[Illustration: _Veiltail_]
History: The Gold Fish, the oldest and most popular of our numerous
Aquarium Fish, was developed by the Chinese during the Sung
Dynasty (960-1278) from the wild Carassius Auratus to the various
varieties now familiar to us.
In the year 1750 Madame de Pompadour imported the first Goldfish into
France as showpieces for the ornamental waterpools in her vast gardens.
In 1856, P. T. Barnum was sent by The American Museum to search for
oddities in Europe and to study the then popular fad of keeping live
fish in aquariums. Thus our now familiar Goldfish made its debut in
America. With its golden beauty and its sturdiness, the Goldfish quickly
became the Parlor Pet of our parents and grandparents. Today the sales
of American-bred Goldfish run into the millions.
It would be beyond the limits of this booklet to explain and fully
describe all the various forms and color variations of our goldfish, as
there are Comets, Fantails, Shubunkins, Black Moors, etc. Most Goldfish
do not reach their full life span of 4 to 6 years and often more,
because they are fed too much and are given too little “Living Space.”
Feed your fish only once a day during the morning and make sure that all
food is consumed within 10 to 15 minutes. Any surplus food will fall to
the bottom and will contaminate the water. The surest sign of
overfeeding is cloudy and milky looking water. This bad water is poor in
oxygen and the fish will hang on the surface and frantically gasp for
atmospheric air. Any nationally known brand of Goldfish food will be
suitable for your fish, but once more: DO NOT OVERFEED. The proper size
of the aquarium should be comparable to the amount of fish or vice
versa. The happy medium is about 1 small fish per gallon of water. An
aquarium of five gallons capacity can, therefore, hold no more than 4 to
5 small Goldfish, but fish of larger size must have much larger space.
The most suitable temperature is between 60 and 70 degrees, Fahrenheit.
Breeding Hints: During the breeding season which falls during the first
seven months of the year, the male will show small warts of pin
point size on his gill plates. The female is shorter than the male
but fuller in body, more so, when carrying spawn. A mature fish is
about 3-10 inches long, depending on type and a pair must
therefore have a breeding aquarium of at least 10 gallons. The
fish will spawn on myriophyllum, long rooted water hyacinths, or
other soft bunchy plants and the eggs will hatch in about 4-7
days. Since the parent fish like to eat their own spawn, it is
therefore advisable to remove either the parents or the plants
with their adhering eggs. The newly hatched babies are fed with
infusoria and later on with fish food of a fine grain.
Diseases: Fin Congestion and Fungus are the most frequent Goldfish
diseases. Their best cure is the salt treatment which is described
on page 33.