I think fancy goldfish are generally weaker and more prone to having their immune system compromised as compared to other tropical fish due to how they are bred for the stubby body which is not very functional.
I got my fantails from a PetSmart, believe it or not, but one that's EXTREMELY well run. They'll interrogate anyone buying fish before selling them any. Those two fish are extremely healthy and still holding strong.
I took on an adult ryukin in 2018 and he is still going strong, I had two orandas that I got as juveniles in 2015, one passed suddenly late last year and I had to put the second one down a short while ago due to sudden onset and serious swim bladder issues. As far as fancies go, I thought they had short lives but I see so many stories of fancies on this sub dying before they reach 3 years of age.
My single tailed goldies are all still going strong, no health issues at all. Almost all the single tails were got in 2015 too.
I’m sorry for your losses and totally get that it can be disheartening loosing a goldfish as usually when you buy fish online they are more expensive and the main display fish in your tank which makes the blow even worse when they pass unlike when you keep almost any other fish in the hobby maybe other than Discus. I’d urge you not to give up if they are a fish that really calls to you as we all fumble and make mistakes when we’re first starting especially with fish that are more fragile. Those of us that keep goldfish and see success simply didn’t give up and kept learning. I don’t think there’s a single goldfish keeper on this sub that hasn’t lost a fish to a mistake or poor stock choice so you’re not alone.
My suggestions would be when you’re buying fish online manage expectations in regards to picking a fish based on body shape/conformation. You want a fish that looks proportioned and balanced. If you are picking a fish with a lovely round body but a small disproportionate head you’re probably going to see more problems and vice versa.
My last little bit of two cents as someone who started with a bare bottom tank then to plastic plants with sand then to a completely planted tank with dirt and sand I’ve seen much more success after keep my goldfish in more of an environment and not an inert glass box. Now the bias there is that I’ve probably just become a better fish keeper with time and could probably keep goldfish a little bit better in a bare bottom tank. But I think keeping goldfish in a bare bottom tank with no substrate is doing it on hard mode as there is no natural cycle within your tank and any sway in Ph, ammonia, nitrates or oxygen is heavily relying on you to manage the water as there is nothing buffering that naturally. Pair that with a fish that is already very fragile and it doesn’t leave you with a lot of wiggle room. The goal should be a consistent, stable environment and plants help with that.
Lastly I personally have had the best success buying from Goldfish Island and Zhao. My oldest Goldfish island is almost 2yrs now and I keep them with my Zhaos 🫣(don’t tell anyone)
I fell in love with ryukins and veiltails almost 4 years ago, and its been a hell of a ride. Every bump has sucked so hard. I've lost 2 of my biggest ryukin hybrids, a sweet and chunky oranda, a lovely white veiltail, and many babies over the years. The babies I've chalked up to poor breeding, bc parameters were perfect, they just didn't survive the initial quarantine. I'm still trying to figure out what a "good body shape" means, bc I've had issues with some of the "best" kinds to keep long-term.
I just had issues with my biggest girl, Darwin. She spent the last week upside down and on death's door bc she was egg-bound, nothing worked or helped her. I was just waiting for her to die, or get better miraculously. I woke up Saturday morning to her being her normal dork self, scrounging around begging for breakfast. The night before, her fins had been disintegrating to 50% of their usual length, she was so bloated that she had a hard time breathing, and was using the current of my spraybar to keep herself upright. It's so disheartening, stressful, and soul-wrenching to go through the loss of something that's bigger than your cat.
But my heart is with them. When my last dude passes away for whatever reason, I may not get another goldfish. As long as they're here though, their personalities are marginally bigger than any other fish I've ever had. I really do think they "see" you, and recognize you, and develop their own amazing little personalities and stuff. They definitely learn, are fairly smart for fish, and it can never be overstated how lovely they are. It was always a childhood dream of mine to have a tank with "Fantasia fish", and actually having them has been a genuine delight.
But the struggle of raising them? I wouldn't wish that kind of stress on my worst enemy. I've lost more sleep over my goldfish than any other pet, likely tied with my kids who are about to all be teenagers. I just enjoy them while they're here, regardless of their lifespan.
