Hello, everyone! I'm back again. I have my 40 gallon set up for my giant orange Futa and my growing 4-inch shub, Suna. I have two 15s as well that are occupied by a sweet little calico fantail and another occupied by just a little baby oranda. I don't know much about the breed, it's my first time dealing with anything with a wen, so I'm wondering what I can do to make him/her more comfortable. I'm already setting up the baby's tank with a few plants, some moss, and a good filter. Everything is pretty well conditioned, just with a few fluxes in ph now and then (I think it's the oranges I fed him/her last week), but I wanted to know more about this wen thing.

First off, what's the best food for growing a wen? What sort of prep does that food need and what seemed to work best?

Is there anything I need to worry about amounts of food I'm giving? I know that I can't give them fruit more than once or twice a month, but what about other foods? Do they have limits?

How long will it take to grow a good wen? I've only had the little cutie for a few months now and he's probably only an inch as it is.

Oh! And, lastly, how do I keep him at a relatively chocolate color? I know babies will change a lot, but I wondered if there was something I could do to keep him at least a light brown?

Thanks, guys! I appreciate this SO MUCH. ^^

~ Repsychus ~

I fed my lionhead and oranda Hikari lionhead and they had amazing wen growth...to the point where I thought I was going to have to trim them!!!
In the case of my fish, it took about 6 months to grow really nice wens.

+1 on the hikari lionhead i feed it too all my goldies not just my fish with wens pearl has had some great wen growth and my fish have increased in size a fair bit as well also it is a good colour enhancer food

Orandas are the gentle giants of the goldfish world. They have the potential to grow VERY large. Some have more wen than others. Some carry a full "lionhead" type of wen - others carry it as a "tophat" only. It is all genetically decided.

Feeding higher amounts of protien can help develop a wen - hense the special Hikari foods for wen development. They are heavy on the protien. You can use these or other sources of protien. There are many. Feeding a diet heavy in protien will only help develop a wen if the genetic predispostion to grow a large one is there, though.

As far as the color, an inch long fish is still developing color. Yup - he probably has taken on his first "adult" colors, but most fish of that size (other than calico) do not keep their "first color". Chocolate and blue are a common color seen in very young fish. As the fish ages, red will most likely be the predominant color.

Color, just like the wen, is mostly determined by genetics. There is not a great deal you can do to keep the chocolate color if the fish is programed to be a red. If you have a fish that does remain chocolate or black or any of the "more difficult" to keep colors, you can help keep those colors clean and bright by keeping the temperature of the water on the cooler side. Orandas do very well in 66-70F water. Cooler water can help prevent a black fish's (chocolate is a derivitive of black) belly from bronzing out. In a very small degree, the pH of the water also can play a part in the color. Higher pH is more friendly to the blacks than lower.

I suggest that you just watch and enjoy your little guy as he grows. The amazing kalidescope of colors on young fish never cease to amaze me.

there is one food that helps with darker colors: earth worms or night crawlers. No fish will keep there total color as Daryl said baby fish have baby colors, they will change. Being outside in a pond does help to but they will change

Wow, thanks for the advice! But, where I come from, they don't even have hikari lionhead food. Would you know of any online store that might prove particularly good? If not, s'okay. ^^ Also, what do you feed your babies for treats?

~ Repsychus ~

Wow! This post has really been very informative and very helpful. ^^ Thank you so much.

I've already looked into my goldfish food (one of those wardley cheapo ones, but I don't have all my money right now) and it's got a pretty low protein around 35%. I've heard that plankton can be a real booster for protein, but it's not suggested often and it's bloody expensive! Still, I hear those Hikari products are really good to use, as are blood worms and tubifex worms. A lot of the posts around here have been incredibly helpful. Even so, is there anything else you suggest I should do for my baby oranda? I'm trying to find live plants that he would like to eat, but my petshop isn't very informative and I'm scared to put in anything that might make him sick. Your help would be VERY appreciated, as you guys seem to be the most reliable information I can get!

Oh, and I'm prepared to have myself a red oranda. I wish I could keep his chocolate color, though, and I'm making sure he stays on the cold side of the room. I hear sunlight also changes their color quite a bit, so he gets a little less light than the rest of them...which, honestly, he seems to like more since he's small and very skittish. I feel bad leaving him in such a big tank by himself, but I know my calico wouldn't appreciate being cramped and both my giant orange fantail and my shubby would try to kill him. So, aside from temp, sunlight, and avoiding color-changing foods, I guess its' really just a matter of time...*sighs* Oh, well. I'll take a ton of pictures of him now so I can show him later on in his life what he looked like when he was a baby. ^_^

~ Repsychus ~

PS: I think he's going to have a full head cover! He's got chubby cheeks!

Oooh...I've never even thought of earth worms or night crawlers! Any suggestions for cultivating them? I worry about making my baby sick.

And, yes, I realize he'll change colors...I'm prepared to have a red oranda, since red is my favorite color. I just wish he would stay this perfect cinnamon brown - it's SO beautiful! It looks like that one fish on the front page of the site...the one that's slowly turning orange. That's what he looks like and he's adorable!

~ Repsychus ~

Many on line stores carry the Hikari Lionhead, including Big Al's, Drs. Foster & Smith, That Fish Place. Stores such as mmm and nnnn also carry it, and if these stores are not near you, they also sell on line.

you can order Hikari Lionhead here P-E-T-S-M-A-R-T.C-O-M ... please remove those hyphens

I order from mops.ca (or .com in your case) and bigals.com

I order mind from the LSF its a mom and pop store. your talking about this fish?

Man! That is the first time I've heard that. I'm out of luck then. There's no way I can keep my tanks that cool without chillers. I guess my blackies will bronze out on me then. Which would be cool too, becuz I love chocolates!!

I am still learning something new every day on this site. It's amazing!