Common Goldfish – Good Housekeeping for Ornamental Fish

Mohd Ashraf, Shabir Ahmad, Mansoor Ahmad, Mujahid khan & Najar. A.M

Central institute of fisheries education, Mumbai

Ornamental fish culture is fast emerging as a major branch of aquaculture globally. Aquarium keeping is the second largest hobby in the world next to photography and the ornamental fish and aquatic plant industry is fast gaining importance due to its tremendous economic opportunities and prospects. The world ornamental fish trade is to the tune of US$6 billion. In India it showed and increase from million US$ in 1969 to 0.18 million US$ in 1990. The growth of ornamental fish trade in India is very much encouraging. Most of the ornamental fishes cultured and marketed in India are exotic species. Our country has a rich and unique biodiversity with a variety of indigenous ornamental fishes. But this resource has not been properly exploited. The Western Ghats of India is a gold mine of tropical ornamental fishes and it is one of the 25 “hotspot” areas of the world. It exhibits exceptional mega biodiversity and high degree of endemism with respect to fresh water fishes. The potential of streams and rivers of the Western Ghats as a rich source of the ornamental fishes is yet to be recognized.

About 80% of ornamental fishes are from fresh waters and the rest from brackish and marine waters. While most of the ornamental species are warm water tropical except some eurythermal carps like gold fish koi are cold temperate in origin and now having a world wide distribution. (0% of the fresh water ornamental species are farmed and wild species through capture are only 10%. Incase of marine and brackish water species reverse is the case

1.     Pearl scale goldfishCarassius auratus auratus

         Common name: Pearlscale, fancy goldfish
         Scientific name: Carassius auratus auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
       Size: Pearlscales tend to reach a size of around 15-20cm/6-8″ when adult, and can be as large as a grapefruit.
Water: A very adaptable species that tolerates a wide range of water conditions. Neutral or slightly alkaline water (pH 7-8) is preferable, but there’s usually no real need to adjust water specifically. They’re happy in unheated (or coldwater) aquariums and tolerate a wide range of temperatures from near freezing to well into the high 30s Celsius. Goldfish are farmed in hot countries such as Singapore, so are quite happy in warmer water, providing it’s well aerated and well filtered. Fancy varieties tend not to do well at very low temperatures.

Diet: Wild goldfish feed on aquatic worms, insects and their larvae, algae and detritus. Captive ones do well on a diet of dried foods, but you can supplement this with frozen bloodworm and Daphnia to keep them in good condition. Too much dried foods, especially floating pellets and sticks, may cause digestive problems and bloating. Specialist colour foods, which contain extra colour enhancers based on carotenoid pigments, can help heighten the colour of goldfish. 
Aquarium: While previous generations have subjected goldfish to life within small, unfiltered glass goldfish bowls, modern fishkeepers know that these are entirely unsuitable for the fish. Not only are they far too small for a fish with the potential to reach 30cm/12Ó under good conditions, but it’s also nearly impossible to keep the water free of pollution, which means they’re exposed to harmful toxins for much of the time. This can cause stress, leave them open to disease, kill them, stunt their growth and generally shorten their lifespan.
There are lots of kit tanks on the market that manufacturers aim at the uninformed fishkeeper who wishes to keep goldfish. In many cases, these are too small, and while better than unfiltered bowls they do not represent a suitable longterm home for goldfish. Good shops will recommend that you purchase a large aquarium for the fish, along with a filter, and that you get the tank up and running and use the fishless cycling technique to activate the biological filter long before you purchase them. 
Opinions vary on the exact size of aquarium required for goldfish, even among experts. However, you really shouldn’t consider anything less than a 60cm/24Ó aquarium for two or three of the fancy varieties, or a 90cm/36Ó aquarium for four or five of the straight tailed ones. The optimum size for the species should really be something of 120cm/48Ó or more. Therefore, while a popular and easy-to-keep species, the space requirements of goldfish mean that they aren’t as practical as a beginner’s fish as many would assume. New fishkeepers might want to consider a 60cm/24Ó tropical freshwater community aquarium as their first tank instead.
The goldfish aquarium needs to include a good filter to help remove solid wastes (goldfish are large and messy fish) and keep the water free of pollution. You’ll need to wash the filter every couple of weeks in a bucket of old aquarium water (never under the tap, as this will kill the beneficial filter bacteria) and change about 25% of the water every week using a gravel cleaner to suck out debris trapped in the gravel. Top up with dechlorinated tapwater.

