Who Has Goldies?

[fishykisses]

i remember seeing a post awhile ago from someone here who has goldfish.
Well i can't get that cute face out of my head and i have decided to take the plunge and get a goldfish. I have a trio of platies that are refusing to breed so i'm kicking them out of the 25g to make room for a goldie. I've found some absolutely adorable ones at the pet store but i remember a link to a breeder site.
Can whoever posted that, post again? i can't find the original post.
Thanks
Connie

[Katalyst]

i remember seeing a post awhile ago from someone here who has goldfish.
Well i can't get that cute face out of my head and i have decided to take the plunge and get a goldfish. I have a trio of platies that are refusing to breed so i'm kicking them out of the 25g to make room for a goldie. I've found some absolutely adorable ones at the pet store but i remember a link to a breeder site.
Can whoever posted that, post again? i can't find the original post.
Thanks
Connie

Me! Me! Me! Yay come to the Dark Side!

Andrew is wonderful and getting new shipment of fish in September. If you can't find any you like I have show grade fish of his I am trying to breed. So I can always send you some weensy babies when I get some as well. I love love love my goldies..
www.fishsempai.com (http://www.fishsempai.com)

And here's my other favorite breeder..

www.dandyorandas.com (http://www.dandyorandas.com)

If only I could have that big oranda, stupid expensive new houses!

[Katalyst]

Let me know what your thinking of getting and I'll tell you the upsides and pitfalls to each type of goldie that there is IE: poor vision swimmers and who they can be paired with, agressive, swim bladder prone fish etc.

:) I'm so excited... Goldies are well just my favorites and some of them are a lot more friendly then others. I had feed all of my guys...

[Melody]

I was very tempted to put a fancy or two in the 90, but they'd have to be with the other fish. I decided there was too much room for problems there.:(

[Katalyst]

I was very tempted to put a fancy or two in the 90, but they'd have to be with the other fish. I decided there was too much room for problems there.:(
Yep goldies are extremly self centered, anything that moves in the tank MUST be food for them, because why would anyone have anything else but them? Or so they think, I thought my ghost shrimp would dissapear into the jungle brewing in my 90...They dissapeared into my calico ranchu's belly instead. :wideeyed:

[thegrandpoohbah]

I've actually been wanting to get a comet for a while. I think they would get too big for my 35G hex though. Also not sure if they would get along with zebra danios.

[Katalyst]

I've actually been wanting to get a comet for a while. I think they would get too big for my 35G hex though. Also not sure if they would get along with zebra danios.

Comets don't do well in Hex's, none of them do really, which is a shame because I love the look of hex's. A pearl scale might do okay though. Comets are much better suited to 30/40 gallon long breeders etc. They are the athletes of the goldfish world and because they get so large they have trouble turning around in hex's when they grow. I ended up with 13 of them from a rescue that are living in a friends pond at the moment because I just don't have 230 gallons to devote to them which is what they need. They were going to be left in a pond to freeze to death by the hubby's mother because she was moving and didn't want them anymore last fall. Hence being a sucker there I am their mine now. The new house I'm trying to buy however has a nice pond!

I'm not too familiar with danio's and all fish are different but so far with my brood, if it fits in their mouth its fair game.

[fishykisses]

Ryukin's are looking like a pretty good starter Goldie. The bubble eyes creep me out and i don't think i'm ready for the brain to be on the outside of the head.
I love how round they are and the faces are so cute!
Although holy crap those guys are expensive! I may just get one from the pet store to start with.

[Katalyst]

Ryukin's are looking like a pretty good starter Goldie. The bubble eyes creep me out and i don't think i'm ready for the brain to be on the outside of the head.
I love how round they are and the faces are so cute!
Although holy crap those guys are expensive! I may just get one from the pet store to start with.

He has pet store prices as well and scarily enough the one's on his site are his cheap goldies. When I look at the tank and start adding up the amounts sometimes it makes me ill.

Ryu's are gorgeous but the trouble makers of the group, and will often bully and attack other goldies. I have a 3 inch terror that's an oranda/ryunkin mix and she was origionally called Patches...Cute little Patches now renamed Wee Beastie or The Queen now had to stay in a 30 gallon by herself for 3 months, then back in the 150 with the rest of the fish with a tank divider, the other fish wouldn't even go near the tank divider. (think Jodi Foster & Hannibal Lecter) she goes right for the eyes and is mean little thing. She's darn lucky she's my favorite, after 3 months of being in the divider and numerous attempts to remove the divider she has finally figured out she is a much superior fish and no longer attacks her tank mates....

