Fantail goldfish
The Fantail is the most robust of all the twin-tailed goldfish. Indeed, despite its high dorsal fin and flamboyant caudal (tail) fin, the Fantail Goldfish has no problem swimming at at all, even in moderate currents.
As you watch these fish moving about your dealer’s tanks, you’ll soon appreciate how the Fantail Goldfish got its name. From behind, its tail really does look like a fan. The tail should be evenly divided and proudly held. The body of the Fantail should be short, almost egg-like, rather than elongated like the body of the Comet Goldfish. With good care, they typically grow to about six inches long.
Fantail goldfish come in a great many colours; a mottled mix of orange, white, black, silver and gold are most common in the shops. Pure metallic red Fantails are popular, too, as are the more blue-black calico variety.
Fantail Goldfish tips:
- You want to choose bright and alert specimens. No drooping fins or tail.
- Some shops sell Fantails with very long fins, but enthusiasts prefer a more balanced fish.
- Fantails are the hardiest twin-tailed goldfish, and can live outside all year in ponds.
- If over-wintering outdoors, ensure the pond has a deep area to provide protection from freezing conditions.
- Fantail goldfish are sociable fish, so please keep them in shoals of at least three specimens.
Fantails can live for well over a decade in good conditions, so it makes sense to choose carefully before you buy your new pets.
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Filed in: Varieties
Mar 10th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Hey, my first fancy goldfish was a fantail too. I’ve still got a soft spot for them, though I’m more a ranchu man nowadays. (I know. Weirdo!)
Jan 10th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
One of my fantails started out all orange and then turned white except for the top of his head. He got too big (over 8 inches) for my 35 gal tank after a few years so now he has retired to the 1/4 acre pond. He lives with about 40 rainbow trout. Another one I had like him lived in a 10 gal tank for ten years.
Jan 11th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Hi.
I have three beautiful Fantails in one of my many tanks and they are my pride and joy, it is so good to meet people who care about these fantastic creatures
Jan 18th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I think fantails are very pretty how do i tell if i have a male or female
Jan 18th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
How big do fantails get?
Feb 8th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Somebody help!!!
My fantail just decided to swim on its side. What can I do and prevent this from happening?
Feb 15th, 2009 at 5:43 am
@Jackie - The maximum size a fantail is likely to grow to is around 6″ (15cm) in optimum conditions. In a normal-sized aquarium it’ll probably grow to around 4″.
Sexing is virtually impossible when the fish are young.
When they’re fully mature, there are some things you can look for.
In the breeding season male goldfish will develop white pimples on their gill covers and on their pectoral fins (called tubercles). They are hard to spot and look a little bit like disease if you’ve not seen them before.
Female goldfish get a bit fuller, as they plump up with eggs.
You can also look out for changes in behaviour, such as males chasing females to try to spawn with them.
It’s not easy, but hope this helps!
Feb 15th, 2009 at 5:49 am
@Boxer - has it been swimming like that for a long time? It sounds like a swim bladder problem if so.
You can read this guest post I wrote on AquaDaily for more information on weird floating in goldfish:
http://aquadaily.com/2009/01/05/floating-goldfish-causes-and-cures/
Apr 18th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Hi!
Ihave two very pretty, orange goldfish… though one has white on it’s stomach. There names are Chesseball *the small one with white* and Sandra Lee. Sandra Lee is three And chesse is 2 months old. There my life and I love them.
Owen I have a question,
Sandra is really long and fatish skinyish. Is that proper? For Chesseball He’s the same but small and young. Is that also proper?
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
We have 13 beautiful fantail goldfish in a pond - from 6-10″ long. Ten are orange/red, and 3 multi colored (white and red). We were told to thin them, but we don’t know how to sell some of them. They are beautiful and healthy, and will grow bigger if we have fewer.
Jun 20th, 2009 at 6:40 am
iv got 3 fantials in a 20 gallon tank iv got another 27 gallon tank iv had them about 1,3 yrs how do i now when ther mature ther about 5cm , then 7cm and the other is about 8cm.
should i put it in the other tank iv got 4 other goldfish in ther?
iv had if they spawn should i take them out after?
how long before they hatch?
Oct 4th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Hi
Can someone help! we are very worried about our new fancy fishies…Kalu and Moto!
We bought them two days ago and they dont seem to be getting on in the tank that we have. Moto, The Red and White Fantail keeps chasing and trying to bite the black Ranchu!
We are very concearned that they are not compatible, however, they look amazing together! Should we seperate them?
Secondly, Moto keeps coming to the surface to blow bubbles and gasp for air! Is she ok? we have a medium size glass fish bowl (with 10 litres of water) and also have a plant in there that we bought along with the fish for oxygen. We are really worried that the fantail is going to attack the ranchu and we are going to wake up to find ranchu dead!
Help!
Jan 3rd, 2010 at 4:09 pm
hello everyone,ive had my fantail (which i named fanta)for about 1/2 a year.he/she is extremely healthy and is 4in long.then just before christmas i got a very big regular goldfish(named mango)who is about 6in long…i had two minnos also.but mango decided to eat one.the aquarium is 5 gallons with a few decorations with river rocks as the gravel.i am planning on getting a larger aquarium.Any suggestions?? now i have three questions->
1)how do i sex them?
