Thank you for visiting! By the way… any links on this page that lead to products on Amazon and other stores/partners are affiliate links Aquarium Store Depot earns a commission if you make a purchase.
If you have an aquarium and are looking to add a unique, interesting, and fun fish to your tank (or if you’re just thinking about getting one), the fantail goldfish is perfect for any beginner! The beautiful combination of dazzling colors, majestic tail fins, and graceful swimming style make fantail goldfish a popular choice worldwide. They are also incredibly low-maintenance, making fantail goldfish perfect for beginner aquarists. That’s a lot of things you get in a single package!
Today, we’re going to give you detailed information on fantails. You will learn all about how to care for this adorable creature so it lives a long happy life in your home. I will cover everything from their origins, lifespan, characteristics, habits, diet, tank mates, breeding, caring guidelines, and more!
By the time you’re done reading, you will become somewhat of an expert on this fancy goldfish species! All your questions will be answered so you can finally have your aquarium lively with healthy and gorgeous fish!
A Brief Overview of the Fantail Goldfish
| Scientific Name | Carassius Auratus |
| Common Names | Fantail Goldfish |
| Family | Cyprinidae |
| Origin | Japan and China (Asia) |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Care Level | Easy |
| Activity | Moderately Active |
| Lifespan | 10 to 15 Years |
| Temperament | Peaceful |
| Tank Level | Medium |
| Minimum Tank Size | 20 Gallons |
| Temperature Range | 65°F to 75°F |
| KH (Water Hardness) | 4-20 |
| pH Range | 6.5 to 7.5 |
| Filtration/Water Flow | Moderate |
| Water Type | Freshwater |
| Breeding | Egg-layer |
| Difficulty to Breed | Moderate |
| Compatibility | Community Tank |
| OK for Planted Tanks? | With Caution |
Origins and Habitat
Let’s turn a few pages of history and learn about the origins of goldfish, shall we? The goldfish is a small but prominent member of the carp family, basking in the glory of being considered one of the finest aquarium fish for centuries. They are direct descendants of Carassius gibelio that also includes wild Prussian carp.
Although Native to East Asia, they are found all over the world. In fact, they are pretty common in western countries. Unlike their wild ancestors, goldfish are a result of centuries-long selective breeding, originating in Ancient China about 1,000 years ago. Over the years, they’ve spread to Japan, Europe, and later to America.
Skilled Asian breeders meticulously bred the fancy goldfish that we see today to bring out their mesmerizing colors and beautiful shapes. Being a species of goldfish, the fantail goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus) share the same history.
They originated in China and Japan, but you can easily find them almost anywhere in the world today!
You won’t see fantails swimming freely in the wild like their ancestors because they are a specially bred bunch. However, they prefer the same environment as their closely related carps that love dwelling in cold, slow-moving ponds, lakes, and rivers that are abundant in live plants for them to eat.
So, you’d have to recreate the same habitat inside your aquarium if you want your fantails to grow and remain healthy. As they are quite hardy, they have excellent water temperature tolerance. Therefore, you can also keep fantail goldfish in backyard garden ponds with enough caution. They are the best fancy goldfish varieties that might do okay in a pond. Most fancy breeds will struggle as they lack the hardiness or speed to compete for food.
What Does Fantail Goldfish Look Like?
At first glance, the fantail goldfish will look like any goldfish, but it won’t take you long to notice the differences that make the fantail goldfish even more attractive. Despite being a basic fancy goldfish, their outward appearance is nothing short of amazing, and they can be the perfect addition to your elegant aquarium.
Fantails are undeniably beautiful and pleasing to look at, thanks to their rich, vibrant colors and unique egg shaped body. They have several fancy traits that separate them from other goldfish and make fantail goldfish stand out.
The first thing most people notice is the egg-shaped body of these fancy goldfish. However, their defining feature has to be the double anal and caudal fin that split into two halves. They also have a high singular dorsal fin. When they swim, the tail fin resemble a flowing fan, making the fantail goldfish look marvelous!
Your fantail goldfish can either have nacreous or metallic scales. Furthermore, the eyes can be telescopic or normal. They are available in a wide range of colors like orange, red, yellow, etc. It’s possible to find fantail goldfish in other uncommon colors like black, metallic blue, pure white, etc.
How Big Are They?
Fantail goldfish can grow as big as 6 to 8-inches on average. However, adult goldfish can grow up to 12-inches in rare cases.