Here's the Queen (can you guess which one she is?)

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/

Yep the one with her mouth open! She sits at the top and smacks her lips when she decides she hungry which is 99% of the day. The 10 inch oranda to the right of her is my little love Finnegan who she knocked the snot out of when I first got him. :eek: I have 3 other ranchu I have to keep in a 90 gallon because for some reason she hates em. A friend of mine suggested suitable tank mates for her would be pirahana's. :rofl:

All goldies personalities are different and I love Ryu's but just be prepared to keep them with only other ryu's (which they will still bully) and try to get a female. I'd definately stick with pet store goldies for now as well.

Sorry for yammering but I just wanted you to be informed.

Can't wait to see your new fish be sure to post pictures.

[thegrandpoohbah]

Kat, any suggestions for goldfish that would be OK in a smaller tank longterm? Looks like both Connie and I are working with much smaller tanks than what you have. Thanks.

[fishykisses]

yeah - there will be one occupant in the 25g
My 96g is reserved for community fish

[Katalyst]

yeah - there will be one occupant in the 25g
My 96g is reserved for community fish
Oh then you'll be just fine! Can't wait to see it! I love ryu's they are like peacocks strutting their stuff. :)

[fishykisses]

any tips on how to set up the tank? - gravel? no gravel? plants? toys? bubble wall?
I don't know anything about their personality but they look mischievious.

[Katalyst]

any tips on how to set up the tank? - gravel? no gravel? plants? toys? bubble wall?
I don't know anything about their personality but they look mischievious.

Gravel is fine, no gravel is also fine..They like to shred my plants so now they get plastic which they like to uproot. They love to play in bubbles toys are fine as long as they are big enough. They are dopey and tend to get stuck in logs and ornaments sometimes then they panic and usually end up dead.

Mischievious absolutely as well as the biggest beggers on the planet.

[Katalyst]

Kat, any suggestions for goldfish that would be OK in a smaller tank longterm? Looks like both Connie and I are working with much smaller tanks than what you have. Thanks.

Cliff Note Version: Oranda's are my favorite as well as ranchu and pearl scales, I'm dying for a lionead and a Tancho Ryunkin. Ryunkin's come in all shapes, sizes and colours broad tails, calico's, phat phocker (i swear its their name) broad tail, etc. Below somewhere in this mess is are things to look for when choosing a goldfish. I wish I could go with you! I love picking goldo's. My oranda's and ranchu are the funniest and mushiest they eat from my hand and actually fight one another to sit in my hand at feeding time. I posted a bunch of pictures awhile back with my ranchus sitting in my hand. Really any fancy is just fine. Just look for strong swimmers, good fins, good balance as suggest below. I'm sorry this is so very long I get carried away when it comes to goldfish and am a walking talking goldfish dictionary.

Fancy's are the way to go. Sarassas,Comets,Commons, Wakin, Shubunkin and Jinkin's require 20 gallons per fish because they grow very large. Keeping them in small tanks will result in stunted growth, they are much better suited for ponds. Fancy goldfish however are a much better choice and happen to be my favorites! Plus they have much more of a personality (too much really lol) then the others. Fancy goldfish require 15 gallons per fish using 10x's the filtration. If you have a 30 gallon tank, you should have a filter that puts out 300 gph but its not a steadfast rule. I just found using less my filters got mucked up on a regular basis so I stick to the 10x filtration rule. But with one goldie you should be fine.

You'd be fine with oranda's (my favorite), ranchu, pearl scale (they look like little golf balls), lion heads, veil tails, phoenix egg fish or fantails. Tosakins are another one I'd stay away from because not only are they extremely expensive they reqiure special tanks and filtration to keep their tails from curling, none the less they are one of my favorite fish and my breeder is going to give me some of his tosakin fry to play around with and try to raise.

When you are looking at fancies there are a few things to look out for, most fancies such as ryunkins, oranda's and pearl scales are deep bodied fish, so swim bladder disease is more prone to happen in this fish then any others. When you choose your ryunkin stay away from any look floaty, upside down, or standing on their heads. This is a a sign of swim bladder disease and most of the time irreversable. But don't be discouraged I promise I have 10 fancies with little to no SBD problems.

