Keeping Fish

[politicalcenter]

I would love an all black comet, I've always wondered why black moors are a stable color but most other varieties that start black turn orange eventually. There aren't enough black goldfish.

I wonder about that too. The shubikin has a lot of black in it but I never see a solid black shubikin either.

I have some fish with good black traits and well formed comet tails and I have an all black goldfish. But getting solid black with a good Comet tail has been difficult. I like the tail on a Comet at least 2/3 of its body length.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

When I had my outside Goldie pond, I somehow ended up with a TON of them that were jet black and black with gold bellies. I didn't intentionally breed them, they'd just spawn in the Spring. I had a few butterfly koi and some feeders that had grown quite large in there. Most of them were unimpressive and went to friends outdoor ponds, but I kept a few of the jet black ones. They had beautiful flowing tails like the koi.
Gah, I miss my pond SO STINKING MUCH! Hubby had been digging me a good sized pond, whenever he gets it finished, its definitely going to need some fish residents. It was originally intended for our ducks, but I came to the conclusion that I'm just not a duck person. However, I AM a fish person and I so miss watching my beautiful koi. I'll see if I can find some pics of my old pond. I know I have pictures of the butterfly koi, not sure about the oopsie blacks though.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The problem is most of the black ones lose their color after a few years, how old were they, all of mine lost the black by 4-6 years, even my bicolored red and whites will often lose the red after a few years, my red caps lost the cap at around the same age of 5 and were white for the rest of their lives, but the moors maintain their color.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Shew, I can't really remember their exact age. They were probably around 5-6 years old and around 8-10" when we sold our house. They stayed jet black, but I did notice on the ones I rehomed (with the gold bellies), all of those fish went from black to a lovely shade of chocolate brown. My pond was in the shade though, I wonder if that helped them retain their rich black color? Like I said, I have no idea what went into the making of them. They just appeared after the fish had spawned one Spring. I probably couldn't reproduce those results if I tried!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I love brown ones too. I just love goldfish in general. Yours sounded very pretty.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

So do I
I think I've made up my mind on setting up my 55 gallon again. I believe I'll stock it with lots of live plants and a couple of Orandas! I used to have the CUTEST blue Oranda goldfish, it had the cutest little face (I love their "chubby cheeks").

 

[Shellybean02]

Good luck setting up your tank!
I think my tank is finally cycling, because I'm almost positive now that the ammonia is 0.5, and the results for nitrate and nitrite are usually white but now they have a bit of color (water testing strips, not the liquid kit). I hope the nitrite goes back to white soon so I can manage the nitrate, and my boys will be okay for sure. I'm still planning on what fish to fill my tank with, as I'm holding off on more bettas until I get a bigger tank.

 

[Shellybean02]

Hmm, Orlando is tilted again... should he get another salt bath? And for how long? I'll fast him for two more days(I fed him a dissolved pellet, I think it was yesterday) and give him a pea.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

So do I
I think I've made up my mind on setting up my 55 gallon again. I believe I'll stock it with lots of live plants and a couple of Orandas! I used to have the CUTEST blue Oranda goldfish, it had the cutest little face (I love their "chubby cheeks").

I have three blue orandas. You and I think alike. I have around 35 goldfish, my single tailed go outside during the summer, the rest are a mix of different varieties. I'm always looking to squeeze a few more in.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Hmm, Orlando is tilted again... should he get another salt bath? And for how long? I'll fast him for two more days(I fed him a dissolved pellet, I think it was yesterday) and give him a pea.

You probably shouldn't bother him with another salt bath. My betta male is also eating sideways, I'm not sure if this is normal or not. Perhaps it's a predator/prey thing, so they can look up and down at the same time to determine safety? No idea really.

Regards,
Leaf