types of goldfish

[The-Wolf]

I've been bored over the last few days, so I put together this little guide

TYPES OF GOLDFISH

There are several types of goldfish available to the fish keeper, all have been breed from the Gibel carp Carassius auratus gibelio

The Common

Description
Slender in body shape with a short sleek tail fin.
comments
The common is an extremely hardy fish and has the potential to reach 24 inches/ 61cm.
The average life span is 30 years; however the oldest know goldfish was Tish who lived to the ripe old age of 42 (Guinness book of records).
32-90 degrees F/ zero-32 degrees C

The Comet

Description
Slender in body shape with a long single tail fin.
comments
Again a very hardy fish that has the potential to reach 22 inches/56cm.
The average life span is 20 years.
32-90 degrees F/ zero-32 degrees C

The Shubunkin

Description
Slender in body like the comets and commons, but should show in colour the violet, red, orange and yellow and with spots of black (calico colours). Also these colours should run into the fins too.
comments
The are two types of Shubunkin available, The Bristol and the London. The one pictured is the Bristol.
Yet another hardy fish that has the potential to reach 12 inches/ 30.5cm.
The average lifespan is 25 years.
32-90 degrees F/ zero-32 degrees C

Fancy goldfish (Fancies)

Fantails

Description
Egg shape body with long doubled or short tail fins.
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 14 inches/ 35.5cm
The average life span is 12 years.
32-90 degrees F/ zero-32 degrees C
Note; This was the starting point for all the fancy goldfish.

Moores

Description
A velvety black coloured fish with telescope eyes and an egg shaped body.
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 10 inches/ 25.4cm
The average life span is 25 years.
32-82 degrees F/ zero-28 degrees C
True moores are not available in any other colours.


Pearlscales

Description
Egg shaped goldfish but normally their mid region is much larger than most of the other egg shaped goldfish. The scales have a pearl raised appearance.
comments
They are not a hardy fish and have the potential to reach 10 inches/ 25.4cm
The average life span is 25 years.
32-82 degrees F/ zero-28 degrees C
Available in many colours.


The Oranda

Description
Egg shaped body with head growth (wen).
comments
The wen growth should be well developed. Fin length should be long and flowing.
Available in many colours.
They are fairly hardy fish and have the potential to reach 10 inches/ 25.4cm
The average life span is 25 years.
74 -78 degrees F/ 23-26 degrees C


The Ryukin

Description
Close looking to the fantail goldfish, but they have a hump back to them that starts just after the head of the goldfish.
comments
They are fairly hardy fish and have the potential to reach 10 inches /25.4cm
The average life span is 25 years.
74 -78 degrees F/ 23-26 degrees C


The Telescope
Description
Egg shaped goldfish with telescope eyes.
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 8 inches/ 20cm
The average life span is 25 years.
70-78 degrees F/ 21-26 degrees C

There are many different kinds of telescoped goldfish; they should have long flowing fins. They also come in many colours and different sized eyes.
Not to be confused with the Bubble eye.

The Pom-pon

Description
Egg shaped fish either with or without fins. The Pom-pon you see is the nostrils in excessive development. Some fish have it very lightly and others have very big ones.
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 8 inches/ 20cm
The average life span is 25 years.
74 -78 degrees F/ 23-26 degrees C

The Demekin

Description
A cross between a Ryukin and a Telescope. They have a high arched back with telescoped eyes.
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 10 inches/ 25.4cm
The average life span is 20 years.
70-74 degrees F/ 21-23 degrees C


The Veiltail

Description
Long flowing fins that droops off the body. The fins look like a veil of a bride head dress. Body is an egged shaped and the colour of the fish comes in many colours.
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 10 inches/ 25.4cm
The average life span is 16 years.
70-78 degrees F/ 21-26 degrees C

The Eggfish

Description
Egg shaped goldfish, but this fish has long flowing fins. some people call them Phoenix Eggfish. There is no dorsal fin on this fish.
comments
They are not a hardy fish and have the potential to reach 10 inches/ 25.4cm
The average life span is 25 years.
70-74 degrees F/ 21-23 degrees C
A very rare fish to find.

