Red Cap Goldfish in my pond

[jonny23]

Hi all,

I have a 4 goldfish in my pond to redcap orandas and 2 fantails the pond is 260 litre over filtered 1200 litres per hour. they are in there for a year and 4 months and i havent seen much growth from them. they have big fat bellies and the wein is growing well on the redcap but overall body size no great growth.

I was hoping to breed them this summer and wonder anything i can do to increase growth?

 

[Mmathis]

Gosh, but I don’t have any advice, except that maybe those fish don’t grow as quickly as regular goldfish...? You didn’t say how big they are, but if my calculator is correct, your pond is only around 60 or so gallons — which isn’t very big when you’re talking about housing 4 goldfish long-term (though it sounds like your filtration is adequate). It could be that the limited space is restricting their growth. Do you test your water, and what do those results normally run? What are you feeding them and how much do you give them?

 

[jonny23]

I think for 4 fancy goldfish that is more then enough room.i do 50 percent water changes each week also. the water is well water so its always good.

 

[MitchM]

You didn't mention what size the fish are. They may have already reached their full size.
Water quality plays a factor, you might want to test your water and post the numerical results here.

 

[JamieB]

They require time to mature, just like any animal. And may all be one gender. Do your research on food to prepare them for breeding. I don’t know much about the fancy goldfish, but most require meaty foods, like freeze dried meal worms, the red worms, bugs, etc. that gives the females what they need to produce eggs. Fresh veggie stuff they can eat will give them the vitamins, fiber, etc. A balanced diet is always good!

 

[jonny23]

They are about 3 1/2 inches in size.
They have a very mixed diet as they do be eating flies that land on top of the water, they also get general goldfish flakes and pellets, blood worms, daphnia and they do be grazing on the algae that grows on the side of the pond.

 

[MitchM]

They could be fully grown.
I mention water tests because calcium contributes to skeletal formation.
If you only use well water, perhaps your municipality has the test results of your water well on file.