Pond suitability: Straight-tailed goldfish do very well in ponds, providing they are large and deep enough. Indeed, they’re better off in ponds than they are in aquariums. However, fancy goldfish are not ideally suited for to ponds. They are poor swimmers, which make them vulnerable to predators such as cats and herons, and are generally less hardy than straight-tailed varieties, which mean they’re unlikely to withstand cold winters, even in less exposed areas. 
Sexing: Once they are sexually mature, at a size of 10cm/4Ó or more, goldfish can be sexed. Sexing is easiest during the breeding season in spring and early summer when females become fat with eggs and males develop tiny raised white spots called tubercles on their heads, gill covers and pectoral fins. These spawning tubercles are sometimes mistaken for the whitespot parasite (Ichthyophthirius multifilliis), but they rarely extend away from the head area, unlike whitespot

Breeding: Goldfish are easy to breed and may spawn in the aquarium or pond. They are egg scatterers and show no parental care. Males chase plump females into plants during the early morning and fertilise the eggs as they are scattered over the vegetation and substrate. Both sexes may eat the eggs during courtship, as will other fish. The fry hatch after a few days and need to be fed very small foods, and then a progression of larger ones. Therefore, although they may spawn, it’s not common for fry to survive within the aquarium. Young goldfish are typically bronze in colour and develop their orange (or other colours) at the end of the first year. 
Notes: Pearlscales have thick deformed scales in which part of the scale is raised. This gives the fish a lumpy texture and, to my eye, makes them look like multi-coloured golfballs with fins. They’re supposed to look like they have pearls beneath the scales, hence the name. 
Normal pearlscales lack a hood, but one variety, often called the Crown pearlscale in the shops, develops a hood as it matures. Pearlscales are most commonly seen in white with various other colours on the body and fins, however, other colour forms can be found too. 
Like the other short-bodied forms of fancy goldfish, pearlscales can develop swim bladder disorders because their organs and swimbladder are squashed into a much smaller place than normal.

2.     RanchuCarassius auratus auratus

      Common name: Ranchu, fancy goldfish
        Scientific name: Carassius auratus auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
        Size: Ranchus tend not to get quite as big as other goldfish varieties, and a size of around 15cm/6″ is about the norm for an adult. 
Water: A very adaptable species that tolerates a wide range of water conditions. Neutral or slightly alkaline water (pH 7-8) is preferable, but there’s usually no real need to adjust water specifically. They’re happy in unheated (or coldwater) aquariums and tolerate a wide range of temperatures from near freezing to well into the high 30s Celsius. Goldfish are farmed in hot countries such as Singapore, so are quite happy in warmer water, providing it’s well aerated and well filtered. Fancy varieties tend not to do well at very low temperatures

Diet: Wild goldfish feed on aquatic worms, insects and their larvae, algae and detritus. Captive ones do well on a diet of dried foods, but you can supplement this with frozen bloodworm and Daphnia to keep them in good condition. Too much dried foods, especially floating pellets and sticks, may cause digestive problems and bloating. Specialist colour foods, which contain extra colour enhancers based on carotenoid pigments, can help heighten the colour of goldfish. 
Aquarium: While previous generations have subjected goldfish to life within small, unfiltered glass goldfish bowls, modern fishkeepers know that these are entirely unsuitable for the fish. Not only are they far too small for a fish with the potential to reach 30cm/12Ó under good conditions, but it’s also nearly impossible to keep the water free of pollution, which means they’re exposed to harmful toxins for much of the time. This can cause stress, leave them open to disease, kill them, stunt their growth and generally shorten their lifespan.

