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)
Goldfish and Plants
So I go and make some changes from comments I have received about this Goldfish Tank. First Madi and Sheri both said, “Get some plants in there”. Now there are plants. Sheri also suggested a veggie clamp which is now in the tank. Haven’t tried to feed them any veggies yet, but this will surely happen in the near future. Everyone has suggested for me to put the gravel back into the tank. Bacteria and algae form on gravel they say. The trouble is Sun and Wabi are both blind and can’t find food in the gravel so I’ve kept it gravel free for sometime now. Thought it through and have decided to put gravel in one half of the tank. The side clear of gravel is where the fish will eat. Other recommendations is never change the filter cartridges or clean the filter media while doing water changes. Then only change like 10 gallons a week. Another suggestion is since I have two filters to change cartridges and/or clean media material in one filter and leave the other one alone for awhile. I’ll be playing with these ideas. Nearly three years now and the water is not cycled yet. Hopefully soon the water will be cycled.
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.
Tails of Orandas
Wabi-Sabi and Sun are inseparable. Sun has been blind for some time now since his Wen has grown back over his eyes. He would sulk and not swim around so much when he became blind again however, mighty Wabi-Sabi would swim around Sun and encourage him. Sun now swims around and acts squirrely. Sun eats well since I’ve removed the gravel from the tank and seems to have a really good time.
Now Wabi-Sabi is going blind. His Wen has nearly covered both his eyes. Sun swims around him trying to encourage him. Sun will get Wabi to swim and has taught him how to collect the food which settles on the bottom of the tank. Both my Orandas are the best of buddies. This summer I will take them both in for Wen Removal surgery for not only around their eyes but also some removed which is growing and covering their back. Their Wen is so huge they tend to be top heavy.
I certainly enjoy these goldfish and intend on taking very good care of them.
Sun Flower ~ Oranda with overgrown Wen
Sun Flower ~ click here for larger image.
Sun does appear to look like a flower in this photo. For the most part, this is a very common position for Sun to be in. Not only does his Wen cover his eyes, it is also so huge that he normally rests his head on the bottom of the aquarium. I’ve removed all the gravel and bridges and things from the aquarium for Sun’s sake. He will swim into objects placed into the aquarium and has a really hard time getting to the food when it would rest between the gravel. The aquarium is more Sun friendly now. Later this year I will have his Wen surgically trimmed again at Kansas State University. Here is Sun after his last Wen Trim.
Two Oranda Goldfish ~ Sun and Wabi-Sabi
Two Oranda Goldfish ~ Sun and Wabi-Sabi
My two Oranda’s, Sun and Wabi-Sabi, are the best of pals. Wabi is Sun’s eyes. Here is what Sun’s eye’s looked like after he had wen, head growth, surgery: Sun’s surgery 7 months ago. However the wen has grown back over Sun’s eyes and almost over Wabi’s eyes as well. I may consider surgery for both of them this coming summer. The fish can smell their food out and Wabi leads Sun to his food, but their head growth is so huge when they go for the food their head gets in the way. They obviously eat well so I guess this isn’t too much a problem.
Now Wabi-Sabi was a little gray Oranda at the start: Wabi-Sabi Then and Now. It is interesting watching theses fish develop.
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.
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.
And Now There Are Six
The little Red Cap Oranda will most likely be called Lil’ Jo filling in the fins of the Late Mojo. Not sure yet for the name of the calico Ryukin. I still miss Mojo and realize I’m responsible for his death. I grew complacent after putting in some new filter systems and didn’t change the water as often as I should and the Ammonia Levels quickly grew to the toxic level. Even Sun was becoming listless. Lucky for the fish and me I didn’t lose them all.
I scanned the internet trying to figure out how to bring the ammonia levels down. All I learned was maybe I have too many fish. Accordingly I should have 20 gallons per fish. That is good and fine, but I’m unwilling to give up any of my fish and am unable to get a larger tank at this time. So I changed about 30 percent of the water, but the levels were still much too high. I replace the four carbon filters and still the levels were too high. The next day I replaced 5 gallons of water in the Am and again in the PM. Now the ammonia levels are finally dropping. My plan now is to change out 5 gallons of water per day with a major clean once a week. Will see how that works.
This blog is mainly a recording of what I’m learning about raising goldfish and of course about the goldfish I’m raising, as time goes on. I’ve never claimed to be an expert; far from it.
Later I’ll get a larger tank, probably 125 to 150 gallons. However I have to figure out a system of handling the water supply and how to drain the water. Right now I’m hauling the water up and down stairs and this is wearing me out. The larger tank will have to be downstairs near the television. However it works out I’ll be sure to record the experience.
Portrait of a Goldfish ~ Sun
Click here to see a larger version of Portrait of a Goldfish.
OK, enough about Sun. Howbeit, I’ve decided to do his portrait before moving on. It is strange, but one tends to get attached to a pet even if it is a fish. Sun has been through quite a bit for a fish but he keeps on truckin’. He gets real excited at meal times and he always allows me to hold him and pet him when I clean the tank. I googled big goldfish yesterday and learned these guy really don’t stop growing. There is a recording of a goldfish living 49 years with a norm of 15 to 20 years if they are treated well. Can you imagine if I’m still putting up posts about Sun 20 years from now. I’m going to do a page on each of my fish and come up with some sort of birth date for them Right now I’m thinking Sun is about a year old. I’ve had him for nearly 9 months or so and he was probably several months old when I got him. They say you should allow 20 gallons for the first goldfish and 10 gallons more for each additional goldfish. I have five goldfish in a 55 gallon tank. Seemed like plenty of room at the start, but these guys are continually growing. Maybe a year from now I will have to step it up a bit on the size of the tank. I’m thinking of a 155 gallon for these five fish. Will see what happens.