2)is this a proper environment?
3)and are all of these fish suitable with eachother?
thanx for ure help.
,jake
Jan 7th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
my fish are finally recognising me.wen i got home and went to feed them they swam to the top and were freaking out.(thinking that they were gonna eat.which they did)
Feb 26th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Quote Sonia:
Hi
Can someone help! we are very worried about our new fancy fishies…Kalu and Moto!
We bought them two days ago and they dont seem to be getting on in the tank that we have. Moto, The Red and White Fantail keeps chasing and trying to bite the black Ranchu!
We are very concearned that they are not compatible, however, they look amazing together! Should we seperate them?
Secondly, Moto keeps coming to the surface to blow bubbles and gasp for air! Is she ok? we have a medium size glass fish bowl (with 10 litres of water) and also have a plant in there that we bought along with the fish for oxygen. We are really worried that the fantail is going to attack the ranchu and we are going to wake up to find ranchu dead!
Help!
End Quote
I don’t know too much about how these fish get along together but gasping for air at the top of the tank (for extended periods of time) usually is because of too much ammonia in the tank…
this plagues goldfish in smaller containers because these fish crate more waste than other fish of a similar size. For this reason most experienced aquarists reccomend at least 10 gallons for any goldfish container and some kind of oxygen (a $10 air pump with an airstone should suffice) and or filtration is a good idea.
If you for some reason can’t get a larger container try changing the water often, remove chhlorine, and let water stand before putting fish in.
Mar 12th, 2010 at 9:28 am
how can i tell my fantail’s age?
Apr 3rd, 2010 at 1:38 pm
I have had goldfish for about 4 years without any problem but all of a sudden every thing a gone a mess. I had a white pond goldfish(not sure what kind) Snow flake for about 3 years and she just died about 6 months ago. I had had her from about 1/2 inch until 3 inches long. she had a little friend that my husband killed,so we got her another friend, Bubbles, Sadly to say we lost snow flake about a year after that.but the Bubbles was doing fine.these past 6 months she has lived alone and has done fine until about 2 months ago. she started to act very strange not eating, was not interseted in chasing my finger on the outside of the tank, kinda sad. so we got her a friend, Nemo, a fantail. for about a month they had no problems, Bubbles seemed to chirp back up and was herself. then Bubbles started to stop moving her fins and get red streakes around the mouth and scales. soon we lost her at about year and 1 1/2 and from 1 1/2 inches to 4inches. we were sad so we got another fantail,Fish to replays Bubbles for the kids. but Fish died only a week after. Now Nemo is starting to get the samething. I have looked this problem up and found that the amonia (cant spell) levels are high but if anyone has any helpful suggestions on tbhis matter please help us.
thank you
Apr 18th, 2010 at 7:52 am
HELP !! I got 2 lovely fantails yesterday ( Orange & White and Black 7 Gold) Their names are Mario And Luigi but after about 2 hours of being in their new tank luigi started to act strange e.g lying on the bottom of the tank. I went to bed and when I woke up he was upside down and after observing him for ages he seems not to be able to control his body (he cant turn over or move where he wants) Now Mario is lying at the bottom but is movement is fine and he will move every so often toward the reef in the tank. Luigi got stuck under the bridge today too
I have done some reasearch and it sounds like swim bladder desise i gave him a frozen pea but he is not better. He can turn round now but almost instanly floats rond and sinks and he cannot get to feed :O I set up my tank the day I got them, I added Tap water crystals to stop dirty water harming them, I kept them in the bag they came in and put them in the water for 15 mins before releasing them out the bag, I have a filter, Gravel and a plant (fake Plastic 1) Theyare lying at the bottom right corner of the tank now together and lugi is on his back but Mario canmove if he needs to. These is my first Fish and I’m really looking foward to caring for them. I HOPE THEY DON’T DIE
If you want i can film the fish put it on youtube and give you the link
If they do *tears* Do you recomend common Goldfish as I have had a bad experience ( Please note: The man in the pet shop helped me pick them and said they looknice and healthy how about them and I agreed as they has shiney scales and there fins and stuff where up right and the generly looked well darting about the tank. ) I got them home put them in the tank and they wre happy playing with their new filter ( the swan up to it and it pushed them down like a shout) they done this 2 times each then the swan around the plant a few times and finally swam happily about their new tank, I was delighted The man at the pet shop said not to feed them that day as he had already done it. I was really looking foward to a long happy relationship with the boys (the pet shop guy identified they were boys) Please tell me waht i have done wrong and give me some tips Contact me on JS96@gmx.com or if you have MSN jordan96-@hotmail.co.uk THANKS
May 17th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Hey its me again!
and after 1/2 a year saving for a tank, I finally got one!
its 40 gallons, gravel, decorations, plants, and 2 bio wheel filters/pumps =D My fish have grown, I still have the fantail fanta and the other regular goldfish Mango, and a few others that were wounded and I rescued. They all get along great and are very active!But sadly fantas tail was damaged because i caught two bluegills in with them and i guess my fish were on the menue, I removed them from my tank and fanta is healing now.
but i noticed fanta and mango have been inhaling the gravel in the aquarium, but spitting it back out. Are they simply cleaning them or are they slowly piling up in their tummys?
should I be concerned? Email me at-> vernn8er@att.net
thank you!!