I am a ranchu goldfish enthusiast and writing this hub for people interested in having ranchu goldfish as a pet. I will put some tips on keeping Ranchu’s and common problems and things to consider when looking into this species of gold fish.

 I currently have two ranchu in a 4ft tank, one black ranchu and the other a red and white one , both around 1 years old.  

The Ranchu is a popular goldfish species and is especially popular in Japan for its unique appearance and resemblance to a small puppy , Ranchu’s can be very friendly and some people are actually able to pat there ranchu’s or even train them to do little tricks. The ranchu goldfish is the work of breeding by the Japanese, breeding different types of lionhead goldfish.

The ranchu has a quite fat egg shaped body and when is fully grown can look quite strange but this is the attraction for goldfish enthusiasts.  The ranchu also has very beautiful head growths which are prized by goldfish breeders.  

Like all goldfish they require a decent size tank and the most important factor when choosing the tank is the surface area of the water, this ensures enough oxyen for your fish, so when choosing a tank a long rectangular tank is preferred over a tall tank.

The ranchu goldfish is a very slow swimmer and because of its body shape does not cope with strong current so make sure that you have a good filter that is not too strong or is being pointed at a rock or some plants to reduce the strength of the current.

The best thing to feed your ranchu is any type of sinking pellet. It is also beneficial to include easily digestible plant foods such as duckweed, algae, and wheat germ to aid digestion.

 For a treat Ranchu’s enjoy oranges, mandarins, live food, worms, and shrimp. I currently use a specially formulated ranchu food made by hikari fish food to produce strong colourful and healthy ranchu.  

Remember normal rules apply when feeding your goldfish depending on the temperature, at temperatures above 20 degrees celcius goldfish digestive system work very well at cold temperatures overfeeding can make them bloated and sometimes when they unable to digest it can die from it. So take care when feeding your ranchu.  

The most common ranchu problem I have seen is swim bladder where the ranchu will swallow too much oxygen and eventually keep floating up to the top of the tank and then eventually flipping over. This condition can be avoided by feeding your ranchu sinking pellets so they don’t have to come up to the water level to get the food, Feeding your ranchu easily digestible food such as duckweed and plants can help relieve swim bladder problems.  The other problem I have seen is that your ranchu may suck on pebbles and often accidentally swallow them so its very important to ensure the pebbles in your tank if you have any are small enough pass through the ranchu’s body. Sand could be a great alternative to pebbles and can give your fish tank a nice beachy look.   

When ranchu’s are fully grown they can fetch very high prices for example a five year old pure bred ranchu can set you back around $100 US and even higher depending on the size and vibrant colors of your ranchu.Most pet shops I have looked at you are able to buy a ranchu for around $20 US for a6 -7 cm ranchu which is a very reasonable price. Look for a similar price otherwise you may be getting ripped off.

Where to get your Ranchu

Ranchu’s are not a very common fish specieis found in most pet stores so it may take a bit of fish hunting to find it but if you are unable to find a ranchu in your local fish shop the next option is an online fish shop as the number of online fish shops has increased dramatically so doing a quick search on google should come up with some great results. I’ve previously ordered all my fish online even the tropical fish.

How to spot if your ranchu is pure bred. The best thing is to take a close look at the pictures below , another simple way is to look at the curve from the top of the head to the tale if it is a nice and smooth curve you most likely have a pure bred if there are a few lumps or higher bumps you may have a cross bred ranchu which has not been totally bred out of other goldfish species features.

R.I.P Ranchu - Sadly my red and white Ranchu past away a few weeks ago , and the reason he died was that he kept trying to pick up food off the gravel. And he ended up eating a lot of little bits of gravel and not being able to pass them through his system. When I pulled him out of the tank he weighed a ton ,full of pebbles poor fish.

:( anyway just a reminder so you can choose a gravel size thats easier enough for them to pass or too big to swallow or maybe an even safer option to have to gravel. Even though no gravel means less room for bacteria to live in and it takes away from the you aquaculture designs.

Goldfish Competitions

Goldfish competitions are very popular in japan and the ranchu is one of the most popular contest fish , Japan hold many competitions that judge your ranchu’s for health, color and especially the famous head growths.