Sun’s Lament
Fish, the great Ryukin, conveyed the magic to the man.
The magic of goldfish in their aquatic land.
The man could not grasp what Fish had to say,
So Fish grew weary conveying day after day.
Then Mojo, the beautiful Red Cap Oranda, joined in the task.
Fish saw the man watch Mojo, and knew his mission was done at last.
Mojo swam alone and was sad,
for the great Ryukin had crossed the Rainbow Lilly Pad.
Unknown to the man, goldfish magic conjured as he toiled over his troubles,
and the wonderful and magical Dragon Eye came along named Bubbles.
The man watched Bubbles and Mojo swim and as they whirled and curled,
He decided these fish needed a larger world.
Mojo and Bubbles had so much room and were so excited,
and when Lil’ Fish came they were both so delighted.
The man felt the goldfish magic and wanted more and more,
So along came Barri and along came me,
As Sun continues to speak of his family.
Wabi-Sabi, the gray Oranda was such a great reflection,
he showed us beauty in imperfection.
The waters grew rough as the man floundered outside,
When Mojo past, the man’s eyes grew so wide.
The man used chemicals to ease the storm,
Only to loose Bubbles yet another Life Form.
Bari watched the man and would report to me,
for I grew blind and could no longer see.
Bari spoke of Little Joe, the new Red Cap Oranda who would quickly grow,
and remind the man of his Mojo.
The man moved me to another tank and soon I fell asleep,
I dreamed of Wabi-Sabi and began to weep.
My eyes were opened I could now see,
but Wabi was hurting and I felt no glee.
Bari hung by my side,
When Lil’ Joe crossed the Rainbow Lilly Pad we both cried.
Then imperfection struck and no beauty could be found,
Wabi-Sabi had to be put down.
A small gray Oranda and calico Ryukin are now swimming and diving,
maybe soon our world will once again be thriving.
Will the man ever truly grasp the goldfish magic and will he learn,
and will life within this world safely return?
Video of what was
(Jan 2011)
Video of Mojo and Friends (Jun 2010)
Bewildered
I’ve become so bewildered about these goldfish and this aquarium. Take a look at the far left hand corner of this tank and you will see Wabi-Sabi laying on his side on the bottom. Sometimes he lays on his side, sometimes upside down, sometimes he will lay kinda curled up. Looks as if he is dying, but I don’t think he is. He use to swim around so boldly always protecting Sun, the Oranda in the upper right hand corner of this photo. However, ever since his Wen has grown over his eyes Wabi has become so despondent. Wabi has been doing this side thing and upside down thing for several weeks. He eats and swims but still looks like he is dying. It is very dissappointing. Bubbles has grown so huge and stays near the bottom of the tank all the time, kinda’ keeping and eye on Wabi. Now Sun is doing fantastic swimming around like a champ as well as Lil Joe and Barri.
These poor fish have suffered so much and now for a couple of years. The ammonia level is as usual a deadly green when tested as well as the nitrites a deadly purple in color when tested. The PH and Nitrates are great. Somehow these fish have survived all the chemicals and water changes I have done. A viewer, Sheri, as made some recommendations to me which I am going to do. One I’m not going to mess with the filters for six weeks. I will change about 5 to 10 gallons of water once a week. I am going to put in some floating plants. Also I’m going to get a Veggie-clamp and feed these fish some broccoli.
I’ve thought about giving up working with these fish for the difficulties both they and I have suffered trying to maintain a decent environment. Sometimes the fish are like puppies and happy and other times the tank of fish look so pathetic. Then I figure what good is recording a history of raising these goldfish if I don’t explain the good as well as the bad times? What good is this blog if I don’t share how others have helped and advised me? I will not give up because the truth be known, I really want to be successful and I want to do what is best for these fish. But on top of all of that, I want to share this entire learning experience to all whom really care. I’ve searched the internet and have found forums and blogs about fish with tons of advice, but not a blog where trial and error is recorded. Where mistakes are openly admited and discoveries are discovered. I’m hoping viewers can turn to this blog and learn from my mistakes.