The egg shaped body of fantail goldfish is smaller than other fancy goldfish, easily fitting the palm of your hand. It’s the long tail fins that makes them appear larger in addition to making fantail goldfish look attractive. High-quality breeds that are nurtured carefully are likely to grow bigger than others.
How Long Do They Live?
The lifespan of fantail goldfish largely depends on where you’re keeping them and how much you’re caring for them. In most cases, you can expect fantail goldfish to keep your precious aquarium populated for 10-15 years.
Although hardy, fantail goldfish can be quite sensitive and vulnerable to diseases. Their lifespan will shorten if they are kept in a poorly maintained, overcrowded tank. With proper care and nurturing, it’s possible to expand the lifespan of these delicate fancy goldfish. Some are reported to last as long as 20 years! So, take good care of your pet fantail goldfish if you want them to energize your aquarium for a long time.
Temperament and Activity Level
Fantail goldfish are amazingly peaceful in nature, refraining from violence and aggressiveness like a Buddhist monk! They swim with such grace and nimbleness that they bring a touch of serenity into your fish tank. Elegance is a big part of fantail goldfish for sure!
Your fantail will be pretty active throughout the day, swimming from here to there, playing around, and having fun in general. They don’t like sitting in one place for too long. When swimming, they like to keep to the middle of your aquarium. Sometimes, these fancy goldfish will munch on the aquatic plants or dig for food.
Fantails are pretty social as they are often seen interacting with each other. You will see them grouping up and swimming around the tank together. If kept alone, they will show signs of depression and become lethargic, just like any other social creatures. So, it’s best to keep fantail goldfish in a community if you want them to thrive.
What Are Good Tank Mates?
Fantail goldfish are peaceful fish that rarely show any sign of aggression. They won’t fight, nor do they have the means to battle with other aggressive fish. So, it’s essential to choose the right tank mates for your fantails. Unsuitable tank mates will bully them hard and prevent your fantail goldfish from eating.
Furthermore, fantails are likely to be stressed out quickly if they are paired up with larger fish that are aggressive.
Good Tank Mates
Pairing fantail goldfish with other peaceful fish will be the best decision. They enjoy spending time in a community with non-threatening species. Suitable tank mates can even make fantail goldfish happier and cheerful!
First let’s start with non-goldfish. Good candidates would be:
- Rosy Barbs
- Zebra Danios
- Giant Danios
- Dojo Loach
- Platys
- Hog Nose Catfish (Corydoras multiradiatus)
- White Cloud Minnows
The fish above can all live in the cooler waters and will not bully your goldfish. While some of these fish can be eaten by a fantail goldfish, you can lessen the risk with shelter, schooling, and tank size (length).
Fantails are best with other fancy goldfish. Ryukins are definitely the best tank mates for fantail goldfish because of their similar traits. They pair up well with other goldfish as they don’t mind sharing foods while minding their own business.
Other possible great fancy goldfish that make tank mates would be:
- Black Moor Goldfish
- Celestial Eye Goldfish
- Oranda Goldfish
- Lionhead Goldfish
- Pearlscale Goldfish
- Ranchu Goldfish
- Bubble Eyes or Telescope Eyes Goldfish
Certain small invertebrates like Ghost Shrimp, Cherry Shrimp, Amano Shrimp, Mystery Snails, etc., are great for enriching the environment of your fantail goldfish aquarium.
Fantail goldfish tend to swim all over the tank, including the bottom, to scavenge for food. So, you can get away without adding bottom feeders in a goldfish aquarium. However, if you still want bottom feeders for taking care of the uneaten food from the surface, you can go for Hog Nose Catfish or Dojo Loaches.
Tank Mates to Avoid
Any aggressive fish species must be avoided because fantails aren’t strong enough to compete with them. Even the semi-aggressive ones can be a threat to them. You don’t want your precious fish to be attacked and denied food now, do you?
It is crucial to steer clear of fin nippers if you want the gorgeous tail fins of fantails to remain as glamorous as ever because these things have a nasty habit of targeting beautiful tail fins. As a rule of thumb, avoid anything that’s likely to hurt or bother fantail goldfish.
Here are some fish species that you should avoid pairing up with fantails:
- Tiger Barbs
- Red Tail Catfish
- Cichlids
- Arowana Fish
- Betta Fish
What Do They Eat?