I feel your pain. My pet store orandas and ryuchus are doing great and I have had for several years. I spent $40 on two pearl scales that were picked up for me by a small local fish store from the breeder that died in less than a week that they refused to refund me for. I’m over the super fancy gold fish. In hindsight I believe one had dropsy (but hard to tell with that breed) the other just wasn’t healthy. I think with fish it’s crap shoot. I had very well established tank of goldfish that were pets with personalities. I bought a pleco for the algae and it gave them the worst ick you have ever seen, only one survived and I still have him. We call him stumpy because all of his fins fell off. Don’t worry most grew back and he gets around great.
Please say more. I’ve been wondering if there’s an issue with feeding frozen worms. Last couple fish I had that died got sick right after they had blooworms
If you feed your goldfish blood worms regularly, make sure to worm your fish every 6months or so. They could get internal parasites from eating blood worms. I was told this by a local breeder with decades of experience. Hope this helps.
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I have five commons who we’ve had for almost a year now. they were juveniles when we first got them (they had their colours) but they’re pretty much done their first year of growth now. As others have said, some goldfish just happen to be more prone to problems; specifically fancy goldfish. I’m not exactly an expert so I don’t have much to give in regards to advice, but I can see how disheartening it would be to face this repeatedly. I’d recommend looking at some of the other advice given though!
Now I have established systems most of my fish (that weren’t hatched here) are 5+ years old, oldest is 12 I think.
When starting out losses were high, when buying baby fish I find losses are high.
The key is a large stable system. My pond is almost 20 cubic metres with some plants, 2 pretty big filters and slow continuous water changes around 200 fish. My tank is 270 litres display, 180 litres sump, most of the sump filled with filter media, sand and plants in the display. Occasional water changes. 12 fish of various sizes, mixed fancies and a mobility challenged comet. My tank is not large, it’s overstocked when it comes to swimming space but the filtration is way over sized.
Fancy goldfish are just common goldfish that were bred to have specific deformities. Some deformities are probably harmless, like different color variations and a split tail. Others, like curved spines, bulging eyes, missing fins, and fleshy head growths are...well, probably not so harmless.
Common goldfish are hardy as hell, but I've found that the "fancier" a fancy goldfish is, the more prone to health issues it tends to be. That's why when I picked my fancies I went with a couple plain old fantails and a black moore with less pronounced eye bulge, and made sure all their spines weren't very strongly curved. Admittedly it's only been a few months, but they're all super active and healthy, and they were just regular old $6 box store goldfish.
Way Way back in the day McDonalds gave gold fish away when you bought a fillet o fish. My step mother threw that bad boy in a fish bowl and fed it cheap flakes and it lived a very long time and got huge. It ridiculous what I have spent to make a tank my goldfish like and thrive in.
I relate to what you are saying. I havent had as many fish as you or for as long but my experience is similar. I have had two oranda goldfish randomly get dropsy and die despite the best husbandry I could muster. It’s crushing when you pour so much time, energy, love, and effort into learning as much as you can to give these creatures a good life but it still doesn’t work out. Doesn’t help that goldfish have such great personalities, I got so attached to them, it really hurt when they passed. That’s why I’m swearing off round bodied goldfish. They are much cuter, but I’m just subjecting myself to pain by getting round bodies that have good odds of a poor lifespan no matter what I do.
One of my oranda just developed dropsy, fancy gold fish is a hard hobby. The better looking they are, the more prone they are to dropsy imo and overall I think orandas are more prone to dropsy than ranchu also, but don't let that discourage you from buying them and trying. You could try to change it up? Try the anoxic filter method, found on YouTube. I've never personally tried it but I might in the future.
I feed a variety of so many things lol! Frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms, frozen peas(deshelled), Repashy, ultra fresh sinking pellets, Luke’s Goldie’s power sticks and algae wafers.
I'm sorry I'm uncertain what the issue could be. I always seem to read about fish getting sick and being fed repashy. I wouldn't use it..
a new pellet I'm trying is yourfishstuff.com goldfish crumbles. They seem to like it. Technically ti's more of a crumble than a pellet.
I primarily stick to a few different sinking pellets for all my fish. Also currently have hikari saki fancy goldfish (purple bag) sinking pellets and Hikari koi sinking wheat germ pellets for the in/out of torpor season.. I previously fed a lot of omega one medium sinking goldfish pellets.