Barri, Bubbles, and Little Joe ~ Fancy Goldfish
Barri, Bubbles, and Little Joe ~ Fancy Goldfish
I’ve done everything I can think of but still can not get my tank to cycle. I’ve been told to change 10 gallons of water every other week and about 15 to 20 gallons every three weeks. I have the finest filters working as hard as can be but the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are extremely high. This is why I always changed 15 to 20 gallons of water almost twice each week, for even though this is lots of work, the levels stayed halfway decent. I put some Zyme Stress in the water hoping this will bring down the Nitrites and am restraining myself from changing anymore water. I changed about 15 gallons 2 or 3 days ago and then I had changed about 10 gallons a week or so prior to that. After 3 years you would think this tank would cycle… This is a 55 gallon tank with 5 goldfish in it. The fish probably total about 35 to 40 inches in length if all of them were lined up tail to nose. Maybe this tank isn’t big enough, but according to all I’ve read it should be sufficient. Oh well… I wish I knew the secret. I wish there was someone else out there with a 55 gallon tank with five goldfish and they could tell me the secret on how it is done.
Six Fancy Goldfish
Finally my tank is back into prime condition. Now back to enjoying the fish. Here are all six of my Goldies. The one on the bottom left is a new Ryukin. The little calico Ryukin died when my tank became unsettled. This is the fourth Ryukin I’ve had. All of them have died over the last couple of years. Now the bigger fish, the two Oranda’s and the large Dragon Eye have overcome all sorts of obstacles. My belief is Ryukin’s are a more frail goldfish. My goal is to maintain the perfect tank. It is not an easy job, but I’m learning and maybe things will smooth out as I go along.
Stress Zyme kicks Nitrite in the Butt
BEFORE
Stress Zyme kicks Nitrite in the Butt
AFTER
If you click onto the captions under the photos you will see it in a larger size. Anyways, I finally cleared the Ammonia in my tank by using the water conditioner “Prime”. Then the nitrites took off. Never have I ever had zero ammonia and zero nitrite at the same time. Now Prime brought down the ammonia level and quick so I googled for something which would bring down the Nitrite and came up with Stress Zyme. I had some Stress Zyme from when I first set up my tank. Once cycled I thought I didn’t need the stuff anymore. Boy was I wrong. I put five cap fulls into this 55 gallon tank and I could have sworn the Nitrite went up in just a hour or so and I went to bed worried. When I woke up in the morning and retested I had zero nitrites. So the bottom photo shows zero amonia and zero nitrites at the same time. A first for me. Yeah!!!
So I’m going to the store to buy another 16 ounce bottle of both Stress Zyme and Prime to use weekly along with my water changes. Can I have perfect water at all times? We will see.
Prime Water Conditioner
Saved by Prime Water Treatment. Geez, I’ve been battling this Ammonia thing for quite sometime now. Mojo died a while back and I tested the water and found it as green as in the test tube on the right in the photo above. I figured I let the water get too dirty somehow even though I was changing water every 3 or 4 days. Never could get a handle on the Ammonia. I used Ammonia chips in one of my filters and it brought the level down to a light green. What I do is fill 4 five gallon water containers and let them sit for a few days and use that water for my water changes. I thought by letting the water sit, the bad stuff in the water would just go away. Nope, that wasn’t the case. In the above water test, the water was taken from one of the five gallon containers which had been sitting for a few days. The test proved the water to be in the toxic green level. Never a fish has been in this water, but yet it is toxic green. This is what I’ve been putting into my tank all along.
So, I put a little Prime into the water I had tested which came out toxic green. After waiting just a few minutes I retested and you can see the results in the test tube on the left which is in the safe yellow area.
The purpose of this blog is to record what I learn about raising goldfish. My goal is to raise several goldfish for a decade or longer (the same fish). So far the longest I’ve had a goldfish is just over two years and that was my beautiful Mojo.
The thing is, I had this bottle of Prime from a long time ago when I was setting up my tank and then I’ve forgotten about it. When I’ve noticed this toxic levels in my tap water, I went to research how to remove the Ammonia and came across this Prime Treatment. I knew I had a bottle of it somewhere and my wife helped me find it. Now I will be using Prime all the time. I put a little bit into each of the five gallon containers so when I do change the water it will be with safe water from the get-go. I only learn by hard knocks. I read about how to take care of a tank, but it doesn’t register with me until I actually do it or experience it.
Red Splotches on Goldfish
I’m so frustrated. The photo above shows Barri with all these red splotches. Goldfish change colors and their wen grows so strangely that I’ve grown a bit complacent. The water was sparkling clear and I thought all was right with the world, but I tested it and found the PH, ammonia, and nitrate great but the nitrite was hovering in the light to dark purple range. The thin white parts of these fish fins, rotted off within a day as the red splotches and dark red colors coated them.
