Some pix from friend Perry Chong of Singapore of his shopping in Goldfish Street in Hong Kong

goldfish breeders?   8/27/09
Hello,
<Hi there>
I simply have a question that I hope you can answer. It's difficult finding a quality Oranda goldfish breeder here in southern California, so my best bet was to ask you guys if you know of any Oranda goldfish breeders that you would recommend?
<Mmm... it's been so many years since I was active in the trade... I just tried to look via the Net to see if folks I knew in the Sacto area were still about. My best advice (what I would do) is to read through, contact folks at the American Goldfish Association: http://www.americangoldfish.org/
and ask re>
Does not necessarily have to be in southern California, as long as they ship. Thanks!
<Please do report back your experience, observations. Bob Fenner>

Veggie Clip Use, GF fdg. (also, mixing Fancy Goldfish varieties) 5/4/2009
I have a fairly new, 26 gal. system (5 weeks)and a large Chocolate Oranda about 2x4 in., I had a smaller one and lost him, I think due to diet from all I have read as I was only feeding flake food, by the time I knew about feeding peas and such it was too late for him. I started feeding my remaining Oranda one pea a day and pellet or flake food for the second feeding.
<Sounds great.>
Yesterday I purchased a veggie clip, put a small piece of peeled zucchini in this and he loved it....anyway, The little glutton has just about eat that small piece as I left it in there. How long can I leave this in and can I
give him this on a reg. basis?
<You can leave plant food in the tank as long as you want. It won't harm water quality. By all means pipette out (turkey basters are ideal) any bits that are messing up the tank visually, but otherwise, don't worry about it.
It's a good idea to have some thing green for these fish to nibble on 365 days of the year. If you can't manage that, don't worry. Just so long as your Goldies get some greens two or three times a week, they're fine.>
I guess My main question would be what would you consider a well balance diet for a large choc. Oranda?
<Difficult to say, because they're total omnivores, like humans, and adapt to most anything within moderation. It's when we give them *just* dried foods things go wrong. I'd say 2-3 days of flake/pellets, and the rest green foods would be about right. But feel free to mix it up a little. If you're away on vacation, dump some Elodea (pondweed) in the tank, and leave your Goldfish to graze on that for 2 weeks. He'd be just fine on that.>
I want to get him a friend when the local shop get some more. I didn't realize they would be so hard to come by.
<Some of Fancy Goldfish can be hard to track down! But good pet shops should be able to order in specific fish for you. By all means mix varieties, provided you keep varieties that are similar in boisterousness and swimming ability. I'd consider single-tail Goldfish best kept together (Standards, Comets, Shubunkins) and apart from Fancy Goldfish. Within the Fancy Goldfish, the "hardy" Fancy varieties like Moors and Fantails work well together, but the more "delicate" varieties such as Orandas, Ryukins and the like are better mixed-and-matched amongst their own kind. The really delicate Fancies, such as Celestials, Bubble-eyes and Ranchu are difficult to mix, and do best in single variety tanks.>
He is a beautiful orange and black named "smooch" as he will eat from my fingers!
<How sweet!>
Thanks for any advice!
Glenda
<Cheers, Neale.>

