Spend the $.25 and get a feeder goldfish!

I'll see what I can do then. I hope he will perk up.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:228066}}

What a nice yard and pond. Yes, I'm sure a few more fish will help your lonely fellow perk up.

Anne

Fish definitely like to be around other fish, and will do the weirdest things.

I keep some comets and my favorite Kio in a big fish tank. When adding a pair of Kio to my pond I got afraid they would jump out (one did when I was right there) so I tried to catch them and put in my tank. I only got one of them so inside he went.

That fish seemed a little strange in how he swam so I never put him outside but instead tried several things to "cure" him, salt, antibiotics, parasite killers, but he got worse till his tail turned and turned and finally went in a sharp bend. So I named him "Ofish" as all he could swim was tight circles. He ate well, but in between feedings tended to stay on the bottom.

So what did the other fish do? They would school around him and also sit on the bottom. Poor Ofish finally succumbed to whatever he had, but the rest of my fish still tend to school up and sit on the bottom where he used to go.

I had one fish from the pond in my tank for a bit and he learned the bottom sitting thing too. He's back in my pond but he finds a little spot on the side behind a plant and just sits there by himself. I put him in with a friend who must have got himself eaten (bye bye ShyBoy ) and he got worse, almost never seeing him.

I've since added some shubunkins and they swim around, sometimes my Koi will join with them, mostly he likes to bottom sit and hide.

I think everything needs a buddy,I hate seeing a horse,a goat no buddy, has to be a very lonely life.

That is very sad Lynx.

I am sorry to hear of this and I guess it is normal to have an attachment to animals like this. I hope you find a way to make your fish happy. I had no idea one could keep a fish that long. Great job I would say.
I know my birds always did better with a companion. In fact, my frog seems to be singing a lot more now that another has shown up.

Mike

Two days ago, I got him a friend! My "rescue" efforts failed (never heard from the friend with a small pond and lots of little fish) so I got a 4" sarassa comet pal. I have seen him several times since then. Trying to feed some floating Tetra "crisps" which the little fish sometimes finds and sometimes doesn't. It was tough yesterday as Irene was making things pretty wet and I think sunk some of these floating crisps.

I do not see the two fish hanging around together but I'm pretty sure they are aware of each other. Got to get the little guy to put on a little meat so they can be friends!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:228067}}