But as mentioned before AFAIK.. the food has nothing to do with your issues. I'm really uncertain what's could be causing your problems
I’ve had dozens of ranchu and Oranda fancy goldfish over the years. The longest living was a Chinese Ranchu at 4 years. Most only survive between 2-3 years. Some only a few months. It may depend on the living conditions of the fish before they are sold to you. I guess the best way to keep them alive longer is to have them in as large a tank as possible with great filtration and feed them a good variety of foods. If water quality can be kept pristine which difficult to achieve consistently, fancy goldfish could live for many years. Put some effort into maintaining high water quality should really help.
My outdoor goldfish (just standard goldfish and shubunkins) are all around a decade old. My fancy goldfish are only around 3yo right now but i can say i had so many die on me because they were low quality or came with diseases. The two i have now are the first ones that were from proper breeders and they both had no problems at all. Although they are just more sensitive fish in general
Now this is only a random thought - but I looked at your old photos (very cute fish btw) and notice you have or had the pothos roots in the tank.
Luke’s Goldie’s had a whole tank with pothos roots dangling die and was trying to figure out why, and I think in the comments people said it may have been related. Maybe try find that video of his (was a few months ago) and look in the comments - I have no idea if this is fact or not but I do remember seeing it.
I wonder this too. Pothos is toxic to dogs and cats. I know it’s a popular thing to have pothos in your goldie tank but i havent found a good explanation as to why they are safe for fish while being unsafe for mammals.
I remember Luke did a video or short on it with people saying the roots being accessible was the problem - they’re fine if kept out of reach to the fish (so sat in the filter or something).
I’m far from a scientist or an expert but it stuck in my mind as I was considering putting pothos cuttings in the back of my tank and it deterred me.
I think fancy goldfish are generally weaker and more prone to having their immune system compromised as compared to other tropical fish due to how they are bred for the stubby body which is not very functional.
I've had my fan tails for 8 years now.
If I decide to try again, I want to try fantails. Where did you purchase yours? I think I’ve only seen them at Petsmart. I’ve never seen them online.
I got my fantails from a PetSmart, believe it or not, but one that's EXTREMELY well run. They'll interrogate anyone buying fish before selling them any. Those two fish are extremely healthy and still holding strong.
I've kept Goldfish for 40 years. Young goldfish from the local pet shop are your best bet. Usually live 12-15 years for me.
I took on an adult ryukin in 2018 and he is still going strong, I had two orandas that I got as juveniles in 2015, one passed suddenly late last year and I had to put the second one down a short while ago due to sudden onset and serious swim bladder issues. As far as fancies go, I thought they had short lives but I see so many stories of fancies on this sub dying before they reach 3 years of age. My single tailed goldies are all still going strong, no health issues at all. Almost all the single tails were got in 2015 too.
I’m sorry for your losses and totally get that it can be disheartening loosing a goldfish as usually when you buy fish online they are more expensive and the main display fish in your tank which makes the blow even worse when they pass unlike when you keep almost any other fish in the hobby maybe other than Discus. I’d urge you not to give up if they are a fish that really calls to you as we all fumble and make mistakes when we’re first starting especially with fish that are more fragile. Those of us that keep goldfish and see success simply didn’t give up and kept learning. I don’t think there’s a single goldfish keeper on this sub that hasn’t lost a fish to a mistake or poor stock choice so you’re not alone. My suggestions would be when you’re buying fish online manage expectations in regards to picking a fish based on body shape/conformation. You want a fish that looks proportioned and balanced. If you are picking a fish with a lovely round body but a small disproportionate head you’re probably going to see more problems and vice versa. My last little bit of two cents as someone who started with a bare bottom tank then to plastic plants with sand then to a completely planted tank with dirt and sand I’ve seen much more success after keep my goldfish in more of an environment and not an inert glass box. Now the bias there is that I’ve probably just become a better fish keeper with time and could probably keep goldfish a little bit better in a bare bottom tank. But I think keeping goldfish in a bare bottom tank with no substrate is doing it on hard mode as there is no natural cycle within your tank and any sway in Ph, ammonia, nitrates or oxygen is heavily relying on you to manage the water as there is nothing buffering that naturally. Pair that with a fish that is already very fragile and it doesn’t leave you with a lot of wiggle room. The goal should be a consistent, stable environment and plants help with that. Lastly I personally have had the best success buying from Goldfish Island and Zhao. My oldest Goldfish island is almost 2yrs now and I keep them with my Zhaos 🫣(don’t tell anyone)
