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Passport
- Family
- Fancy Goldfish
- Grows to
- 20 cm (7.9")
- Lives
- 10–15 years
- TemperamentSuggested
- Peaceful
- Care
- Beginner
- Swims
- Everywhere
- Keep
- One is fine
- Water
- 17.8–23.9 °C (64–75 °F)
China
Care requirements
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On record for Fancy Goldfish: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level.
Not on record for Fancy Goldfish: tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tank 114 L / 30.0 US gal
- pH 6–8
- Hardness 5–19 dGH
- Diet omnivore
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
Fancy goldfish are the same species as the common goldfish, bred into shapes it was never built for. The body is compressed into an egg or a sphere, the tail is doubled and trailing, and in some varieties the eyes are enormous or the head is buried under growths.
That shape has consequences, and being honest about them is the useful thing this sheet can do. A compressed body folds the gut and the swim bladder into a smaller space, which is why buoyancy problems are so common in fancies and so rare in the slim-bodied forms.
They're slow. Orandas, ranchus, ryukins, telescopes and bubble-eyes cannot compete for food with anything quick, and the more extreme varieties can barely see.
Tank setup
Give your fancies a wide, shallow tank rather than a tall one. They're poor swimmers and water depth is of no use to them.
Keep them cool but not cold. Fancies are less tolerant of low temperatures than common goldfish — the body shape makes them worse at coping — so an unheated indoor tank suits them where an outdoor pond may not.
Remove every sharp edge and keep decor smooth. Trailing fins tear, and telescope and bubble-eye varieties damage their eyes on anything rough.
Keep the flow gentle. A strong current exhausts a fish that swims badly.
Keep them only with other fancies. A common goldfish or a single-tail will take all the food before a fancy arrives.
Feeding
Fancy goldfish are greedy omnivores with a digestive system that struggles.
Soak all dry food before feeding, or use sinking pellets, so they are not gulping air at the surface with every mouthful. It is a small change and it costs nothing to make.
Feed vegetables regularly. Deshelled peas are the traditional standby and a perfectly good part of the diet, though they are better understood as ordinary food than as a cure for anything.
Feed small amounts several times a day rather than one large meal.
Avoid: floating pellets and flake as the everyday food, and avoid overfeeding a fish that will always ask for more.
Filtration and flow
Over-filter and change water often. They're as messy as any goldfish and less able to tolerate the consequences.
Keep the flow low despite the heavy filtration. Baffle outlets so a poor swimmer isn't pushed around.
Vacuum the substrate regularly.
With plants
Fancy goldfish eat and uproot plants like any goldfish, though they're slower about it.
Anubias and java fern attached to wood are the practical options.
Avoid anything with stiff stems or sharp leaves near a telescope-eye or bubble-eye variety, where physical damage to the eye is a real risk.
Health
Buoyancy disorder is the problem the shape brings with it: a fish floating at the surface, sinking to the bottom, or swimming upside down. Floating up and sinking down are not the same complaint and do not share a cause, which is why one home remedy is not a reliable answer to both. Check water quality first, feed as described above, and involve a fish vet in anything persistent or severe.
Their trailing fins tear easily and fungal infection follows. Smooth decor prevents most of it.
Bubble-eye and telescope varieties need particular care. The sacs rupture and the eyes are vulnerable, and neither heals well.
Breeding
They spawn like any goldfish, triggered by warming water after a cool period, with males developing white tubercles on the gill covers and chasing the females into plants.
Fancy varieties spawn less reliably than the slim-bodied forms, simply because the chase is physically harder for them.
Fry are easy to raise on infusoria then baby brine shrimp. The complication is that a brood throws a wide range of body shapes and fin types, most of which won't match the parents — fancy varieties do not breed true, and commercial breeders cull heavily.
Tank mates
Avoid89
- Kribensis Fancy Goldfish grows to 20 cm against Kribensis at 8 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Least Killifish Fancy Goldfish grows to 20 cm against Least Killifish at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Scarlet Badis Fancy Goldfish grows to 20 cm against Scarlet Badis at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid Fancy Goldfish is not safe with Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid: fancy goldfish and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a bad pairing.
- Amano Shrimp Fancy Goldfish is not safe with Amano Shrimp: fancy goldfish and shrimp and yabbies are a bad pairing.
Only with care16
- Chinese Algae Eater Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Fancy Goldfish is peaceful.
- Convict Cichlid Convict Cichlid is aggressive and Fancy Goldfish is peaceful.
- Jewel Cichlid Jewel Cichlid is aggressive and Fancy Goldfish is peaceful.
- Assassin Snail Fancy Goldfish is a risk to Assassin Snail: fancy goldfish and snails are a pairing to watch.
- Bladder Snail Fancy Goldfish is a risk to Bladder Snail: fancy goldfish and snails are a pairing to watch.
No conflict recorded2
1 species is not covered at all, so they could not be judged either way.