My fancy goldfish tank

[DMD123]

Today I await the shipment of my Apache Ranchu... and of course the day is dragging, lol.

Had started my fish on the Saki-Hikari food and Wow, these are little sticks (baby is only size they make). The fish dont seem that excited about them either. I did end up ordering some Hikari Lionhead which is a mini pellet so likely a better size.

I feed the two fish and they are very slow eaters with what I think is a slow all day grazing they must be doing. I sit and watch them eat and there is food left around after about 10 minutes or so. I come back hours later and do a gravel vac and no uneaten food!

Since the Saki-Hikari hasnt been that great I tried some sinking Large NLS Probiotix and they seemed to love it. I think i will continue to use this on them. I do think it might be difficult finding the right sized food for these guys when they are in the 5" range. Likely it won't be a commercial food marked as for goldfish. Likely a good 3mm sinking from NLS (Goldfish and Algaemax?) or something like that.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

For whatever reason they will cram the biggest / most pieces in that they can. I accidentally got mini pellets instead of sticks once and ended up crushing it as Endler food filler / fry chow. They just wouldn't touch it. Koi pellets or sticks that shouldn't fit in their mouth? I'll have three lol

They're fun lol

 

[DMD123]

New Ranchu in the tank, still a bit stressed and color is pretty faded

 

[DMD123]

I apparently have a female goldfish... Eggs everywhere

 

[DMD123]

The original two fish (red and White Lionchu) from King Koi are very settled in now and eating very well. The newer fish from Goldfish Island still seems like he is settling in but also eating quite well. Im totally happy with the color, size and overall well being of the two from King Koi. The one from Goldfish Island Im kind of iffy about. Even though there was a good picture selection and video, Im not really happy with the real world coloration of the fish. Maybe once fully settled in the colors may darken? Or as I researched later and found out that the Apache are unstable at a young age and the blacks can transition to gold. So who knows what I will get there.

Im still waiting on my Super Black too. Again a third different vendor so we will see how they do especially in light of the fact its the sellers choice in fish with me requesting a larger male fish.

Ive also been considering a couple Orandas. The patterns seen much more stable. Something about the lack of dorsal fin on the ranchu seems like it makes for some weird patterns. I an thinking of a Tricolor and or Panda.

Overall Im very happy switching over the tank to goldfish and could see a possibility of getting more in the future. Will update as fish grow .

 

[DMD123]

Easily figured out the female goldfish since the male Apache ranchu has been hounding her all morning. She is the one with no red on the body, just the red head.

 

[sir_keith]

...Something about the lack of dorsal fin on the ranchu seems like it makes for some weird patterns...

That's because early in embryogenesis a collection of multipotential stem cells called neural crest cells migrate to the dorsal side of the developing neural tube, just below the presumptive ectoderm that will become the dorsal surface of the embryo. This is the area where the dorsal fin will eventually form, so mutations that affect dorsal fin development often affect cell lineages that derive from neural crest precursor cells, and among these are melanocytes and other cell types that affect pigmentation. Aren't you glad you asked?

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[DMD123]

Aren't you glad you asked?

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Actually I appreciate the info. When a genetic abnormality is being bred like this lack of dorsal fin, it makes sense other factors would be affected too.

 

[DMD123]

Been feeding the fish the Burgundy bag of Saki-Hikari pellets and they are doing well on it. No bloating or floating so far unlike other online reports with this food. The pellets are a small stick and I wont be able to feed for much longer because at some point it will just be too little. At that point I will switch to Hikari Lionhead and eventually likely the large sized pellet of NLS Goldfish and Algaemax.

The fish are ridiculously cute and as Ive mentioned before, I hope this is not the gateway fish that gets me into blood parrots and flowerhorns, lol.

At this point also still waiting on my black ranchu. Not happy with the vendor, website does make it seem like the fish is stocked, but apparently it has to be imported in, that is pretty much the response when you look up my order. The say it could ship next week on the 20-23... will see. Also will see the quality of the ish i get at that point too.