Being omnivorous, this cold water fish will eat just about anything. They will chomp down whatever you throw at them and be grateful for it! That sounds so convenient, right?
Unfortunately, fantails don’t have a strong digestive system. They will eat anything, but they won’t be able to digest them. It’s easy for them to develop digestive problems, which can be fatal if not cared for. It’s also possible for them to turn black when under stress and not fed well. That’s why you have to be careful in choosing foods for these fancy goldfish.
Feeding meat based foods like blood worms, tubifex worms, daphnia, brine shrimp, etc., will ensure your fantail goldfish get enough nutrition and energy to stay healthy and active. You should also provide enough fibers by including plant-based foods like lettuce, zucchini, blanched peas, etc., in the fish’s diet.
You must select foods that are high in quality and rich in nutrition. They have to be easy enough to digest as well to prevent indigestion and swim bladder disease. You should design a healthy diet for fantail goldfish with the right kind of foods.
Frozen Food
Frozen foods are usually the best options because they offer a generous amount of fat, protein, minerals, and vitamins. You can keep them safe for a long time inside a freezer!
Freeze-Dried Food
Freeze dried fish foods are also a great way of adding variety to your fish’s diet. They are pretty easy to store and feed. These foods usually have fewer nutrients than frozen foods as they don’t retain any moisture. However, they can be supplemented with vitamins such as vita-chem.
Dry Food
Dry foods like pellets and flakes are also pretty common and should be included in the diet plan. As pellets sink to the bottom, fantails can nibble at them without having to swim up to the surface.
On the other hand, flakes float on the surface, so they don’t pollute the bottom of your aquarium. However, your fantail goldfish may gulp air while picking up flakes from the surface, which can lead to the dreaded swim bladder disease. It’s best to minimize dry foods in diet plans for fantails because of their lower nutrition content.
The Best Goldfish Pellet
Specially designed for goldfish and free from fillers
Remember that a healthy and balanced diet plan for fantails should have a good mix of frozen, freeze-friend, dry, and live foods of various kinds.
What About Live Foods?
Live foods are nice and fresh, but they also house dangerous parasites. These scourges can find their way into the fish and cause problems. Dried and frozen foods are much safer options because they go through special treatments that remove the dangerous elements.
With that being said, you can still feed live foods to your freshwater fish as long as you take the necessary steps to make them safe enough.
Brine shrimp is one of the easiest live foods that you can cultivate on your own. It only takes 24-hours for brine shrimp eggs to hatch and they grow relatively fast. Some people raise bloodworms and blackworms at their homes as feed for their fantail goldfish. If cultivating isn’t an option, you can always purchase them from pet stores.
How Much and How Often to Feed?
Many people make the mistake of overfeeding their fancy goldfish just because they look hungry even after feeding. This can put a lot of loads on their digestive system and do more harm than good.
Fantails will keep on eating as long as there is food nearby, thanks to their big appetite, so you can’t decide how often you should feed them based on the amount they eat.
No matter how hungry they look, you should only feed them twice a day. The amount should be small enough for them to finish within just two minutes. Refrain from feeding any more than that if you want to keep them healthy. Make sure to remove any uneaten food from the aquarium.
Tank Requirements for Cold Water Fish (Tank Conditions)
Fantail Goldfish care is remarkably easy, making them perfect for beginners. The very first step to keeping any fancy goldfish is setting up the perfect tank for them to thrive in.
You must choose a tank that’s large enough for all the freshwater fish, giving them enough room to swim freely. Fantails prefer a cold-water setup. There should be a sound filtration system to keep the tank nice and clean. We will dive deeper into the tank requirements to give you a much clearer understanding.
Tank Size Range
A big advantage of fantail goldfish is that they’re relatively small and swim slowly, so they don’t need oversized tanks. However, 20-gallon tank size is the bare minimum for swimming space to house one fantail goldfish.
You should go for a 30-gallon fish tank to get the best results because larger tanks will require less cleaning as the water will stay more stable. You will find that smaller tanks need more frequent cleaning and water changes. For each additional goldfish, you will have to expand the size of the aquarium by 10 gallons in water volume.
Tank Setup
After choosing the size, you should fill the tank up with relatively cool water. Make sure it has enough surface area to prevent oxygen shortage. The inside of the tank must mimic a natural environment where the fantail goldfish can do anything they want.