Goldfish Questions, sys, sel. of varieties...  – 04/12/09
Hello,
I was recently thinking of purchasing goldfish,
<Make sure you read first, and are prepared to buy a big aquarium; at least 125 l/30 gallons, and ideally more, and with a serious filter to boot, not some poky hang-on-the-back unit.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/goldfish101art.htm
Most folks get small tanks, often kidding themselves they'll upgrade later;
the end result is invariably a sick or dead Goldfish.>
but I didn't know which type of goldfish that I should get. I was wondering what type of goldfish would live long and fits a beginner like me.
<Most any, provided the tank is sufficiently large. Comets and Shubunkins for example are fast and active fish and need plenty of space, while Black Moors don't get so big or swim so much.>
I was actually thinking of choosing an orange Oranda, but when I searched it online, I saw really big Orandas with large things on their heads. The one I saw at the pet shop (and the one that I was hoping to buy) was way smaller and cuter, and the lump on the head was smaller. Does that mean that the ones that i saw were babies?
<Likely; all Orandas will get fairly large, 20 cm/8 inches upwards.>
Or were they a different kind of Orandas?
Also, what kind of tank size would 2-3 Orandas need?
<See above.>
Thank you for reviewing this e-mail and I hope to hear from you again soon.
:)
--
Sincerely,
Shirley
<Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Goldfish Questions – 04/12/09
Hi again.
About the goldfish question...
After I read your reply, I was thinking of buying a more smaller type of fish. I can purchase a big tank for the Oranda goldfish, and provide it a lot of care, but i was thinking of a smaller fish, that doesn't grow too
big. And when i mean my smaller fish, I do not mean the little 1-inch fish, but fish that are at least 10 cm. Also, a fish that lives more than 2-3 years is fine. I searched on your website, but none of them caught my
interest. What do you recommend? /> --
Sincerely,
Shirley
<Have written about stocking relatively small tanks here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_3/stocking.htm
Unless you're an expert fishkeeper, don't waste your time or money (or fish lives) buying a system less than 15-20 gallons in size; 10 gallon and smaller tanks are [a] difficult to stock properly; and [b] difficult to
maintain. We get dozens of messages each week from people who have made this common mistake, and it's very depressing for me to read them all! Bite the bullet, get a 20 gallon tank (which takes up little more space than a 10 gallon system, and doesn't cost much more either) and start keeping fish the sensible way. If you're thinking about an aquarium smaller than even 10 gallons, then think about getting a vase, filling it with water, and sticking in some cut flowers. Seriously. This will be better for everyone!
Very small tanks rarely work unless you're an expert fishkeeper and know precisely what you're doing. Cheers, Neale.>

Goldfish, var.s, sel., sys.    02/06/09
Hello all, hope things are going well for you there. I have a question about goldfish please. I have a 75 gallon f/w tank that is just about finished cycling (fishless) and keep going back and forth in my choices about which fish to keep. I went into a local pet store today to buy dogfood and strolled over to the fish area. I saw some goldfish and went
over to investigate. I never realized there were so many types, some very beautiful. Please tell me the main differences I would have to acclimate to if I decided to go with goldfish, as well as which types you would recommend and which ones might mix with regular tropical fish, if any.
Also, if you feel it is not a good idea to fool with goldfish please let me know that as well. Thank you, James
<Goldfish are indeed lovely fish. I've often said that if they cost hundreds of dollars, people would fall over themselves to keep them. But because they're cheap, we tend to ignore them. The reality is that Goldfish are colourful fish well worth keeping. The problem is that they need space, but if you 75 gallons to play with, you're fine. The main issues to deal with are these: Firstly, it's not a good idea to mix Standard and Fancy Goldfish. Standard Goldfish are any with a single tail, not just "Common Goldfish", but also things like Shubunkins and Comets. All the Standard Goldfish are fast-moving fish, and they tend to be boisterous and sometimes bullies. They mix great with one another, so if you like them, by all means mix them. I have a great fondness for the Koi-like Shubunkins, and I know Bob F. is a fan of the Comet, one of the few truly American varieties of Goldfish. Either way, these are spectacular fish. In recent years a lemon yellow version of the Common Goldfish has appeared in the UK trade, and it's a lovely animal as well. Now, on to the Fancies. There are two classes here, the "hardy" ones and the "delicate" ones. The hardy ones are things
like Fantails and Black Moors; while they have forked-tails and crooked backs, they are otherwise fairly robust, and with care can even be combined with Standards, provided you make sure everyone gets fed. The "delicate" ones are the varieties with odd deformities (for want of a better term) to the head or abdomen, missing dorsal fins, and so on. Examples include Celestials, Ranchus, Bubble-eyes and so on. All these varieties are best kept in groups of a single variety per aquarium. Otherwise they are prone to being damaged, bullied or otherwise losing out at feeding time. I'm not wild about mixing Goldfish with tropical fish, but you certainly can mix some varieties (Standards and hardy Fancies) with *subtropical* fish when maintained around 20 C (68 F). Things like Corydoras paleatus and Florida
Flagfish work quite well. Paradise fish are another option, though some Macropodus species are more aggressive than others, so take care here. The main thing is to avoid keeping nippy species (e.g., Rosy Barbs, Mosquitofish) with Fancy varieties, and obviously don't keep anything "bite size" with big Goldfish (e.g., White Cloud Mountain Minnows, small Danio species). Hope this helps, Neale.>

