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)
Sun Keeping His Eyes on Me
Since Sun had his Wen surgery he has been keeping an eye on me. He watches every move I make when I enter the room. You can click onto the titles under the photos to get a larger view.
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.
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.
Bubbles Looking Good
Click to see larger image of “Bubbles Looking Good”
Click to see larger image of Bubbles Painted
I should be receiving my Eheim canister filter tomorrow. Bubbles and all my other goldfish will probably be happy about that. At the moment I plan to run the canister filter and a Emperor 400 filter to help try and keep the water clean in this 55 gallon tank. Have I mentioned goldfish are very hard to take care of. I certainly do not recommend young kids or carefree adults to have goldfish. They are a tremendous responsibility.
Even though I constantly harp about how hard it is to take care of these fish, I truly enjoy them. They are very colorful and pleasing to watch. It appears they have personalities but that is the human perspective of my observance. I was pretty much attached to my goldfish named Mojo and then he died. After Mojo’s death my fish are not so much pets as they are a nice species of which I enjoy observing. I have lost several goldfish since I’ve started raising them over two years ago and I suspect I’ll lose more in the future.
For some reason I enjoy the challenge of raising these fish. My goal is to provide them with a perfect world so I can observe them for the rest of my life. I want the water to be perfectly balanced and crystal clear at all times with the least amount of effort on my part. So far I’ve never had perfectly cycled water for one chemical or another is always high. Also I’m constantly putting a lot of effort and work into this tank.
I’m still learning. I believe I will master this tank in time, but I also feel I will always learn from the experience of raising these fish.
Bright Wabi-Sabi
So I get this idea to remove all the pebbles/rocks from the aquarium for several reasons.
1. Because Sun, my Oranda with the overgrown Wen, is blind and can’t see his food and the food falls between the rocks.
2. Food fallen into rocks calls for a messy aquarium.
3. After they eat for a few minutes I can easily see if I’ve over fed and can recover any excess.
All in all it makes it easier for Sun to eat and for me to keep the tank clean. I’m discovering if there is anyway to make it easier to keep the tank clean it might be worth you while to do so.
Also I removed the background paper and put black construction board in it’s place. So far so good. This is a pretty inexpensive background and the black really makes the gold color of the fish stand out.
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.
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.
Mojo in Memory Of
Last night Mojo died. I figure I must have fed him too much. Little fish totally depended on me to take care of him. Nearly two years I’ve had this fish and now he is gone by my mistake. These fish will eat and eat and eat until they die. As owner you have to be so careful. I was feeding the fish three times a day and with various foods. Mojo bloated up, floated upside down, and then died. My tank only has four fish now and I miss Mojo. From now on I am only going to feed the fish twice a day with granular food which settles on the bottom of the tank.
This is the last photo and entry for Mojo. I buried him outside underneath a tree and I feel rotten.
Portrait of a Telescope Eye Goldfish ~ Bubbles
To see larger image click here Bubbles
Every few months I will try to make a new portrait of each of my fish to help record their growth and development. I believe Bubbles is nearly 9 inches from nose to tail. He is the largest of my goldfish.
None of my goldfish are aggressive nor are they nippers. They are very pleasant and get along well with each other. Each of them have special traits and personalities. All of them make me smile and I sure enjoy having them.
Portrait of Mojoanna a Red Cap Oranda Goldfish
Click here for larger viewing of Mojoanna
So I find taking care of goldfish can be quite a task. The major job is cleaning the tank. This has to be done every 3 to 4 days with my growing goldfish in this 55 gallon tank. I remove 15 gallons of water, break down and completely clean the filter, break down and clean ultra-violet light filter, scrub sides of tank and remove debris when I suction the water out. Put filters back together and place onto the tank and then refill the 15 gallons of water from 3 five gallon jugs. Then I have to re-fill the five gallon jugs so this water can be used at the next cleaning.
My five goldfish are growing fast and this 55 gallon aquarium is becoming quite small for them. I saw a 125 gallon aquarium today which I think will do quite nice. It will be a while before I can get it. I need to study and find what is the best filtration system I can get. Presently I have an emperor 400 pump which does a good job, but I am having to clean the tank often. Is there a system out there which will keep a 125 gallon tank clean for a longer period of time? I mean having to change 25 to 30 gallons of water every 3 or 4 days will really become quite a job.
I really enjoy my five goldfish and I plan on having them for a long time. As I learn about them I will record my findings on this blog. A 125 gallon aquarium will provide 25 gallons of water per fish. Maybe in a few months I’ll get this new aquarium. So much to learn before I do…
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.