The fish in the above photo is now known as Raggedy Anna. My wife Anna named her. Look what the red splotches did to her. Her fins are nearly bare bones. She had rolled over on her side and floating on the top of the tank looking pretty much gone. I moved her to a community tank for a bit until I got the Nitrite levels back down and I moved her back. She is still hanging on but I’m not sure for how long.
My guess is my tank (55 gallon) is too small for my six goldfish. Four of the goldfish: Barri, Bubbles, Sun, and Wabi-Sabi are all over six inches long. Bubbles is actually nine inches.
I put some Melafix into the water and some Stress Zyme hoping this will help. I’ve used Stress Zyme before and when I do, Bubble’s eyes cloud over. I think Stress Zyme is not good for all fish. Bubble’s eyes will clear and the red splotches will go away. I was very lucky to save these fish.
Then there is Lil’ Joe. As Raggedy Anna was floating on top of the tank barely surviving Lil’ Joe was nipping at her. I put Lil’ Joe into my 20 gallon community tank for a while.
Right now I’m replacing 5 to 10 gallons of water every day on my larger tank. This is really quite a job. I have to figure out what I’m going to do. I need to figure out how to drain the water and bring water up the stairs. It is quite the job hauling it. To get a larger tank means more water to haul up and down stairs. I need a source of water upstairs as well as a drain to continue with this goldfish raising.
Raising goldfish has turned into a huge job, taking the fun out of it. The community tank takes care of itself. I do maintenance on it once every week or so. Goldfish require everyday maintenance. I wish I knew more. I wish there was an easier way. I have two huge filters, each requiring two carbon cartridges (a total of 4 cartridges). I replace these cartridges every two weeks and that is pretty much at a cost of 20 dollars. We are talking nearly 40 dollars a month on cartridges. Is there a cheaper way? The cost and work of raising of these fish is making me wonder if it is worth it. There must be a better and more efficient way to raise goldfish, but I’m certainly learning by hard knocks.
Aquarium of Goldfish
Today I put two glass hoods on my goldfish tank. I was so glad to get rid of the plastic ones which were all scarred up and restricted light. I also put in a new heater for the thermostat on the other heater was stuck keeping the water too warm. I’m still struggling trying to keep the water well cycled. It is tough. I’ve got the ammonia to light green, almost yellow according to the chart. The best of course is yellow. When Mojo died the ammonia registered very dark green. The PH is just a wee bit high, but all in all the nitrates and nitrites are looking real good. I’m still trying to master this water situation. Since Mojo’s death I change five gallons of water every day to every other day. Every two weeks I give an extreme clean where I completely break down both empire 400 filters, clean them, put them back together and replace all four carbon filters. I clean the ultra-violet light pump, and change 15 gallons of water.
If anyone is planning on raising goldfish, be ready to do a lot of work. It is not easy at all. I have a 20 gallon aquarium which I have community fish in, now this aquarium is easy. A community tank is pleasing and relaxing however, goldfish are more like pets and have terrific personalities. They swim to the front of the tank to meet me like puppies every time I enter the room. Goldfish are great fun, but boy are they a challenge to raise. I will continue to report my successes and failures on this blog. Hoping of course to have less failures as I go along.
Nitrite, Nitrate, Nightmare Survivors
Back in March of this year I put my fish through an awful ordeal. It was a nightmare and my fish suffered. Provided are the THEN and NOW photos of my Aqua-babies.
In the photo of carnage you see Lil Fish in the far left ~ he died. In the middle is Mojoanna with a deep scarred red varicose fantail. Below, almost dying on the bottom is Wabi-Sabi my once gray Oranda. In the upper right is Bubbles my Dragon Eye. To the far right near the bottom is Sun my golden Oranda. Not pictured is Barri, the baby lionhead. My wife had put Barri in her community tank until I made my tank safe. All of this was brought about by my ignorance on not cycling my tank.
However…
In the photo of beautiful life are the same fish minus Lil Fish. In the far left eating food off the gravel is Sun my goldie Oranda. Since the first photo Sun had surgery removing Wen from around his eyes so he could see. Beside Sun, is Bubbles my Dragon Eye. Bubbles is now 9 inches from tail to nose. Above Bubbles is my angel Mojoanna with a flowing beautiful flawless tail. To the far right completely opposite of Sun is Wabi-Sabi my little gray Oranda now turned richly gold with a highly developing Wen. Swimming off in the upper right coroner is Barri, the lion head my wife had a really hard time letting go of, but relented knowing he needed to be with the other goldfish.