There are lots of kit tanks on the market that manufacturers aim at the uninformed fishkeeper who wishes to keep goldfish. In many cases, these are too small, and while better than unfiltered bowls they do not represent a suitable longterm home for goldfish. Good shops will recommend that you purchase a large aquarium for the fish, along with a filter, and that you get the tank up and running and use the fishless cycling technique to activate the biological filter long before you purchase them. 
Opinions vary on the exact size of aquarium required for goldfish, even among experts. However, you really shouldn’t consider anything less than a 60cm/24Ó aquarium for two or three of the fancy varieties, or a 90cm/36Ó aquarium for four or five of the straight tailed ones. The optimum size for the species should really be something of 120cm/48Ó or more. Therefore, while a popular and easy-to-keep species, the space requirements of goldfish mean that they aren’t as practical as a beginner’s fish as many would assume. New fishkeepers might want to consider a 60cm/24Ó tropical freshwater community aquarium as their first tank instead.
The goldfish aquarium needs to include a good filter to help remove solid wastes (goldfish are large and messy fish) and keep the water free of pollution. You’ll need to wash the filter every couple of weeks in a bucket of old aquarium water (never under the tap, as this will kill the beneficial filter bacteria) and change about 25% of the water every week using a gravel cleaner to suck out debris trapped in the gravel. Top up with dechlorinated tapwater.

Breeding: Goldfish are easy to breed and may spawn in the aquarium or pond. They are egg scatterers and show no parental care. Males chase plump females into plants during the early morning and fertilise the eggs as they are scattered over the vegetation and substrate. Both sexes may eat the eggs during courtship, as will other fish. The fry hatch after a few days and need to be fed very small foods, and then a progression of larger ones. Therefore, although they may spawn, it’s not common for fry to survive within the aquarium. Young goldfish are typically bronze in colour and develop their orange (or other colours) at the end of the first year. 
Notes: The Ranchu is a variety of fancy goldfish originally developed in Japan. It’s very similar in appearance to the Lionhead, which was developed in China. The Ranchu has an arched back with no dorsal fin and a short twin tail. The similar looking Lionhead has a less curved back and the tail is situated a bit further up than on the Ranchu. 
Ranchus come in lots of colours, with red, orange and white (and combinations thereof) being the most common. Sometimes you might also find blue, bronze and calico ones on sale too. Black ones, for some reason, usually come from China. 
Like the Oranda, the Ranchu develops a growth on its head as it matures, giving it a very chubby, comical looking face with enormously fat “cheeks”. Their cute appearance makes them a popular variety with female fishkeepers. The variety is believed to date back to the 1600s, but the hood didn’t arrive in the breeding line until some time afterwards. 
The odd fish is sometimes seen with an uneven spine, and goldfish fanciers reject these, instead preferring those with a smooth curve to the back.

3. Bubble-eye goldfish, Carassius auratus auratus

Common name: Bubble-eye goldfish, fancy goldfish
Scientific name: Carassius auratus auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Size: Bubble-eyes tend not to get quite as big as other goldfish varieties, and a size of around 15cm/6″ is about the norm for an adult. 
Water: A very adaptable species that tolerates a wide range of water conditions. Neutral or slightly akaline water (pH 7-8) is preferable, but there’s usually no real need to adjust water specifically. They’re happy in unheated (or coldwater) aquariums and tolerate a wide range of temperatures from near freezing to well into the high 30s Celsius. Goldfish are farmed in hot countries such as Singapore, so are quite happy in warmer water, providing it’s well aerated and well filtered. Fancy varieties tend not to do well at very low temperatures. 
Diet: Wild goldfish feed on aquatic worms, insects and their larvae, algae and detritus. Captive ones do well on a diet of dried foods, but you can supplement this with frozen bloodworm and Daphnia to keep them in good condition. Too much dried foods, especially floating pellets and sticks, may cause digestive problems and bloating. Specialist colour foods, which contain extra colour enhancers based on carotenoid pigments, can help heighten the colour of goldfish.