Other types of goldfish are celestials, bubble eyes, bubbled eyed celestials, black moor's, demekin & telescopes, because of their telescope eyes they have limited site and should only be placed with other goldfish who have limited site. They also require little decor as their eyes can be damaged on tank ornaments or gravel.

All of the following photo's were taken by me (which explains why the stink lol) some of the photo's were taken when I picked them up from Andrew's farm (The Fish Sempai) and some are in my house.

Celestials & Bubble Eyes
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai017.jpg

Here is a photo of a ryunkin I tried to rescue from a LFS that was in horrible conditions, he had terrible swim bladder and unfortunately could not be saved.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/Lucky.jpg

A way to prevent swim bladder is to pre soak goldfish food for about 1 minute or 2 in tank water before feeding. Do not feed floating pellets as they will float on the top of the water and the goldfish will then be gulping air. Goldfish love deshelled pea's and they act as a laxative which help clean out their digestive track, I feed my goldfish pea's once a week about one pea per fish is fine. You can also help prevent swim bladder by making gel food, mazuri has an excellent one that I add all sorts of pureed veggies to and they love it.

So when you are picking out a ryukin, pick the one that is the strongest swimmer, it should cruising through the tank as if it is pushing the water out of his way. They are extremely strong swimmers and have stunning colours.

Green Ryunkin
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai045.jpg

Calico Ryunkin
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai072.jpg


Various Oranda's-There are a ton of different types of oranda's

Orange and Black (My Finnegan)
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/Finnegan.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai053.jpg

Chinese Blue Oranda (Whiskey)
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/fishes36.jpg

Chinese Tri Coloured Oranda (Moon)
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai1a.jpg

Calico Oranda Ryunkin Mix
AKA The Queen My Tiny Terror, you can see she has the high dorsal fin of a Ryu and the personality but the beginnings of an oranda wen. She is the funniest little fish though and I adore her.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/Yourang5.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/Fishnapped1.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/Fishnapped2.jpg

Ranchu-There are two types of ranchu Side View Ranchu (SVR's) and Top View Ranchu (TVR's) based on how you are supposed to look. I don't have any TVR's so I don't have any pictures but they are well expensive and I'm waiting for a shipment of them to come in a few months.
There are malaysian ranchu and thai ranchu, I have both.
SVR Black Thai Ranchu
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai085.jpg
Mixed Thai SVR
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai089.jpg
Black and Black and Bronze Thai Ranchu (Guinness and Shamus)
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai041.jpg
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai2-1.jpg

Tosakin-More of my favorites!
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai3.jpg

Wakin & Koi Fry
http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m103/katalyst_x/FishSempai1.jpg


Confused yet? I could go on with pictures and information for about 10 more pages!

Whew its a lot to take in....As you can see even though I am into other fish at the moment, I am tried and true a goldfish chick. :laugh: Told ya Jay!

Just make sure the goldie you choose is swimming strongly, not floating or imbalanced. Look at the tops of the tanks, are their goldfish gasping or sucking air? It could be a sign of gill flukes. Find the tank with the strongest swimmers and QT them for a month. Feces should be food coloured and white stringy feces can suggest a bacterial infection. I usually do over kill and pick up a box of Parasite Clear by Jungle which will not hurt your cycle and will kill about 10 different parasites internally and externally.

I'll stop myself here as I could go on and on for days!!.:confused:

Hope this helps!

Please ignore/excuse spelling errors as I have a mondo migraine coming on and have been touch typing and from the little bit I did read, not so well either...

[thegrandpoohbah]

Excellent post. I'm now leaning towards either a veiltail or fantail. Guess I'll head off to the LFS and see whats available.

[Katalyst]

Excellent post. I'm now leaning towards either a veiltail or fantail. Guess I'll head off to the LFS and see whats available.
Great choice veil tails can be hard to come by but not impossible, depends on your LFS, mine are horrendous for goldies and I only pick up rescues from them that I can't bear to see left to suffer.

Can't wait to see what you come home with and PM me any time. I'll do a profile for you and fishkisses of whatever goldies you decide to get.

Are ya home yet? Where are my pictures???? :)

[fishykisses]

i'm really excited now!
there was a youngish guy who was buying goldfish a couple weeks ago - the colours and shapes were fantastic - he got great specimens. They were little but sooo cute!!!
Maybe i'll go in on sunday and see what they got.