The Lionhead
Description
Egg shaped goldfish, but its back is pretty much in a straight line with head growth on it. No dorsal fin on this fish.
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 8 inches/ 20cm
The average life span is 15 years.
70-74 degrees F/ 21-23 degrees C

The Ranchu

Description
Egg shaped goldfish, but its back is curved then you will see a tail tuck of 90 degrees with head or with out growth on it. No dorsal fin on this fish.
comments
They are a hardy fish and have the potential to reach 8inches/ 20cm
The average life span is 15 years.
70-74 degrees F/ 21-23 degrees C

The Celestial

Description
Egg shaped goldfish, but its eyes are pointing up words to the sky. No dorsal fin on this fish
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 10 inches/ 25.4cm
The average life span is 7 years.
78-80 degrees F/ 26-27 degrees C
The eyes start out normal and move as the fish matures. Rather delicate and sensitive to the cold.

The Bubble eye

Description
Egg shaped fish like the celestial with large, fluid-filled sacks under the eyes. These fish require special tanks with no sharp objects. No dorsal fin on this fish
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 6inches/ 15.2cm
The average life span is 10 years.
70-74 degrees F/ 21-23 degrees C
These bubbles are delicate and are easily damaged. They will repair themselves in time. Care should be given to tank decorations and other fish to prevent damage. Are best kept with other Bubble eye or Celestial

The Wakin

Description
Slender in body shape with a divided tail fin
comments
They are somewhat hardy fish and have the potential to reach 12 inches/ 30.5cm
The average life span is unknown.
70-74 degrees F/ 21-23 degrees C

Have I missed one? do tell.

All pictures, except Gibel carp, are used with the kind permission of the
Bristol Aquarists' Society

 

[ncjharris]

Good post Wolf.

Lots of people forget about little ol' coldwater fish sometimes!
Although not so little sometimes!

 

[black angel]

good post wolf. you missed the tosakin and jikin, thats all i can think just now. phoenix has a longer veiled tail than the egg fish.

 

[The-Wolf]

I didn't include tosakins as there are extreamly rare outside of Japan;
I need to find more info on the jikin, like lifespan etc before adding it

 

[Sandusky]

Awesome post wolf, I love all those wonderful pictures. I have a suggestion though, for some new people who would like to keep these fish but do not know their tank/pond specifications, it'd help them if you had a little description about how many gallons they would need to thrive.

 

[sylvia]

Very useful post. Maybe just a note at the start to direct people to the other pinned topic (I think it's lurking around here somwhere) about goldfish tank sizes would be a good idea. Also, you've missed the nymph goldfish as well (single-tailed fantail ) but I suppose they are usualy considered anomalies rather than a real breed anyway. They'd have the same exact size and life expectations as an ordinary fantail as the only difference is the single tail.

 

[-*-MicHAeL-*-]

great post wolf get a mod to pin it

 

[firefighter1588]

great post , exactly what ive been looking for, there are so many types of coldwater fish that dont think i will bother with a tropical tank, keep up the good work

 

[WILDER]

Great wolf, and you found my lost picture had that one of the cute ranchu.

 

[Lateral Line]

A number of points.

First, all the measurements are Imperial, 95% of the world use metric. There are some "special characters" which do not render in most browsers with the current board software. Some of the data appears to be "unlikey", eg., Celestial, 78 to 80, (F), i.e. a temperature range of less then 1C?

Otherwise I'd welcome a broader article.

 

[Mad Duff]

One point about the Wakin in my experience the Wakin is happy at the same temperatures as normal Goldfish, I have them living happily along side goldfish and koi in my pond. They were bought at 2" about 3 years ago and are now nearly 7" .

 

[black angel]

I love wakin and want some for my pond. They are beautiful fish, especially the red and white ones.

 

[The-Wolf]

First, all the measurements are Imperial, 95% of the world use metric. There are some "special characters" which do not render in most browsers with the current board software.

valid points and article has been amended to reflect them

Some of the data appears to be "unlikey", eg., Celestial, 78 to 80, (F), i.e. a temperature range of less then 1C?

I did do an extensive search on the web concerning the ideal temp ranges for each fish, also when asking permission to use bristols aquarists societys' pictures I linked them to the article and asked if they felt that anything was misleading, to which the reply was no.
If you can provide evidence to the contary I'd be glad to edit the article to reflect it.

I do like to think that my post are as acurate as I can make them and will always amend any that are found to be "unlikey"

 

[firefighter1588]

hi wolf, i hope "Lateral line" has'nt discouraged you from posting in the future. You gave up some of your own time to help and inform people who want to keep coldwater fish and, i have to say, did a pretty good job of it. keep up the good work

 

[l337dave]

hi wolf, i hope "Lateral line" has'nt discouraged you from posting in the future. You gave up some of your own time to help and inform people who want to keep coldwater fish and, i have to say, did a pretty good job of it. keep up the good work

just a question - do all Ranchu have the headgrowth?


dave.