We stopped at our LFS today just for a quick look and I wanted to price a tank. Anyway I had a look at the goldies, I have no idea when it happened but theses guys must have a new supplier, its the first time I've seen anything other then commons and shubunkins for sale.

Anyway there were a few fish I particularly liked that I wanted to ask about.

Pearlscales, I've always wanted one but never seen them for sale. There was at least 40 for sale, but they cost almost $15, my Peacock eels only cost $10 and the full grown Oscars the LFS sells are $12 LOL, so was kinda surprised by the price. Are pearlscales generally expensive?
Also do they have any specific problems related to their type and does anyone have pics of one from a top view, as I have an indoor pond rather then a tank.

Lionheads, are they meant to have no dorsal fin and the tiniest outta proportion tails you've ever seen? Some of them were quite cute but others were just bizarre. Once again has anyone got top view pics of them? and whats their swimming ability like? I'm assuming from the look of them pretty poor?

Lol and lastly orandas, they had a single gorgeous oranda. It was an odd colour though, sorta grey with no hint of any other colour and a blue-ish wen, what type of colour is this? and I assume it'll change as it gets older?

Lol thanks, I'm still after a mate for my little one inch moor, since it looks like the three rescued very stunted commons I had with him have a new 250g pond to move into, for which I'm very glad.

Thanks
Emma

Emma, it depends on the quality of the fish, do they look like good quality? how large are they? $15 sounds about average for a relatively small, decently bred fish. Sorry I don't have any pics at hand, but you can go0gle image them..

You said that these peacock eels were probably brought back to the LFS and they didn't actually order them in, that's probably why they're so cheap, also, oscars grow very quickly and are difficult tank mates for most people (they need specialist tanks) so if they had a huge full grown one, they're probably trying to get rid of it, they're often difficult to move on and take up tank space where they could be selling higher turnover fish, and making more mulah, especially if you're LFS is pretty small (I used to work in a small FS and my boss was very hesitant to stock oscars and only ordered them in if people wanted them.) so that could be a reason why they were so cheap...

I've seen pearlscales (full sized ones) for up to $120 in my lfs, but it's all got to do with the quality. Even basic fantails can range from a couple of dollars to up to $10-15 dollars for the same size, it's whether they've got good features(shape, correct finnage, good colouring etc), or whether they were local/import bred ... The lfs can order different 'qualities' from the distributors depending on whether they have customers who care about the quality or whether they just want cheap high turn-over fish, they should then price accordingly (usually a shop will have set it's margin and they'll calculate how much they'll charge for a fish depending on how much per unit price they costed wholesale from the distributor).

Yes lionheads don't have a dorsal tail, I'm not so sure what you mean by tiny, out-of -proportion tails, if you are comparing them to comets, yes their tails are shorter and don't 'flow' like comets (after all comets are named after their long flowing ribbon like tail) You don't really have to look so far around this site to check out pics of other members lionheads to get an idea of what they look like, and again there's always go0gle images.

How big are they? Pearlies are usually a tad more expensive than fantails & orandas, but not super expensive.
They are prone to the same illness & diseases as other fancies & don't have any specific problems related to their type.
There are several types of pearlscales, and they all have different appearances, but here's one top view pic of a short-tailed pearlscale from BAS website




Yes they meant to have no dorsal fins and small tails. Their swimming ability is just fine and they are actually very powerful swimmers.
Here's top view pic also from BAS website



I think that Oranda is a Blue Oranda, and yes some will change colours as they grow old. It's a bit of a gamble with blues.

I highly doubt the fish at the LFS are high quality, they just order fish and a wholesaler stocks them, I guess their mildly better then other LFS's the fish aren't ill for one.

By out of proportion tails I mean the tails are sooo tiny and are at like a 90 degrees angle to the body. They are a lot like the tail's you'd fine on a blackmoor just well tiny LOL

I'm stopping by the LFS on my way home from school, so will pick a fishy out then, LOL that blue oranda was gorgeous, but the tub is black as well, I'd never see it again.

Actually maybe the lionheads are Ranchus? or are they the same thing? LOL

Lionheads are not ranchus, but their body shape is a very similar egg shape with a curved spine, curving towards the tail, the tail tuck's sometimes giving it a '90deg angle'to the body, but ususally not as much as 90deg . But that is not as important in lionheads, it's about the wen growth, which should be like a lions' mane, hence their names..

I think lionheads look fantastic as a TV fish.

well, about the pearlscales. because of their body shape, they are alittle more prone to sbd problems. other than that i cant think of any. pearlscales do seem to be a bit more expensive, but it mostly depends on the quality. ive seen pealsclaes from $5 to $75. the fatter the fish, the higher the quality.

here is a top view of my pearlscale putter.

LOl okies i'll assume the lionheads are Ranchus, as they all ahve little tucked under tails and long sloping backs.

Anyhoos thanks for your answers, I think I might go with one of the Ranchus, just depends how they look at the store this afternoon.

the pearlscales at the Petsmart near me are probably all about 4 inches long, but they are pretty nice looking, they were $40, but they are on sale now for $21 because they are getting a new shipment tomorrow and need to make room in the tanks. So i guess it all depends where you go and the quality of the fish, but i have notived that pearlscales are much more expensive than orandas.

so thats what that fish is, i saw pics the other day and way horrifyed because i though they wee regular fantails with dropsy!
i wonder if anyoe has ever tried to pass off a regular fantail with dropsy as a pearlscale .

I doubt it, if you encouter people who have a background in goldfish keeping, there is no mistake made between a pearlscale and a fish with dropsy. The scales are a dead giveaway, they look like pearls and do not 'pinecone' out like a fish with dropsy.

ahh, ok, i was just courious, i didnt think it could happen, but with the "starlight moors" you see you never know.

I love the pearlscales myself, and depending on the size that's not an unusual price for where I live.

Here's a top view of one of my young pearlscales and my new lionchu (a ranchu with a big lionhead wen):

Hobbity1, do you know what starlight moors are? They're black moors with ich. Never buy them and if you see a store selling them, let them know immediately.

The fish I've seen labelled as starlight moors are pearscale black moors. But then again no one labels things correctly.

Moors with ich? sold as a breed? ewwww

Well I ended up taking in a little rescue lionhead, sadly he died this morning, he had some type of bacterial infection sigh.

Mums taking me up to crossroads, a fantastic aquarium shop in Newcastle on Monday, and I'll hopefully take home a healthy fish rather then a free rescue LOL.

Very unlikely. Pearlscale black moors are almost never sold in local stores. They're a rare breed of gf and will fetch a high price. I think the only member here who got a pearlscale telescope here is vmlola.

I dunno then, but it was def a tank of pearlscale black moors either that or a tank of pearlscale black telescopes. The shop I saw em in was a lil family run shop, the fish weren't craed for very well at all, could they ahve justcome in a shipment and the store owners didnt recognise their value?

Those kind of fish only comes from China or Thailand, so I really doubt that a small family run store have the resources to ship a bunch of pearlscale telescopes from there. Any chance of a pic?

i knew this, which i why i was thinking someone may havethough of selling a sick fish as a special breed. its horrible. but the pearlscales are very pretty:)

No no pic soz, it was a few weeks ago and not in our area. The fish were def pearscale blackmoors, could it just be perhaps whatever supplier they were using had them imported from thailand? LOl I dunno, they def were telecopes tho, if not black moors