The best way to achieve that is by modeling the tank after calm rivers or serene mountain streams.
Aside from the environment, the tank must have a reliable filtration system to eliminate fish waste and other filth. Make sure not to overcrowd the habitat. Install a safe aquarium lighting system inside so that you can keep an eye on the fancy goldfish when the light goes out.
If your aquarium doesn’t come with a cover, you should still find a way to cover it up. This will slow evaporation and prevent your fantail goldfish from jumping out. Although fantail goldfish aren’t athletic and don’t do much jumping, it’s always a good idea to be prepared for every situation.
Decor
With the right decoration, you can design your tank to look and feel like a natural habitat for a fantail goldfish. It will be like having a miniature version of a lake, river, or even a mountain stream right inside your living room! You and your guests will love looking at the aquarium, and your beloved fish will enjoy swimming in it.
Adding smooth aquarium driftwood, plastic decorations, and rocks will create a convincing environment but make sure they don’t have any sharp edges. That’s because sharp edges can easily harm the delicate fantail goldfish. Your tank should also have decorative shelters where the fantail goldfish can hide whenever they want.
Substrate
To create a truly comfortable and natural habitat for your fancy goldfish, you have to concentrate on designing a perfect substrate. By substrate, we mean the substances used on the bottom of the fish tanks.
Fantail goldfish are adventurous, so they are fond of swimming all over the aquarium, paying a visit to every corner. Digging is another common habit of this fancy goldfish. So, you have to create a layer of soft and sandy substrate on the bottom that allows them to partake with their natural habit to forage.
This sand by Caribsea is perfect for supporting the foraging habit of goldfish. Also works with bottom feeders and discus fish.
Make sure not to use any sharp pebbles or rocks because your fantail goldfish may get unwanted cuts, bleed, and even develop bacterial infections.
Things like pumps and air stones will be nice to have in your aquarium as they can enrich the environment with more oxygen.
Plants
Plants are must-haves in your aquarium. Having scattered aquarium plants will enrich the aesthetic appeal and make the environment feel more natural to the dwellers. Since fantails like to dig, they might end up uprooting the live plants, so you have to be smart about where you place them and what types to get. Column feeding plants are also ideal since they can be placed on driftwood and aquarium rocks, mitigating the uprooting issue.
Fantail Goldfish like to pick away at greenery so you have to choose plants they do not have a taste for. Here are some suitable ones that fantail goldfish are less likely to eat or mess up:
- Java fern
- Anubias
- Java Moss
- Amazon Sword
- Crypts
Editor's Choice
Hardy, easy to care for, and requires only basic lighting to grow. This is the perfect aquarium plant for beginners!
If you don’t prefer live plants, you can use artificial plants instead. Additionally, it would be great to have some floating plants but be careful not to block the light with them!
Here are some of the best floating plants to have:
- Duckweed
- Amazon Frogbit
- Water Lettuce
- Water hyacinth
Water Quality for Freshwater Fish
Fantail goldfish don’t exist in the wild as they are bred to be kept as domesticated pets or for decorative purposes. However, they share a lot of similarities with wild carp. Just like their cousins, they are also freshwater fish.
So, you should keep these fantail goldfish in the same water condition. In other words, the water should be relatively cold as they are considered cold water fish. The temperature should be within 65 to 72-degree Fahrenheit.
Thanks to their hardy nature, they can survive under colder temperatures, but you should maintain the temperature mentioned above. These fantail goldfish can also tolerate a bit of salinity as long as it’s lower than 10% with a 1.002 gravity.
Ensure to change the water frequently and only use the cleanest water if you don’t want diseases to run wild and reenact the black plague inside the aquarium!
Filtration
Your fantail goldfish aquarium must have high-quality and effective filtration. Otherwise, you will be changing the water way too often, which will make keeping the aquarium feel like a job! It’s vital for keeping the fantail goldfish healthy and functioning.
Standard filters may not be suitable for fancy goldfish due to their waste, so you have to find the right system for your aquarium. HOB filters, canister filters, sponge filters, sump/wet dry filters, etc., are great options for these fantail goldfish.
The right filtration will remove all the filths from the fish tank to keep the water healthy, clean, and fresh for a more extended period.
Water Parameters
Apart from ensuring a comfortable water temperature, the water must have a neutral pH balance. The pH level should be within 6.5 to 7.5. Furthermore, you should keep the water hardness between 4 to 20 dKH and don’t let the nitrate level go beyond 40 ppm. As a basic rule, the ammonia and nitrite levels must be 0.