Click here to see a larger version of Fish Family of Five.
Goldies Glimmering
No doubt there is a lot of work in taking care of five goldfish. However it is probably no harder taking care of five as it would be to take care of two or three. The hardest part is cleaning the tank. I just completed cleaning their tank a little while ago. I clean the tank about every three to five days. If I let the tank go for a full week the room would be smelling and I would have some very un-happy fish.
The other day my wife, Anna, and I watched a show on television about a man with an obsession of collecting and hoarding Asian trinkets and the like. Even though he had gone overboard, he sure had some very pretty stuff. The Chinese and Asian world in general, surely have a flair I enjoy. I love the colors, the designs, music, and arts the Asian’s offer. I will explore the Asian world of colors and the like with my fancy goldfish. I will share what I learn through my photos and this blog.
Barri the Lion Head Goldfish
I have five goldfish in a 55 gallon tank. They range in age from a few months to a couple of years old. Barri, short for Barracuda, is the baby. I purchased Barri at Petsmart. They had him listed as a Lion Head however, his head hasn’t grown any. His body has the egg shape. Wabi-Sabi and Sun both have enough head growth to make up for ol’ Barri. Sun had Wen Trim surgery a few months back and I will not be surprised if he will need it again. I’m going to have to wait until he is fully grown before I do the surgery thing again. There is so much to learn about these fish.
I am surprised on how big these fish are growing. Barri’s total size from nose to end of his tail will fit into the palm of my hand. My other goldfish are nearly two palms in length from nose to end of their tail. Watching these fish grow is fascinating. You never know from day to day what will happen. Wen grows and develops like exploding lava. Horns appear on gills and on their head from time to time, the little devils.
The goldfish certainly enjoy getting attention. Barri is a little showoff when I’m taking photos. He is not camera shy in the least. They love to eat. I feed them three times a day. They get a bit at 5:00 AM, 12 noon, and around 6:00 PM. I feed them just enough to where they eat it up in a couple of minutes. I have a variety of food I give them. I like feeding them little pellets which float to the bottom and rest between the large pebbles. The fish will move rocks for a long time in search of the pellets giving them something to do.
Fancy Goldfish and a Cory
Here are all five of my goldfish. From left to right they are Mojoanna, Wabi-Sabi, Bubbles, Sun, and Barri. The catfish, I just call him Charlie. I had almost ran out of their favorite food which is Saki-Hikari Fancy Goldfish Food. My first supply of this food came from Doctors Foster and Smith on-line store so I ordered from them again. However they were out and put a back-order in for me. So I thought in a week or two longer I would get it, but it never came. This was like over a month ago. So I email them and they say it will be another month before they get any more from their supplier. Since I already paid for the shipping, I’ve let the order remain and maybe in a few weeks I’ll get the two packages I ordered. Well my fish don’t really understand why I’ve rationed them on the good stuff and were getting impatient with me. They kept giving me this worried look. So I go ahead and order a package from Amazon while waiting on the order from Foster and Smith. The food came in yesterday so I give the fish the rest of the food I had been rationing out. They went crazy. They really love this food. I feed them crisps and flakes, but this stuff they go nuts over. So my fish will have to work with me here because the food is rather expensive along with the shipping. I will not feed it to them at every feeding, but every other day or so I will. I sure do enjoy these fish. They are a pleasure to watch.
Barri The Baby Lion Head Goldfish
Little Barri was purchased from Petsmart about six months ago. He was but just a wee little lionhead when we got him. His growth as been pretty slow however it appears to be taking off now. In the last month or so he has gained the egg shape belly. Head growth has yet to be seen. I like this particular fish because it doesn’t have a dorsal fin (back fin) and looks like a little whale. Barri is a very active goldfish.
Quartet of Four Fancy Goldfish
Mojo swimming straight down acting the clown.
He is so pretty even upside down.
The Dragon heading upwards with a destination in mind.
His colors so elegant and refined.
Wabi-Sabi going forward with great determination,
Seeking further wisdom of his vocation.
Little Barri, the growing lion. moves on ahead,
As delicate as a caterpillar may tread.
Each and every one a pet,
These four making a great quartet.