Re: Goldfish  02/06/09
Thank you Neale. From what you say it seems that if I wanted a more slower moving group in the tank the fancies would be the way to go?
<If you want Fancy goldfish, then yes, an aquarium just for them is best.>
Also do most varieties of the fancies get along together?
<As stated, it depends. Ones that "merely" have the round body and double fins, like Black Moors, Ryukins and Fantails, can be mixed. But the more delicate forms, like Orandas, Pom-poms, Celestials, Bubble-eyes, Lionheads,
Ranchus and Pearlscales are all best kept in single-variety tanks. At the very least, the aquarist has to evaluate each fish on a case-by-case basis.
Oranda and Ranchus might be kept together, but Celestials shouldn't be mixed with anything. Essentially, ask yourself this: is the deformity of variety X such that it couldn't compete for food with, or be likely to bossed about by, variety Y.>
What would be the maximum number to put in a 75 gallon tank?
<A safe approach is to allow 20 gallons for the first Goldfish, and then 10 gallons for each additional fish, assuming commensurate filtration and water changes. Fancies do tend to be smaller than Standards, but that bit more sensitive to water quality issues. So let's say 6-7 specimens.>
I have a sand bottom and some artificial plants along with some java fern.
Will these fish root up the artificial plants or eat java fern?
<Yes, they dig up sand. But Java fern attached to bogwood should be fine.>
One of the main things I wanted to ask I forgot to. I have read that these are extremely messy fish, putting off more waste than tropicals and also putting off a lot of ammonia. I guess this will mean more tank maintenance than usual?
<"More maintenance" depends on filtration. Beefy filtration, i.e., water turnover 6-8 times the volume of the tank per hour, should keep water changes and tank cleaning down to normal levels.>
And if I did not keep any tropicals with these would I even need a heater at all?
<Goldfish are fine at comfortable room temperatures. Slightly cooling in winter is no problem, though Fancy varieties cannot handle frosty conditions and get Finrot easily if allowed to get cooler than, say, 15 degrees C (59 F).>
Thank you again for your help.
James
<Cheers, Neale.>

Is it possible to piggy-back goldfish to an existing order?  Sel.
Hello! I am a goldfish hobbyist in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. I really want 4 - 6 individual Malaysian ping pong Pearlscale (tiku's) goldfish, with the tiny pointy heads and double wide Pearlscale bodies. Is there any way to add on just a few fish to an order already coming to the USA from Ipoh, Malaysia??? They are not available anywhere near me nor via web ordering that I can find, only the Pearlscale Orandas are readily available imported from China (or domestically bred) which isn't what I want at this time.
Thanks for any advice or help on this subject!!!! I truly appreciate any help or advice you can offer. The minimum orders are for wholesalers only and I am not a wholesaler.
Gratefully,
Lisa
<Lisa, this is a question to ask your retailer. The better retailers will order in special batches of fish for their customers, but within certain constraints. Fish are traded in boxes, and so while you could order six goldfish from one particular breeder, your retailer would likely have to add some other stock to make up a minimum order. All this varies from place to place, so while I can say that some retailers will order remarkably small quantities of fish for valued clients, often this either takes time (because they need to wait to fill up an entire order) or else becomes expensive (because shipping a half empty box costs the same as a full box, and the price of the livestock is usually a tiny amount compared with air freight). In the meantime, you could ask around on any fish clubs or online forums in your country, and see if there are any local breeders. Cheers, Neale.>