How can you tell a oranda's age i heard once from there wens.

No. Age is difficult in goldfish because environment and genetics play such a large part in development and size.....

You can only make a guesstimate based on their size. The wen won't tell you much at all because some never get a very large wen and some get huge wens....it all depends on the fishes genetics, not their age.

Unless the goldie is stunted or full grown thats the best way to get a ball park estimate of a fish's age. My fancy goldie, Scud, is about a year old I'm guessing. I've had her for about 9 months and she was about .75 inches when I got her. Now shes a touch over three inches not including the tail. Shes had nothing but the best with me but I don't know what kind of life she had before I got her.

The only true way you can know a goldfishes age is if you raised it from an egg. Or if you buy one from a breeder that can tell you when the fish was hatched. Water temp., amount and kind of food and amount of water changes will determine a goldfishes size even more than genetics. Genetics will determine how fast and big a goldfish can grow. Enviroment will determine how fast a goldfish will grow.

I've heard that their wens start growing around 1-2 years old.

But, I was checking out fish today and there were these two big orandas in a tank (probably four inches long including tail) and one had a nice big brain and the other one had hardly any. It bummed me out because I really want a massive brain for my fish, but he might never get one.

More protien for him, I guess.

A breeder told me a while back,that it's actually alot healthier for a fish to grow his wen later than sooner. That shows a better quality fish to begin with. And Apparently,that gives the fish time to build mass up enough where it can actually carry it well without any problems.I had a Choco Oranda who just passed.For the three years that I had her,she was sick from day one.To make matters worse, Her wen was soooooo big and heavy,that it got to the point where she not only couldn't see,but that she could barely swim because of the weight.When I pulled her out of the tank,I was shocked at just how heavy her head/wen was...Poor girl,now I know why she didn't swim much at all.I wish that I would have realized it alot sooner.

That is so sad, Sharon...... I have seen a number of "smaller sized" wenned fish that have such massive wens I feel sorry for them. I find it distressing to see a fish with a wen that has overgrown its eyes and/or its ability to swim in good balance.

It is a rare fish that can carry such a heavy wen at only 4-5 icnhes in length. It is much better to develop the body mass and muscle to create the balance of the fish before the wen develops. It makes it ever so hard to wait in anticipaton of that wen, though.... but in the long run, I think I really prefer the solid, nicely rounded mid-size wen on a fish....