You don’t have to aim for exact numbers, but the levels should be close to the mentioned parameters.
Tank Maintenance
One great thing about fantail goldfish is that they are low-maintenance. However, they produce a lot of waste, ten times more than other fish of their size. The leftover foods can also contribute to polluting the water. So, the water will be high in nitrates and other filth pretty soon. A solution like the python cleaner is a great way for making water changes easier for you.
The Python is a mainstay in the fish hobby. Easily clean your aquarium by connecting this to your sink!
Larger tanks tend to stay cleaner for a longer period, but even they will become unclean over time. We cannot stress enough how important it is to change the water often.
If you slack off on maintenance, the environment of your fish tank will be too unhealthy for your freshwater fish. So, make a habit of changing the water as often as needed. Ensure the filter is working flawlessly, check the water parameters, and take all the necessary steps to keep the aquarium tidy.
An unhealthy aquarium will shorten the lifespan of the fantails and may even stunt their natural growth. If you’re wondering how often you should clean the tank, it depends on the tank size, the number of fishes, and the amount of mess.
Most fantail goldfish tanks need to be cleaned at least once within two weeks. Some may require more frequent cleaning. Make sure to remove any leftover food and debris when you’re cleaning. You should also wipe off any extra algae.
Test Water Conditions
There is no alternative to testing water conditions to maintain the suitable tank parameters. Besides, it can tell you a lot about the environment and if the water filter is working or not.
For getting the best readings, you should get an effective aquarium test kit. It will give you all the information you need to know if the water condition is suitable or not.
Look for any fluctuations because significant changes usually mean there is something wrong with the water, and you have to fix the issues to keep the tank consistent.
How to Set Up Your Fish Tank
Are you ready for your very own aquarium for fantail goldfish? You have made an excellent decision to choose this type of fancy goldfish because they are among the easiest to keep and look fantastic.
However, it’s natural to be confused about setting up a freshwater fish tank for the first time. Well, don’t worry because you’re in good hands. We’re going to walk you through the entire process so that you can set one up in no time! Let’s get right to it.
Step-1: Choose the Right Fish Tank
Your treasured fantail goldfish deserve to live in perfect condition. The best way to ensure that is by choosing the right fish tank where they can feel comfortable and independent. It must be spacious enough for them to move around without bumping into others!
As we’ve mentioned before, the minimum tank size for a single fancy goldfish is 20 gallons. Surely, you’re not planning to keep a single fish and subject it to depression, right? They need friends to grow as they are very social and amicable. So, you must keep several fish in the same tank.
You should increase the size by 10 gallons whenever you introduce a new fish into the aquarium. We recommend getting 20 to 30-gallon fish tanks. You can feel free to go for glass tanks or acrylic tanks.
Step-2: Select a Location
Now that you’ve got the fish tank, it’s time to decide where to put it. Since aquariums have a lot of decorative value, it must be placed where it looks the best. However, you have to consider how much light it is getting and the temperature of the location.
Fish need lights, but too much exposure to sunlight can increase algae growth and affect the water temperature, which is something you don’t want. So, keep the tank away from direct sunlight and use a high quality light to mimic nature.
Step-3: Decorate the Fish Tank
Found the perfect location? Nice! We’ll now move on to the fun part, decorating the fish tank! This is where you can let your creativity flow and explore various designs to make your aquarium look impressive. But keep in mind that the decoration must be suitable for the delicate fancy goldfish.
We recommend decorating the inner part after real-life freshwater sources like rivers, streams, lakes, etc. Cover the bottom of the tank with soft substances like sand and smooth gravel. Feel free to use aquatic cold water plants if you want. As long as you use safe materials, you should be good.
Step-4: Choose and Install a Filtration System
Your fish tank will never be complete without the right filters. Pick an appropriate one for fancy goldfish because the standard ones may not be suitable. You can choose from two types of filters, external and internal. While both options are great, external ones offer significantly better performance. For a fully loaded fancy goldfish tank, a canister filter is my top recommendation.
Our Subscriber's Choice
Top name brand, Italian made, and updated design. The next gen Fluval Canisters are a best buy!
Step-5: Pour Fresh Water
Since fantail goldfish are freshwater species, you can use tap water to fill the tanks. That’s pretty convenient but before pouring, be sure to add conditioner to make the water safer and more comfortable for your prized fantail goldfish.
