In all the years of breeding these fish, they have created some pretty wild extremes in shapes and such. How come they have not miniaturized them some so they can be kept in smaller aquariums? Any ideas?
Why hasn't anyone bred a smaller goldfish?
- Thread starter PuppyFluffer
- Start date
Well, fancies generally end up substantially smaller full grown than comets or commons do, so in a sense, they have. I know what you mean though, and there are indeed some varieties that exhibit smaller adult size than others, namely celestials, bubble eyes, tosakin, and pearlscales. Another reason they did not actively pursue such breeding projects may be cultural. In Asia, goldfish are thought to bring wealth and prosperity. To that end, they were bred to look either overtly like money (ranchu), like mythical beasts (lionheads), or like fat, happy, prosperous fish (most of the rest). Breeding them small may have seemed for all intents and purposes like breeding them for less prosperity. I'm just spitballing, but it sounds like it could make sense lol.
I was at pestmart yesterday and they had sarasa comets that only got to be 6" and only needed a 20 gal tank.
Anything to sell people fish, have them die and them sell them new fish. gug.
Anything to sell people fish, have them die and them sell them new fish. gug.
I did not know that they symbolized wealth! Neat info.
And the term "spitballing" is a hoot! I've never heard that one!
It would be neat to have smaller ones, like 3-4 inches. I'm thinking of this because I am setting up a 20 gallon now. I still have the 180 to set up and I'll put goldies in there.
And the term "spitballing" is a hoot! I've never heard that one!
It would be neat to have smaller ones, like 3-4 inches. I'm thinking of this because I am setting up a 20 gallon now. I still have the 180 to set up and I'll put goldies in there.
Why would you want a small goldfish? Breed me a fancy that gets 2' long. This 10" oranda I have is boring 
I think it's totally cool that they are large fish. I am planning a 180 set up with them.
It's just that they are depicted every darn tiny tank package and so many think you can actually keep them in a 2.5 gallon or a 5 gallon because that's the picture on the box!
My background is in dogs and human's have selectively bred for smaller versions of many breeds - schnauzers, poodles, pinchers, - to name a few. It seems that the goldfish would be a good candidate.
It's just that they are depicted every darn tiny tank package and so many think you can actually keep them in a 2.5 gallon or a 5 gallon because that's the picture on the box!
My background is in dogs and human's have selectively bred for smaller versions of many breeds - schnauzers, poodles, pinchers, - to name a few. It seems that the goldfish would be a good candidate.
Petsmart is lying to you. Never trust their labels at all. That probably meant up to 6" NOW and they only need a 20 FOR NOW.
I had heard they had come up with a smaller breed.
It wouldn't be hard. You just breed the smallest individuals, but you would need a huge breeding operation to do it, as well as a HUGE founding population to maintain genetic variability while decreasing the size (VERY hard to do).
I had heard they had come up with a smaller breed.
It wouldn't be hard. You just breed the smallest individuals, but you would need a huge breeding operation to do it, as well as a HUGE founding population to maintain genetic variability while decreasing the size (VERY hard to do).
It took a long while for dogs to get bred down to miniature sizes, so it may also take a while for fish to get miniaturized as well. It may not take as long, but it won't be as simple as creating color morphs IMO.
