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.
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.
Filtration System for my 55 Gallon Goldfish Tank
In the above photo you can see the two emperor 400 water filters and the ultra-violet pump at the far end of the tank. There are four bio-filters and a total of 4 carbon cartridges at work at all times. I also treat the tank with Zyme Stress and Prime to help control the Nitrites and Ammonia. Even so it is quite daunting to keep up with this 55 gallon aquarium. These fish are growing larger. Bubbles the dragon eye is the largest, he is the one with his mouth out of the water in the photo. I have started an extra page on this blog to record all the maintenance. The page is located at the very top of the blog as Record of Aquarium Maintenance.
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.
Tigger Observing
Tigger is resting on my desk as I check out the Nitrites and Ammonia levels in my goldfish tank. Sometimes, well most the time, Tigger likes to help me with the task I am doing. He’s pretty good company. He will reach out and touch me when I’m lost in thought and he has some sort of message to convey to me. Tigger is my buddy.
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.
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 Swimming
This photo captures all my aqua buddies. Bottom left corner is Sun, above him is little Barri, above Barri is my dragon eye Bubbles, in front of Bubbles is Mojoanna, and to the far right is Wabi-Sabi. Between Sun and the bridge near the bottom of the aquarium is my little cory cat Charlie. I have a smaller 2o gallon aquarium which contains some neons, guppies, balloon mollies, a loach, and a snail.
All of these fish started out smaller than Barri. Now their bodies fill my palm with their tails extending way beyond my palm. I suspect they will grow two palms long. They are housed in this 55 gallon aquarium, but when they grow larger I will have to get a larger tank. Here is a video I took of them a little over two months ago:Five Fancy Goldfish.
I will have to make another video soon so you can see how much these guys have changed. Wabi-Sabi has changed the most. He was a totally gray little guy when I first got him. Bubbles also changed lots. Bubbles fins were totally black and lacy looking, but now he is almost total brilliant gold. My goldfish bring me lots of contentment. I will share my goldfish and their stories as time goes passes. I’m an amateur with these fish and am learning as I go along. I hope you will enjoy watching their journey.
Wabi-Sabi Swims by Bridge
My goldfish are doing so good, they really are. They all have turned so golden as in this photo of Wabi-Sabi. I had a photo of Bubbles, my dragon eye goldfish, turned into my mouse pad. You could have this photo, or any photo from my gallery, turned into a mouse pad by clicking onto the following link GOLDFISH MOUSE PAD Then you will have to click around and you will come upon the mouse pad thingie under merchandise. It will cost you $9.95 and shipping, but it makes a really cool mouse pad.
Oranda Goldfish Named Wabi-Sabi
This morning it came to me about how lonely my five goldfish are. Anna, my wife, indicated to me maybe they aren’t lonely and I just think they are, which may be true. I wonder what I can put into their tank to give them something to do. I do not want to clutter the tank with things just blocking their passage for they need their room. What type of toy, or is there a toy fish would enjoy? What would entice their attention?
Oranda Goldfish named Wabi-Sabi at Surface and Surface Photography Gallery.
Goodmorning Mojoanna
It is 4:45 in the morning and my five goldfish are swimming around looking as if they are mighty hungry. I’m up every morning at this time getting ready to go to work. I come into this room, turn on the table lamp, hit a key on the keyboard for the computer to wake up, turn on the lights in both my aquariums, and then sit down to eat my bowl of cereal and to check out messages and so forth on the computer. Featured in this photo is Mojoanna. She is my oldest fish. Her body fills the palm of my hand and her tail extends out past my palm. Barri is the smallest and the other three are larger than Mojoanna. When I hold Bubbles, Wabi, and Sun their body extents past the palm of my hand. I will not be surprise if the three of them grow to two palm lengths. When I clean the goldfish tank I always hold and pet the fish. They allow me to do this. Not at first, they were scared when I first held them. Now they are quite use to it. I really do enjoy watching these fish and the antics they pull.
I have a smaller fish aquarium sitting on my computer desk which houses several neons, guppies, mollies, and a loach. I will feature them from time to time.
Wabi-Sabi Continues to Change
This is not two different fish, both photos are of Wabi-Sabi. Actually when we acquired Wabi-Sabi we thought him to be a rather large goldfish. We thought it pretty cool he was gray. As he continued to grow an orange tint evolved, as can be seen in this link. As the gray started spreading out and the orange started to appear it was as if lava was rising breaking up the crust of his older self. Wabi is rather large now and his head growth (wen) is developing even further. It is fascinating watching these fish turn into the engineered fish the Chinese created.
Serious Sassy
Sassy is serious in this photo for it is bed time for her. She has so much energy all day long, but at bed time all the play is out of her. First thing in the morning I let her outside as I begin to get ready for work. I’ll let her back inside and then she has to be hugged. She will find a toy of some sort as I finish preparing for work, and she will place the toy by my feet or somewhere near me and then she will stare at it. Once I spot the toy, I’ll play tug-a-war with her and catch for a little while and then it is off to snack time. I give her a treat as I prepare my breakfast. Right before leaving to work, I have her go back to bed where she will get up an hour or so later. For the most part of the day she will run around and play and nap with the other dogs until supper time. Often times in the evening she will want to play with a toy again and then slow down a bit and get into her chair or sit in Anna’s or my lap while we watch television or read. Then it is off to bed time for the night at which moment this photo was taken. Once in bed for the night there is no more play. Sassy will actually get a bit grumpy if you mess with her after bed time. She brings life and play into our home. She is a precious little dog. Sassy is a mix of a Chinese Crested dog and a Poodle, she is a Crestypoo or what we call our little poodle mix.
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.
Start Your Day With A Smile
Ok, so Benjamin here is not a goldfish but he is a friend of theirs. Thought I would give the goldfish a break today and introduce my dog Benjamin or Ben for short. Ben doesn’t know any tricks, but he is pretty good with the “Come let’s eat command”. Ben was actually a foster dog we had out in a kennel we had built for fostering dogs. However he stated he wasn’t going anywhere else indicating this home was just fine for him. We agreed with him and the adoption became final about 3 or so years ago. He was two or three when we adopted him. Later we had to quit fostering dogs because we couldn’t give them away. Ben basically lives in the house until he wants to go outside to do his business.
Colorful Bubbles
Bubbles had just finished eating and started swimming to get in a little exercise. All my goldfish have turned into brilliant colors of gold. Howbeit this photo is a bit enhanced, but still all the fish are looking real good. It is amazing to watch them grow and develop. Wabi-Sabi is totally gold now. He was solid gray, then a black gold, and now vibrant gold. Wabi’s wen (head growth) is still growing as well as Sun’s. Barri, the little Lionhead, has yet any wen. I wonder if he will ever grow any.
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”.