The conditioner will remove the harmful chemicals. Also, check the pH levels because acidic water isn’t suitable for these delicate fish species. It would help if you also kept an eye on the water temperatures.
Step-6: Cycle the Water
Don’t jump the gun and drop your fantail goldfish right into the water because it’s not ready yet. After filling the tank, allow the water to stay like that for a couple of weeks. You don’t have much to do in this step besides waiting. After enough time, the water will be filled with beneficial bacteria.
Great, now the water is ready to receive the newcomers! This video from Fluval will give you a better understanding of cycling.
Step-7: Welcome Your New Pet into Their New Home
This is the part you’ve been waiting for! Well, here we are. Are the fish ready to dive into their new home? Don’t be impatient and throw them hastily into the water.
It is recommended to quarantine your fantail goldfish in a separate tank before introducing it into your primary tank. Keep the new fish in isolation for two to three weeks under observation, to find out if it’s completely safe and disease-free. If everything checks out, you can then move it to the main tank.
However, if you choose not to quarantine, here is the method:
Fantails are pretty delicate, so you must be gentle with them. Carefully drop the fish bag into the tank water and let it float inside for about 15 minutes. This will allow the fish to get used to the new water temperature. After some time, allow some of the tank water to enter the bag.
Once the fish becomes accustomed to the new environment, scoop it out using a fishnet and wait until it swims out into the tank. Leave it in peace afterward. Using a fish tank additive like the stress coat can help the fish stay strong against the change in the environment.
When selecting fantail goldfish, make sure to choose healthy ones that are playful and active. Avoid selecting the ones that appear inactive, and come with foggy eyes.
Step-8: Feed and Maintain
Your brand-new aquarium should now be lively, with fish swimming all around the tank. That’s definitely an incredible sight. Well, if you want to keep it that way, you have to feed the fish with enough food regularly. But never feed them too much!
We’ve already mentioned what kind of fish food they like and how often you should feed them. Be sure to change the water at least once a week and clean the tank regularly to keep your beloved fantail goldfish healthy and strong!
How to Breed?
Breeding fantail goldfish is astoundingly easy. These are egg layers known to lay more than thousands of eggs at a given point.
You just have to set the proper condition for them to breed and begin spawning. It’s best to use a separate breeding tank as it will be much easier to care for the baby fantail goldfish.
The condition of the breeding tank should be the same as your primary tank. For breeding, you must pick the healthiest fish that are also free from parasites. You can keep the adult males and females separated for some time to make them more interested in reproducing, but it isn’t always necessary.
Prepare the tank for breeding by adding fine-leaf plants or spawning mops where the eggs can stick to. Move the groups of fish or bonded pairs you’ve selected for breeding to the separate tank.
Once everything is set, slowly drop the temperature to 60°F and gradually increase the warmth by 3-degrees every day to urge the fish to start spawning. Soon enough, the fantails will begin the spawning process. It usually happens when the temperature reaches 68° to 74°F.
You will see small eggs scattered all over the spawning mops as soon as the female is done laying them. After the process is complete, remember to separate the parents because they don’t mind feasting on their own eggs when they get hungry! Sounds pretty dark, right? That’s just how nature is!
It usually takes around 5 to 6 days for the eggs to hatch. The young fish, also known as fry, will passionately eat their egg sacs for a couple more days before starting to swim around. You can introduce them to easy-to-digest foods like powdered fish food, infusoria, or soft brine shrimp when that happens.
Protein-rich foods will make the young fish healthier and induce faster growth. Well, that’s almost everything you need to know to breed fantail goldfish.
Is Your Fancy Species Male or Female?
Finding the gender of a fish is much different from animals. You won’t be able to tell the difference between a male fantail and a female fantail when they are young. It’s simply impossible.
However, when the adult males are ready for breeding, they will have white prickles, also known as breeding tubercles, on their bodies. Pregnant females will appear fatter. In general, male fantail goldfish tend to be smaller and skinnier than their female counterparts.
Another way to identify the gender is by checking the vent of the fantail goldfish, which is the opening found right underneath the anal fins. This is the part that fish use to release wastes, eggs, and even milts.
During the breeding season, female fantail goldfish will have a slightly round and protruding anal opening. Compared to that, the vent of a male fantail goldfish will appear longer, ovular and concave.