Sun Is Just Fine ~ Goldfish Wen Development
As you can see, Sun is doing just fine. This Wen development of fancy goldfish is something to behold. I’m supposing Sun is a year or so old. Below is a photo of Sun just after I first got him. His Wen, head growth, has grown more than any of the other goldfish. It grew so fast the wen soon grew over his eyes and he had to have surgery to remove some of it. I’ve been worried his wen may grow over his eyes again but so far things are looking ok. It did bother me as some of his wen basically deteriorated from him as in the post below this one. They say a goldfish can live up to 30 years under ideal conditions. Sun had a rough start but I’m keeping an eye on him. My plan is to record as many years as I can about the lives of these five goldfish of mine. I will record the good and the bad. Right now everything is good and all the fish are happy.
Goldfish Wen Development
After getting ready for work, I come up to my computer room (second floor) to check my things on the computer, to feed my fish, and to eat my bowl of cereal. So I check on my fish and this is what I see:
Sun has this massive thing going on with his Wen. Sun is the fish which had Wen surgery around his eyes a while back. Heck, Sun was just fine the day before. I didn’t expect this. I was shocked.
So I check on him later in the day and this is how he appeared:
The tissue has turned a more ghastly white and is now pealing away leaving a hole. Is Sun ok? What should I do?
So I just wait the day out and observe. By the end of the day the tissue is gone with just a wee bit dangling. It has been several days now and Sun is doing great. I guess this is just the way Wen develops on a Goldfish. I really don’t know much about these fish and am just learning.
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.
A Brand New Day with Sun
Each morning I meet my pets, dogs and cats, with a hug and I tell them we get to start a brand new day together and isn’t that so wonderful? I simply really do love my pets. I’ve lost pets in the past I’ve loved just as much. Their passing hurt me terribly. Many times I’ve held them right after they were gone, and would think of all the wonderful times we had together, how lucky I was they shared their short life with me and how I wished I had another brand new morning to share with them. With any luck I should still have a few years left with all my pets, but when they really warm up to me, cuddle with me, I enjoy this affection so much and I realize how short lived it will be and it hurts. So I try to just enjoy the day I’m in. I do not want the day, the week, the month or the year to hurry by. I know in a few years I will be able to retire which is a good thing and something to look forward to, but in pushing those years to go by I quicken the time I will not have my wonderful pets. So I’m in no hurry for time to go by. Today is great because it is a brand new day with my fancy goldfish “Sun”.
Tails of Fancy Goldfish
Today my fish are doing extremely well. Sun is swimming around a lot more and is definitely on the road of recovery. Even though the five goldfish are in a 55 gallon tank, I can see they will be needing a larger home when they fully develop. Right now what they have is sufficient however, I am constantly having to clean the tank. I do about a half tank change once a week and change about five gallons of water every other day. Every morning I clean the carbon filters leaving the bio-wheel filters alone. I have an ultra-violet light/pump going 24/7 to help keep the water pure and as free as possible from bad bacteria. I have an emperor 400 pump going to clear the debris and and waste from the water.
Sun Shines But I Worry About Him
It has been a week since Sun had Wen Trim Surgery. He looks pretty good but he isn’t acting quite the same. Before the surgery I believe he swam around more and was a bit more active than he is now. He basically lays in a spot for a long time. He will move to another spot and lay there. The only time he really swims around is during feeding time. He appears to be very top heavy. His Wen is really thick and huge. His jowls are huge as well. Sun appears to use a lot of effort to swim, to push his body forward. If I hold him at the top of the tank and release him, he almost makes a nose dive to the bottom before he levels off.
However, Sun appears quite content. He lays in his spot and watches everything going on outside the tank. He does eat and swim. He enjoys the company of all the other fish and looks happy. I’m pretty sure he is going to be ok. Maybe the surgery was quite traumatic on him and it may take a bit to recover. He is always watching me and seems to be aware of being photographed. Sun is a really cool fish. I’m hoping the best for him.
Sun’s Recovery From Wen Trim Surgery
Inside the waiting room sat a couple whose dog was seen about the pace maker it had. Appears the situation was under control and details were being explained to the family on things to watch out for and how to monitor their dog for preventative measures.
Two girls, very skinny young ladies, came in with a small dog on a leash. They were there to retrieved their silver/gray Weimaraner. I believe the Weimaraner had suffered an injury on it’s leg and was treated and was ready to be released. The poor dog was rather skinny as well. However he looked as if he was loved quite a bit. When I was younger I had pets, but wasn’t until I grew older before I really began to learn about the love these pets had to share. Until I learned I didn’t own a pet, instead shared an existence with another species, I was just simply a pet owner. Now I’ve learned the specialness of these creatures we call pets and am better for it.
I saw a person come in with a rabbit in a pet carrier and I saw a black cat in another carrier. The lady place the carrier on the floor and the black cat looked at me looking at him/her.
Later I spoke with a woman with a pet bird (Conure) in a cage. The bird was missing quite a few feathers and I figured that was the reason she had brought it to the veterinarian. Actually the Conure had a bad foot bothering it which stressed it causing it to pluck it’s feathers. The Conure had been a member of this woman’s family for 13 years at this point. The woman spoke of “Bud” the Conure as if it were her child.
I on the other hand had walked into the Kansas State University Veterinary Hospital with an orange Homedepot bucket containing about 4 gallons of water from a fish tank along with Sun, my Fancy Oranda Goldfish. Supporting me and always by my side was my wife of 30 years. You know your wife loves you in a case like this. Face it, you don’t see too many gray haired old men with a goldfish at a veterinarian clinic.
Sun’s surgery went well and he has been recovering the last couple of days. At first he didn’t move around a lot and didn’t eat. Now he eats and is getting around a bit better.