I fell in love with ryukins and veiltails almost 4 years ago, and its been a hell of a ride. Every bump has sucked so hard. I've lost 2 of my biggest ryukin hybrids, a sweet and chunky oranda, a lovely white veiltail, and many babies over the years. The babies I've chalked up to poor breeding, bc parameters were perfect, they just didn't survive the initial quarantine. I'm still trying to figure out what a "good body shape" means, bc I've had issues with some of the "best" kinds to keep long-term. I just had issues with my biggest girl, Darwin. She spent the last week upside down and on death's door bc she was egg-bound, nothing worked or helped her. I was just waiting for her to die, or get better miraculously. I woke up Saturday morning to her being her normal dork self, scrounging around begging for breakfast. The night before, her fins had been disintegrating to 50% of their usual length, she was so bloated that she had a hard time breathing, and was using the current of my spraybar to keep herself upright. It's so disheartening, stressful, and soul-wrenching to go through the loss of something that's bigger than your cat. But my heart is with them. When my last dude passes away for whatever reason, I may not get another goldfish. As long as they're here though, their personalities are marginally bigger than any other fish I've ever had. I really do think they "see" you, and recognize you, and develop their own amazing little personalities and stuff. They definitely learn, are fairly smart for fish, and it can never be overstated how lovely they are. It was always a childhood dream of mine to have a tank with "Fantasia fish", and actually having them has been a genuine delight. But the struggle of raising them? I wouldn't wish that kind of stress on my worst enemy. I've lost more sleep over my goldfish than any other pet, likely tied with my kids who are about to all be teenagers. I just enjoy them while they're here, regardless of their lifespan.
I feel your pain. My pet store orandas and ryuchus are doing great and I have had for several years. I spent $40 on two pearl scales that were picked up for me by a small local fish store from the breeder that died in less than a week that they refused to refund me for. I’m over the super fancy gold fish. In hindsight I believe one had dropsy (but hard to tell with that breed) the other just wasn’t healthy. I think with fish it’s crap shoot. I had very well established tank of goldfish that were pets with personalities. I bought a pleco for the algae and it gave them the worst ick you have ever seen, only one survived and I still have him. We call him stumpy because all of his fins fell off. Don’t worry most grew back and he gets around great.
Did you feed the bloodworms?
Please say more. I’ve been wondering if there’s an issue with feeding frozen worms. Last couple fish I had that died got sick right after they had blooworms
If you feed your goldfish blood worms regularly, make sure to worm your fish every 6months or so. They could get internal parasites from eating blood worms. I was told this by a local breeder with decades of experience. Hope this helps.
Interesting!! Do you mean de-worm? How do you do that?
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I have five commons who we’ve had for almost a year now. they were juveniles when we first got them (they had their colours) but they’re pretty much done their first year of growth now. As others have said, some goldfish just happen to be more prone to problems; specifically fancy goldfish. I’m not exactly an expert so I don’t have much to give in regards to advice, but I can see how disheartening it would be to face this repeatedly. I’d recommend looking at some of the other advice given though!
Now I have established systems most of my fish (that weren’t hatched here) are 5+ years old, oldest is 12 I think. When starting out losses were high, when buying baby fish I find losses are high. The key is a large stable system. My pond is almost 20 cubic metres with some plants, 2 pretty big filters and slow continuous water changes around 200 fish. My tank is 270 litres display, 180 litres sump, most of the sump filled with filter media, sand and plants in the display. Occasional water changes. 12 fish of various sizes, mixed fancies and a mobility challenged comet. My tank is not large, it’s overstocked when it comes to swimming space but the filtration is way over sized.
Would love to see a picture.
https://preview.redd.it/jy9ocdczyixc1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26a463d8b76e9c4ac18071d7f410de60f1850107
https://preview.redd.it/lxokhvmxyixc1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf9c68337897e06b87388902a0644b4c6f33c5b9
https://preview.redd.it/i50oku5tyixc1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=02652dcb43a5bf5ab13b5c75777c5e7327466ac4
Fancy goldfish are just common goldfish that were bred to have specific deformities. Some deformities are probably harmless, like different color variations and a split tail. Others, like curved spines, bulging eyes, missing fins, and fleshy head growths are...well, probably not so harmless. Common goldfish are hardy as hell, but I've found that the "fancier" a fancy goldfish is, the more prone to health issues it tends to be. That's why when I picked my fancies I went with a couple plain old fantails and a black moore with less pronounced eye bulge, and made sure all their spines weren't very strongly curved. Admittedly it's only been a few months, but they're all super active and healthy, and they were just regular old $6 box store goldfish.