Aquarium: While previous generations have subjected goldfish to life within small, unfiltered glass goldfish bowls, modern fishkeepers know that these are entirely unsuitable for the fish. Not only are they far too small for a fish with the potential to reach 30cm/12Ó under good conditions, but it’s also nearly impossible to keep the water free of pollution, which means they’re exposed to harmful toxins for much of the time. This can cause stress, leave them open to disease, kill them, stunt their growth and generally shorten their lifespan.
There are lots of kit tanks on the market that manufacturers aim at the uninformed fishkeeper who wishes to keep goldfish. In many cases, these are too small, and while better than unfiltered bowls they do not represent a suitable longterm home for goldfish. Good shops will recommend that you purchase a large aquarium for the fish, along with a filter, and that you get the tank up and running and use the fishless cycling technique to activate the biological filter long before you purchase them. 
Opinions vary on the exact size of aquarium required for goldfish, even among experts. However, you really shouldn’t consider anything less than a 60cm/24Ó aquarium for two or three of the fancy varieties, or a 90cm/36Ó aquarium for four or five of the straight tailed ones. The optimum size for the species should really be something of 120cm/48Ó or more

Therefore, while a popular and easy-to-keep species, the space requirements of goldfish mean that they aren’t as practical as a beginner’s fish as many would assume. New fishkeepers might want to consider a 60cm/24Ó tropical freshwater community aquarium as their first tank instead.
The goldfish aquarium needs to include a good filter to help remove solid wastes (goldfish are large and messy fish) and keep the water free of pollution. You’ll need to wash the filter every couple of weeks in a bucket of old aquarium water (never under the tap, as this will kill the beneficial filter bacteria) and change about 25% of the water every week using gravel cleaner to suck out debris trapped in the gravel. Top up with dechlorinated tapwater. 
It’s vital with bubble-eyes that the flow isn’t too strong, as they’re poor swimmers and find feeding difficult due to the position of their eyes. You also need to ensure that the aquarium contains nothing sharp that might puncture the fluid-filled sacs under the eyes of the fish.

Breeding: Goldfish are easy to breed and may spawn in the aquarium or pond. They are egg scatterers and show no parental care. Males chase plump females into plants during the early morning and fertilise the eggs as they are scattered over the vegetation and substrate. Both sexes may eat the eggs during courtship, as will other fish. The fry hatch after a few days and need to be fed very small foods, and then a progression of larger ones. Therefore, although they may spawn, it’s not common for fry to survive within the aquarium. Young goldfish are typically bronze in colour and develop their orange (or other colours) at the end of the first year. 
Notes: The bubble-eye is one of the most controversial breeds of fancy goldfish, and one that would undoubtedly create uproar if it was produced today. It’s certainly a strain which has some health issues and implications for aquarium care, and is by no means a variety I like or recommend. Like many fancy goldfish, the bubble-eye was bred centuries ago to be kept in shallow pools, and is by no means a recent development. Back then, breeders selected for fish that had upwardly gazing eyes and no dorsal fin. Those who show the fish are looking for eyes that look upwards, with two unblemished sacs of equal size, and a smooth back with a missing dorsal fin. 
The bubble-eye gene is sometimes expressed in other goldfish strains, so you may see other breeds of goldfish bearing the characteristic sacs below their eyes. Bubble-eyes are usually red, white and orange, or a combination of all three, but rarely calico and black varieties are also seen in the shops.

