Ranchu goldfish – Carassius auratus
Species name: Carassius auratus
Common names: Ranchu goldfish
Family: Cyprinidae
Order: Cypriniformes
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length: 7 inches
Minimum tank size: 50 gallon for an adult specimen
Hardiness: Easy to medium
Aggressiveness: May nip at fins. Will eat fish that can fit in it’s mouth.
Distribution: Central Asia, China, Japan
Diet: Omnivore. In the wild, they feed on a wide range of food including plants, small crustaceans, insects, and detritus.
In captivity, they will accept most aquarium food including pellets, flakes, and live prey such as worms.
Additional information:
The Ranchu goldfish is a variety of goldfish exclusively bred in china in the 1800s. Since it is a developed species, it is not available in the wild. They are excellent fish to keep in a pond. They require the same conditions as the common goldfish. Their lifespan is about 8-10 years.
The ranchu goldfish has a body similar to the Chinese lionhead. Its body is egg shaped and it lacks the dorsal fin. Its head growth is also almost similar to the lionhead goldfish. The tail of the Ranchu, is bent a little more to face the bottom than that of the lion-head. The Ranchu goldfish is a more appealing to look at from the top. Good specimens have a short fan-tail. The length of the head and the body should be proportional. The Ranchu goldfish have a few color mutations. There is the standard red, the black and the white and red, to name a few color forms. The head growth or the cap develops over a year or so, provided the environmental conditions are qualitative.
These goldfish can be housed in either a species tank or a goldfish community tank. They are not very fast swimmers. They are mono-morphic. They mature at one year, and are ready for breeding. They are voracious eaters. They have to be given a wide variety of food. Basic floating pellets will only keep them from starving. Their diet must include live food like Tubifex worms, bloodworms, mosquito larvae etc. Different kinds of dried and processed flakes, pellets and chopped vegetable matter can also be included in the diet. Since they eat a lot, they also excrete a lot. Therefore, proper filtration is required to maintain the ammonia and the nitrate levels in the tank. A strong mechanical filter attached to a biological filter should do the job. The Ranchu goldfish prefer very clear water, with a ph of about 6.5-7.5, and a constant temperature of around 28 degree Celsius.
The Ranchu gold grows up to 7 inches and they need a lot of space to swim in the aquarium. The tank size will vary with the total number of fish you wish to keep. They are not as hardy as the common goldfish. So when given the proper surviving conditions, they live for a long time in the aquarium. When kept in outdoor ponds, the temperature should be monitored constantly and they should be moved indoors at temperatures less than 18 degree Celsius.
A proper Ranchu goldfish with all the show qualities, fetches a high price in the ornamental fish trade. It is best to acquire them from good specialty breeders, rather than local aquariums. The Ranchu goldfish is not advised for beginners to keep. The Ranchu goldfish is prone to swim-bladder problems and they may not be able to swim around efficiently. This disease causes the fish to swim upside down on the surface, however when they are disturbed they resume to swimming normally, but only for a short while. Therefore, it is essential to monitor the oxygen levels in the water.
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