Fantail’s tolerance for temp sways?

[Stinson Beach Aquatics]

Hello! I have a quick theoretical question for y’all. I have a sunroom in my house with some tropical fish. The sunroom isn’t insulated so there are some temperature swings. However, the temp doesn’t impact my warm water tanks since they all have heaters. Due to the fact that goldfish are cold water fish, I’m curious if they could tolerate these types of swings. In the summer, the room can occasionally get to 82 but the vast majority of the time it would be in the 60s or low 70s. Since goldfish are commonly kept in ponds with natural temp swings, would this be any different? I’m particularly interested in oranda goldfish. I don’t want to keep them in any inadequate condition so I wanted to see what your guys’ thought are.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I would imagine that the temperature swings would depend largely on the water volume. It takes much more energy, and much more time to heat or cool 100 gallons of water vs 10 gallons of water. Essentially, a larger volume of water should be more stable.  
 

As far as Oranda’s ability to handle temperature swings, and how big of swings they can handle I cannot comment on. Hopefully someone who has kept them in ponds can chime in with their experience!

[Tony s]

On 8/19/2024 at 10:37 PM, Stinson Beach Aquatics said:

I’m particularly interested in oranda goldfish

I’ve been looking at getting a trio of orandas and doing a bit of research. Apparently fancies like orandas and ranchus have a bit of a weak digestive system. They actually do better digesting their food and have fewer problems when kept in warmer temperatures. Apparently, who knew. You always hear about them being cold water fish and all that.

[Tony s]

Hygger’s Oranda care guide says to keep them at a relatively stable temperature. As does Luke. His recommendation is room temperature or slightly warmer. 

[gardenman]

Any of the fancy goldfish with a compressed body shape will be prone to digestive issues regardless of temperature. Goldfish like comets and shubunkins are a safer option and can handle temperature swings while still looking pretty. The trend to more shortbody/deformed fish of all types will likely lead to similar digestive issues in those fish. When you squeeze the same amount of digestive system into a smaller space, the system tends not to work as well.  

[Tony s]

On 8/20/2024 at 9:48 AM, gardenman said:

Any of the fancy goldfish with a compressed body shape will be prone to digestive issues regardless of temperature

Absolutely correct. As will things like balloon mollies and rams. The main idea was how to help mitigate such problems before they happen. Steady, warmer temperatures seem to help. 

 

On 8/20/2024 at 9:48 AM, gardenman said:

Goldfish like comets and shubunkins are a safer option and can handle temperature swings while still looking pretty.

Also true. But comets need a 6’ tank as they get up to 14”. I think if I had one of those, a goldfish might be the last thing in the tank 😂

[Stinson Beach Aquatics]

Thank you all for the information! My plan was a pair in a planted 35g with a Fluval 307-407 canister filter due to the high bioload. We’ll see… All the information has been super helpful! 🙏

[Lennie]

On 8/20/2024 at 7:46 PM, Stinson Beach Aquatics said:

Thank you all for the information! My plan was a pair in a planted 35g with a Fluval 307-407 canister filter due to the high bioload. We’ll see… All the information has been super helpful! 🙏

35g is a bit too small for the goldfish in the longterm. My oranda got bigger than the size of my palm just after a year and outgrew my 100x40x40cm/160liter/40g tank. These guys grow big! Also if you are planning to get two, make sure to get same gender. It can be really annoying for a single female to be chased by a male in the tank, in my experience.

My baby goldfish got from this:

to this, approximately in 8 months:

So two of them would outgrow a 35g pretty fast I think.

Normal body shaped goldfish are usually healthier but they need even bigger space due to their higher level of activity and bigger size.

I personally got me low quality orandas so they dont have that desired very egg shapey body and huge wens and such. They still have that deformed body but isnt as bad. Never had a single issue once. Avoid such big wens as they even cover their eyes and are fragile part of the body.

If Im not mistaken, an aquatic vet says goldfish cannot be constipated due to their physiology. We commonly think they have digestive issues like constipation. Just make sure to feed them sinking food and dont let them eat from the surface

https://cafishvet.com/goldfish/truth-about-constipated-goldfish/

Also I would not advise temp swings as these guys are basically nothing like carps in nature these days. I would keep them around 20-25C myself, excluding the increased summer temps you cant control that are not extreme

Edited August 20 by Lennie

[Tony s]

On 8/20/2024 at 5:12 PM, Lennie said:

We commonly think they have digestive issues like constipation. Just make sure to feed them sinking food and dont let them eat from the surface

@Stinson Beach Aquatics Agree with this completely. If you're going to feed pellets soak them first and make sure they don't gulp air. Feed lots of fresh food should help. Especially veggies, and duckweed

@Lennie You have stunning fish. Especially your black and white.😍

Edited August 20 by Tony s

[Tony s]

On 8/20/2024 at 5:12 PM, Lennie said:

Also if you are planning to get two, make sure to get same gender

Okay. Um, how do you tell. Never sexed goldfish before

[Lennie]

On 8/21/2024 at 12:32 AM, Tony s said:

Okay. Um, how do you tell. Never sexed goldfish before

The obvious thing for me was my male having the white stars and chasing the other one. And my other one, the panda, fits in the terms of female goldfish visiually

here is Luke’s video on goldfish gender. You can see those white stars on males

 

 

On 8/21/2024 at 12:25 AM, Tony s said:

@Lennie You have stunning fish. Especially your black and white.😍

They are both the same fish! He turned from black and white to that orange over the year

I knew Goldfish can change colors but I wasnt expecting this much of a change

Edited August 21 by Lennie

[Tony s]

On 8/21/2024 at 1:57 AM, Lennie said:

They are both the same fish! He

Well that’s interesting. Although you can see a bit of the coloration underneath the white starting to show through. I didn’t think that the breeding stars would be visible in a male unless he was ready to go. I guess we learn a little every day. Yeah, he said that they change, but yeah, that’s a lot  

we actually met Luke at Chicago aquashella. And his fiancée, and possibly her sister? Seems very nice, my wife and daughter got autographed shirts from him. 😀  

[Stinson Beach Aquatics]

Very good info! Thanks for the ideas!