4. Oranda goldfishCarassius auratus auratus

Common name: Oranda, fancy goldfish
Scientific name: Carassius auratus auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Size: Up to around 30cm/12Ó, but usually nearer 15-20cm/6-8Ó. 
Water: A very adaptable species that tolerates a wide range of water conditions. Neutral or slightly akaline water (pH 7-8) is preferable, but there’s usually no real need to adjust water specifically. They’re happy in unheated (or coldwater) aquariums and tolerate a wide range of temperatures from near freezing to well into the high 30s Celsius. Goldfish are farmed in hot countries such as Singapore, so are quite happy in warmer water, providing it’s well aerated and well filtered. Fancy varieties tend not to do well at very low temperatures. 
Diet: Wild goldfish feed on aquatic worms, insects and their larvae, algae and detritus. Captive ones do well on a diet of dried foods, but you can supplement this with frozen bloodworm and Daphnia to keep them in good condition. Too much dried foods, especially floating pellets and sticks, may cause digestive problems and bloating. Specialist colour foods, which contain extra colour enhancers based on carotenoid pigments, can help heighten the colour of goldfish.

Aquarium: While previous generations have subjected goldfish to life within small, unfiltered glass goldfish bowls, modern fishkeepers know that these are entirely unsuitable for the fish. Not only are they far too small for a fish with the potential to reach 30cm/12Ó under good conditions, but it’s also nearly impossible to keep the water free of pollution, which means they’re exposed to harmful toxins for much of the time. This can cause stress, leave them open to disease, kill them, stunt their growth and generally shorten their lifespan.
There are lots of kit tanks on the market that manufacturers aim at the uninformed fishkeeper who wishes to keep goldfish. In many cases, these are too small, and while better than unfiltered bowls they do not represent a suitable longterm home for goldfish. Good shops will recommend that you purchase a large aquarium for the fish, along with a filter, and that you get the tank up and running and use the fishless cycling technique to activate the biological filter long before you purchase them. 
Opinions vary on the exact size of aquarium required for goldfish, even among experts. However, you really shouldn’t consider anything less than a 60cm/24Ó aquarium for two or three of the fancy varieties, or a 90cm/36Ó aquarium for four or five of the straight tailed ones. The optimum size for the species should really be something of 120cm/48Ó or more. Therefore, while a popular and easy-to-keep species, the space requirements of goldfish mean that they aren’t as practical as a beginner’s fish as many would assume. New fishkeepers might want to consider a 60cm/24Ó tropical freshwater community aquarium as their first tank instead.The goldfish aquarium needs to include a good filter to help remove solid wastes (goldfish are large and messy fish) and keep the water free of pollution. You’ll need to wash the filter every couple of weeks in a bucket of old aquarium water (never under the tap, as this will kill the beneficial filter bacteria) and change about 25% of the water every week using a gravel cleaner to suck out debris trapped in the gravel. Top up with dechlorinated tapwater. 
Breeding: Goldfish are easy to breed and may spawn in the aquarium or pond. They are egg scatterers and show no parental care. Males chase plump females into plants during the early morning and fertilise the eggs as they are scattered over the vegetation and substrate. Both sexes may eat the eggs during courtship, as will other fish. The fry hatch after a few days and need to be fed very small foods, and then a progression of larger ones. Therefore, although they may spawn, it’s not common for fry to survive within the aquarium. Young goldfish are typically bronze in colour and develop their orange (or other colours) at the end of the first year.

Notes: The Oranda is a man-made or selectively-bred form of goldfish. It is one of the largest bodied fancy goldfish varieties and can reach larger sizes than some other forms, with specimens often reaching a good 20cm/8″ in length and sometimes up to 30cm/12″. These heavyweights are of similar proportions to a grapefruit or melon (plus trailing fins), so they’re not a variety for the smaller tank. As it matures, the Oranda develops a large fleshy growth on its head known as a hood or wen, and the fins become much more elongated. The tail is usually comprised of two tails and four lobes. Fish in poor health, or kept in poor water conditions, often develop infections on their tails which may cause rotting or haemorrhaging. Most Orandas are red, orange, white or a combination of these colours. However, blue, black and calico specimens are also seen sometimes. You may also see specimens with features found on other fancy goldfish varieties, such as pom pons (which have deformed nasal polyps) and bubble-eyes, which have fluid-filled sacs beneath their eyes.