Episode 55 - Red Cap

Another goldfish from my fish tank.

The Red Cap belongs to the "Gentle" variety and is one kind of High Heads (also known as the Orandas). Unlike the Tiger Head, the rasberry-like head growth of the fish covers only the top of the head. As you can see from the photo, the fish looks like wearing a red cap. The Red Cap is also known as the "Red Spot on the Head of a Crane". Other than the red spot on the top of its head, the fish is silver-white in colour. Any colour on the body will "disqualify" it. This fish is up to standard.

It is not difficult to take care of a goldfish. Just stick to the following guildlines, assuming that you keep your goldfish in an indoor water tank of reasonable size and feed it with pellets purchased from the pet shop:

1. Never overfeed your fish: Goldfish loves eating. It eats a lot without knowing when to stop. Overfeeding will kill the fish - because of bad digestion or intoxication (water fouled by the food or the excretion of the goldfish). Feed the fish only once or twice a day and not exceeding the amount that it will consume within 3-5 minutes. Goldfish will stop eating (or eat very little) if the temperature is very low in winter. Do not feed your goldfish at night.

For newly purchased goldfish, in particular if you need to travel a long way home from the pet shop, do not feed it in the first 2 days. Let it settle down first before giving it any food.

Feed your goldfish occasionally with live food (worms or meat cut into small pieces) / egg yolk (cooked and cut into small pieces) / vegetables (clean thoroughly and cut into small pieces. My fish loves broccoli).

2. Change water regularly: If you do not have a filtering system, change one third of the water everyday. Change the water frequently even if you have a filtering system.

3. So long as it is kept indoor, a goldfish will not die simply because of low winter temperature. There is no need to use a heater in the fish tank. Remember not to do anything to change the water tank temperature drastically.

According to a report, the oldest known captive goldfish died in the age of 43. The normal life-span of a goldfish is around 10 years.

A goldfish can recognise its master. It will ask for food when it sees you (that's why it is easy to overfeed your pet!). It will not swim away even if you put your hand into the water tank.

My personal experience is that it is not difficult to breed goldfish at home. The Chinese book "Chinese Goldfish" by Wu & Fu (1983) has detailed and practicable instructions. The problem is to get time to take care of the large number of baby fish!