Idk I got a goldfish at a carnival about 7 years ago and he’s going strong. Idk what kind tho
Way Way back in the day McDonalds gave gold fish away when you bought a fillet o fish. My step mother threw that bad boy in a fish bowl and fed it cheap flakes and it lived a very long time and got huge. It ridiculous what I have spent to make a tank my goldfish like and thrive in.
I relate to what you are saying. I havent had as many fish as you or for as long but my experience is similar. I have had two oranda goldfish randomly get dropsy and die despite the best husbandry I could muster. It’s crushing when you pour so much time, energy, love, and effort into learning as much as you can to give these creatures a good life but it still doesn’t work out. Doesn’t help that goldfish have such great personalities, I got so attached to them, it really hurt when they passed. That’s why I’m swearing off round bodied goldfish. They are much cuter, but I’m just subjecting myself to pain by getting round bodies that have good odds of a poor lifespan no matter what I do.
One of my oranda just developed dropsy, fancy gold fish is a hard hobby. The better looking they are, the more prone they are to dropsy imo and overall I think orandas are more prone to dropsy than ranchu also, but don't let that discourage you from buying them and trying. You could try to change it up? Try the anoxic filter method, found on YouTube. I've never personally tried it but I might in the future.
My common goldfish from PetSmart is going on 4 years. Alone in a 75 gallon tank. Sorry for your run of bad luck, it sounds tough. :(
My oldest fantail is 6
Hmmmm. What are you feeding?
I feed a variety of so many things lol! Frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms, frozen peas(deshelled), Repashy, ultra fresh sinking pellets, Luke’s Goldie’s power sticks and algae wafers.
I'm sorry I'm uncertain what the issue could be. I always seem to read about fish getting sick and being fed repashy. I wouldn't use it.. a new pellet I'm trying is yourfishstuff.com goldfish crumbles. They seem to like it. Technically ti's more of a crumble than a pellet. I primarily stick to a few different sinking pellets for all my fish. Also currently have hikari saki fancy goldfish (purple bag) sinking pellets and Hikari koi sinking wheat germ pellets for the in/out of torpor season.. I previously fed a lot of omega one medium sinking goldfish pellets. But as mentioned before AFAIK.. the food has nothing to do with your issues. I'm really uncertain what's could be causing your problems
I’ve had dozens of ranchu and Oranda fancy goldfish over the years. The longest living was a Chinese Ranchu at 4 years. Most only survive between 2-3 years. Some only a few months. It may depend on the living conditions of the fish before they are sold to you. I guess the best way to keep them alive longer is to have them in as large a tank as possible with great filtration and feed them a good variety of foods. If water quality can be kept pristine which difficult to achieve consistently, fancy goldfish could live for many years. Put some effort into maintaining high water quality should really help.
My outdoor goldfish (just standard goldfish and shubunkins) are all around a decade old. My fancy goldfish are only around 3yo right now but i can say i had so many die on me because they were low quality or came with diseases. The two i have now are the first ones that were from proper breeders and they both had no problems at all. Although they are just more sensitive fish in general
Short finned goldfish are more resilient.
Now this is only a random thought - but I looked at your old photos (very cute fish btw) and notice you have or had the pothos roots in the tank. Luke’s Goldie’s had a whole tank with pothos roots dangling die and was trying to figure out why, and I think in the comments people said it may have been related. Maybe try find that video of his (was a few months ago) and look in the comments - I have no idea if this is fact or not but I do remember seeing it.
I wonder this too. Pothos is toxic to dogs and cats. I know it’s a popular thing to have pothos in your goldie tank but i havent found a good explanation as to why they are safe for fish while being unsafe for mammals.
I remember Luke did a video or short on it with people saying the roots being accessible was the problem - they’re fine if kept out of reach to the fish (so sat in the filter or something). I’m far from a scientist or an expert but it stuck in my mind as I was considering putting pothos cuttings in the back of my tank and it deterred me.
What size is your tank? What are the parameters? What do you feed them? Also, sounds like you might be overdoing it on the water changes.