Gold Fish Care

Shubunkin Goldfish

Other Common Name:

Chuwen-chin in China

Origin:

China, later in Japan

Size:

Total size of the fish is 12 inches 30 cm), body length is 3 inches (7 .5 cm),depth is 3/8th of the body length, length of the lobes is 1/3rd of the body length.

Lifespan:

The average lifespan is 20 to 25 year

Physical Description

The Shubunkin looks similar to a Comet Goldfish, except for the length of the caudal fin. They occur in calico containing black, white, red, orange, and brown on a silvery-blue background. The fins are black. Their scales are transparent and have an underlying opalescent sheen. They are slender and streamlined. The anal, pectoral and pelvic fins occur in pairs

Color Varieties of Shubunkins

Shubunkins are classified depending on finnage. There are threetypes of Shubunkin and they are the Japanese or American Shubunkin, the London Shubunkin and the Bristol Shubunkin. The Japanese or American Shubunkin has deeply forked caudal fins that end in long narrow lobes. The caudal fins of London Shubunkins have rounded lobes and very minimal forking. They are approximately one-fourth the length of the fish's body. The Bristol Shubunkin has the longest finnage. The caudal fins are rounded and lobed. They can occur in violet, red, orange, yellow and brown, spotted with black.

Housing

Shubunkins are hardy kinds. They respond best when left in ponds. If you want to keep them in a tank, it should be a minimum of 30 - 40 gallons. They are fast swimmers, so avoid putting the slower varieties of goldfish such as the Telescope and Bubble eyes in the same tank. Use hard rocks or gravel as a substrate for the basement of the tank. Use water plants or aquarium plants to decorate the tank.

Temperature:

You have to maintain moderate temperature of 65 to 75 degrees F (18 - 23 degrees C).

Water Condition:

You have to maintain water condition in the tank as pH 6.5 7.5 and dH 4 to 20. You have to fill fresh cold water in the tank.

Moving Level in Water:

It can swim in all levels of water.

Feeding

Shubunkin Goldfish can eat all kinds of fresh, frozen, and flake foods. To keep a good balance give them a high quality flake food everyday and feed them with 30 percent protein food. You can feed brine shrimp (either live or frozen), blood worms, and daphnia. You should confirm that live or frozen food is not infected by any bacteria.

Reproduction

You can easily breed this Goldfish during a breeding season. It can lay 1000 eggs.

Selecting a good Shubunkins

1. The body of the fish should be strong, hard with a smooth outline.

2. 25 percent body should have a blue background.
3. Width of the caudal fin should not spread more than 5/4th of
the body depth.