[Katalyst]

Woo hoo 2 converts!!!!!

Mu hu ha ha ha

Ohhhh Melodddddddy???? You know you want a wiggle butt!

You know you do!

[Melody]

LOL Kat, you are a wealth of information, thanks so much for posting such great stuff! You could sell the whole forum on them!

I saw a show once that had the Asian breeders on it. They lifted a 'Wiggle butt' of one kind or another, up out of the water - it was the size of a soccer ball! I kid you not!

By the way, my neice refuses to buy any other fish, even when I told her she could have any suitable fish in the store, she went with a ... I think they called it a Chocolate Ryukin? Dark brown anyways. She already had other colours at home, but that's what she wanted.

[Katalyst]

LOL Kat, you are a wealth of information, thanks so much for posting such great stuff! You could sell the whole forum on them!

I saw a show once that had the Asian breeders on it. They lifted a 'Wiggle butt' of one kind or another, up out of the water - it was the size of a soccer ball! I kid you not!

By the way, my neice refuses to buy any other fish, even when I told her she could have any suitable fish in the store, she went with a ... I think they called it a Chocolate Ryukin? Dark brown anyways. She already had other colours at home, but that's what she wanted.

Oh I believe it, its hard to tell in the photograph but the green ryunkin link he's soccer ball sized and fetched in the upper $400 range if I recall correctly.

[Melody]

That's what royally PO's me when I see them in stores - many don't tell the hobbyist how big they're supposed to get.:mad:

Thanks again for sharing your expertise - its an interesting read even if one isn't into Goldfish.

[Katalyst]

Another thing sorry I keep remembering bits and pieces that I forgot I have a lot on the brain at the moment.

Oranda's all have wens (jelly brain looking thingies on top of their heads) if you see a teensy fish with a well developed wen, its been stunted. Wens do not start to develop until oranda's/ranchus/lionheads are about 2 1/2 years old..All those cute golfball sized fish with big wens, yep all stunted. And in all goldfish, fish that have been stunted have very large eyes.

Millions of peices of info are popping into my head. I wanna go goldie shopping with you guys! THe LFS manager asked me why I wouldn't buy goldies from them one day and I went through them with him and explained why tank by tank, he said when I'm legal to work I can work there as a buyer lol.

When the brain is not foggy I'll write a goldo article...I consider myself far from an expert but I'm getting there slowly but surely.

[CACAdmin]

When the brain is not foggy I'll write a goldo article...I consider myself far from an expert but I'm getting there slowly but surely.

Please do... whenever you find a few thousand moments. Thanks for posting such great info... which I am sure will prove invaluable to anyone getting into 'goldies'.

[Melody]

Another thing sorry I keep remembering bits and pieces that I forgot I have a lot on the brain at the moment.

Oranda's all have wens (jelly brain looking thingies on top of their heads) if you see a teensy fish with a well developed wen, its been stunted. Wens do not start to develop until oranda's/ranchus/lionheads are about 2 1/2 years old..All those cute golfball sized fish with big wens, yep all stunted. And in all goldfish, fish that have been stunted have very large eyes.

Millions of peices of info are popping into my head. I wanna go goldie shopping with you guys! THe LFS manager asked me why I wouldn't buy goldies from them one day and I went through them with him and explained why tank by tank, he said when I'm legal to work I can work there as a buyer lol.

When the brain is not foggy I'll write a goldo article...I consider myself far from an expert but I'm getting there slowly but surely.

Well I don't run in the cold-water circles much since I don't keep the fish, but I know an expert when I see one. Experts aren't people who know it all - nobody knows it all and just when they think they do, some study or another refutes what they thought....lol. Experts, in my opinion, are people who have put a lot of time and effort into studying a species, focusing on the better sources of information (scientific studies, books, people who have vast experience, etc). I'm guessing that as a teacher, you are naturally inclined to seek out quality sources and dig deeper - it shows.

I think you should write a series. There's so much information when you try to factor in all of the varieties that you could write a book, as many have. It might be easier for you to do a general Goldfish article, and then do separate articles for each variety, group, or whatever works best for you. Any method is great of course, its just what the courses taught me...lol...and it is one of the things that made me glad I took them.

Can't wait to read it!