#diggorydangles

[charming-eel]

Would you reccomend any specific reading to someone interested in keeping fancy goldfish?

So sorry for the slow response, I usually use tumblr on mobile and I think the ask got buried U_U; Also.. this is gonna be long I could talk goldfish all damn day

I don’t have any specific pages to suggest, I’m not crazy about a lot of the care sheets out there, especially with like.. gallonage rules and that kind of thing. In general, I wouldn’t keep fancy goldies in anything smaller than a 4′ tank if you’re keeping them indoors. A 75 or 90g is a great place to start for a small group (5 or so) fancies. The best advice I can give is OVER FILTER the heck out of the tank. Something like a fluval FX4 or similar capacity canister filter is my go to for goldfish (again, kept indoors). Fluvals are just the least expensive canister that I still trust quality wise. Eheims are also excellent if you feel like spending a bit more. (I don’t have one of the newer models but I’ve used them for years and they’re great filters in general.)

As far as some other tips go...!

Substrate- I recommend using a fairly shallow (1.5-2″ ish) sand bed for goldfish. I also would use a lot of smooth river rocks in the tank for them to graze one.

Tank decor, plants, etc- Contrary to popular believe goldfish CAN be kept with plants, you just have to be selective about the ones you use! Thankfully all the ones I would use are SUPER low maintenance and easy to grow. Anubias and java fern can be anchored between rocks or on driftwood pieces- you can use driftwood with goldfish in a limited sense. You don’t want a lot of tannins and also don’t want super branchy pieces that they can scratch themselves on- something like ghost wood, manzanita stumps (not branches), mopani, or oak work well for some enrichment and spots for plants to attach to. In the substrate you can plant various vallisnera, crypts, and other rooted plants depending on your light level and if you want to fertilize heavily. Amazon swords are popular with goldfish but again, you’ll have to use root tabs for long term success with them. I DON’T like using plants like hornwort and cabomba indoors with goldies because they tend to pick at them and it can make a huge mess that will require a good bit of work on your part to keep from building up detritus. I’ve also used tiger lotus and non-lace aponogetons with goldfish indoors and they did fine with them. Duckweed is great for them to graze on, but some groups will eat it all before it can replenish itself, depends on the individuals. I have duckweed in several tanks so I just toss them a handful every week or so. Oh! Lots of people use marimo with goldies which CAN work, but they sometimes unroll them and pick at them relentlessly- use with caution.

Water temp: When kept indoors I like to keep them around 68-72F, which is about what my water temp is w/o a chiller in my house.

My fave types of fancies: Let me start off by saying that I DO think a lot of egg-shaped fancies can be healthy and robust. A lot of people are against fancies in general, but I think the vast majority of the breeds CAN be as healthy as your standard goldfish, especially since most of the long-bodied goldfish sold in store are culls.

FANCY GOLDFISH I RECOMMEND:

FANTAILS- Super hardy, low-maintenance fancy goldfish that come in pretty much all colors and scale types. EASY as can be! When picking out a fantail look for a smooth, egg shaped body with no kinks or harsh angles; clear eyes that aren’t bulgy or large, and strong fins. Here's a top view of one of my old fantails.

ORANDAS- Also very hardy (believe it or not), although the wen can be a concern for some keepers. I’ve personally never had an issue in my groups with wen overgrowth but it can happen, so it’s something to keep in mind. I recommend looking for orandas that have a smoother egg shaped body than the sharp angles b/t the spine and caudal fin that a lot of them have. There are many sub-types of oranda and some are bred to an “extreme” that can be detrimental to their overall health. Here’s one of my old Thai orandas

RYUKIN- Excellent choice as long as they’re not bred to an extreme. The characteristic hump back does not slow them down in the slightest and they are very robust and easy to keep. This was not one of mine, but I saw it at my fave LFS and GOSH this is such a nice ryukin body-condition wise.

TAMASABA - Uncommon breed, essentially a single-tailed ryukin (they tail can be short or long). Really cool goldfish to keep if you can find them. Pic below.

GOLDFISH I RECOMMEND FOR *LARGE* TANKS (6′ minimum):

SABAO - VERY similar to the tamasaba, and also uncommon. Essentially a single-tailed fantail. Egg shaped body with a single tail that can be short or long.

WAKIN- My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FANCY GOLDFISH! They are a gorgeous, long bodied fish with a short-finned double tail. Best of both worlds if you ask me! Here are some of my old wakin.

WATONAI- Fairly uncommon at this point, but great candidates for large aquariums! Basically a wakin with long fins.

FANCY GOLDFISH I RECOMMEND KEEPING WITH CAUTION:

These are all fish that lack a dorsal fin, if you keep them DEFINITELY keep them only with other goldfish that lack dorsal fins. They can be outcompeted when kept fancies with more traditional body types.

Phoenix / Phoenix Egg- Essentially a long tailed variety of eggfish (true eggfish are exceedingly rare), does not have a wen. I only mention them because they’re becoming more popular and are available more often than they used to be.

Ranchu- Dorsal-less, double tailed, has a wen, typically has a sharply angled caudal fin in relation to the spine

Lionhead- OLD variety of goldfish, dorsal-less, double tailed, has a wen, typically have a more rounded body type with a less angled caudal than ranchus.

GOLDFISH BREEDS I DO NOT RECOMMEND:

I do not recommend the following goldfish for various reasons. Yes, individuals of the following breeds CAN be healthy and hardy, but I think most have large risks involved with keeping them that I don’t think are justifiable.

Pearlscale / Crown Pearlscale

Telescope, any breed with telescope eyes (these can be very healthy and hardy but the tank needs to be designed with caution because they are prone to eye issues)

Celestial Eye

Bubble Eye

Welp I kind of.. ended up making a basic care sheet for them whoops. Feel free if you have any other questions or want help designing tanks!

[hollowtones]

Have you ever played World of Horror? If you like roguelikes or Junji Ito I recommend checking it out :)

Never played it. I know Wayne and Log both like it, & I’ve liked watching them play it & listening to them talk about it. It looks good, but I don’t know if it’s my kind of game!

[scurpmun]

The kadachis are a transitional species that links the fanged wyverns and snake wyverns. The gliding could be seen as a precursor to powered flight in things like remobra, but they're terrestrial enough to reflect species like najarala. The ancient forest already has another canon transitional species in the anjanath, as the ecologists refer to it as a possible link between bird and brute wyverns.

That's very interesting. I could see that being the case for sure. Especially some of the Kadachi's movements have. I'll have to give a read through of the MH book to see if it's even talked about but I can believe it. Thanks for the theory!

[tigwex]

MEGAPHONES DIRECTLY AT YOU: HELLO FRIENDS AND MUTUALS!!!

i know i have already Reached some of u with this BUT i’ve made a minecraft origins mod server! I made a tiny little discord for it also :] There’s 15 player slots on the server and so far we’ve got three people (myself included) so if you wanted to invite a friend to it that would also be so pog :] (p.s if you don’t know what the origins mod is..... you get to have little fantasy race superpowers ie you can be a bird person whom flies but gots brittle bones, merfolk who can breathe underwater swim fast but can’t breathe on land, endermen who can teleport but can’t touch water, ghosts who can phase through stuff and go invisible but burn in the sun etc all of which affect the vanilla minecraft play style in a fun way) now i am going to shamelessly tag u if u are tagged in this you are a Fave and Absolutely Invited (also if i already invited you and tagged you in this still it’s to check!) @velocidrome @transgrayfox @defenestratedgibberish @tubababy @diggorydangles @purplegori @puzzlingparallax @celestial-deoxys @pasta-la-peaches​