Here is a video from Fishing Vibe that explains how to tell if your goldfish is male or female. The video is not in English, so I have the subtitles on to translate as they explain.
Health and Disease
While health problems is mostly preventable, fantail goldfish can easily develop sickness, just like other freshwater species. The most common diseases are parasites, fungal infections, bacterial infections, protozoa, swim bladder disease, etc.
Being hardy fish, fantails can make full recoveries if they are given the proper treatment. However, the diseases can be fatal in the absence of treatment. For treating the affected fantail goldfish, it’s best to move them to a different tank.
Signs of Health
Healthy fantail goldfish will behave naturally. They will be active and cheerful, always swimming around with elegance. Their eating habit will be normal, and there won’t be any sign of lethargy.
The scales of healthy fantails will be colorful and bright, enough to attract anyone’s attention. The eyes will be clean and shiny. Moreover, the fins will be totally erect.
Signs of Ill Health
An ill fantail goldfish will be noticeably lethargic. It won’t swim much and stay mostly inactive. In some cases, it will appear to be sinking or floating. There will be a significant change in its appetite, eating barely or not at all.
The appearance of a sickly fancy goldfish won’t look as appealing. It may have cloudy eyes, pale skin, discolored scales, rotting front and tail fins, etc.
In most cases, you will able to recognize them differently from other fish. You must take care of them by giving them treatment or move them away to prevent the diseases from spreading.
Common Health Issues and Treatment
Swim bladder disease and dropsy are one of the most common fish diseases that can directly affect the swimming ability of fantail goldfish. It’s usually caused by constipation and can be prevented by following a staple diet plan. Dropsy is a difficult disease to deal with and best to check the fish diseases link for further details.
Ich is another common disease. When it happens, the affected fish will look whitish, and you must treat it quickly to prevent your fantail goldfish from dying. you can use non-iodized salt, ICH-X, Methylene Blue, etc., for treatment.
Ich-X is the best all around medication when it comes to treating Ich
Fantails are often affected by external parasites like flukes, fish lice, anchor worms, etc. It’s easy to eliminate these parasites using certain anti-parasitic medications like Paracleanse, Prazipro, etc.
Keeping the tank clean, providing high-quality food like brine shrimp, regularly changing water, using effective filters can minimize the risk of developing diseases. Prevention is always better than cure!
Where to Buy?
If you haven’t noticed, fantail goldfish are extremely popular. So, they can be found almost anywhere. Their impressive appearance and easy maintenance make them a favorite for beginner aquarists. There is a massive demand for fancy goldfish, so there are plenty of people selling them.
Check out your local pet stores. There is a high chance of finding fantails there. You might have to travel around a bit if the local stores don’t sell them, but it shouldn’t take long to find them.
In addition to pet stores, you can also consider buying fantails over the internet. Many online stores are willing to send your preferred pet fantail goldfish right to your doorstep. However, the internet is full of low quality shops trying to make a quick profit, so you have to be extra careful. My recommendation is using a shop like NextDayKoi when purchasing online. You get exactly the fish you see online and they offer a 14 day guarantee on all livestock purchases.
Use Coupon Code: ASDEPOT
You can purchase what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) Fantail Goldfish from NextDayKoi. They are one of the best fancy goldfish for aquariums and specialized ponds
Before choosing an online seller, find out their authenticity and read honest reviews. Make sure to buy from reputed sellers who aren’t likely to sell you poor quality livestock.
Closing Thoughts
Fantail goldfish are absolutely gorgeous, even though they are considered basic fancy goldfish. You can rely on them to enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home decoration. Their majestic double anal fin creates a sight to behold! They are remarkably straightforward to care for, making them perfect for starting out.
We’ve provided in-depth information on how to care for your fantail goldfish. Hopefully, we haven’t missed anything!
After reading this blog post, you now know that fantail goldfish are one of the most popular goldfish varieties on the market. They’re perfect for both beginners and experts because they are so easy to care for. If you have any questions about caring for them or want tips from a professional fish owner, leave a comment below!
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
I’m thrilled that you found Aquarium Store Depot! Here you’ll find information on fish, aquariums, and all things aquatics related. I’m a hobbyist (being doing this since I was 11) and here to help other hobbyists thrive with their aquariums! I adhere to a high quality Editorial Process and Review products with real life field usage and practical analysis.
