I am new to goldfishing and I seem to prefer Orandas. My first was a baby, black and orange, my second was an adult black and orange. The baby is starting to get a big round belly, but the wen is still small. The adult has a nicely developed wen but is thin around the middle. I love them both no matter what but I have a question -

If I'm feeding them both Hikari Gold and Pro-Gold, peas and fruit for treats. Will this diet develop the wen of the baby and the belly of the adult? I have noticed a growth spurt in the baby since adjusting the diet from flakes to pellets. What have other Oranda lovers done to develop the chubby belly and grand wen of their fishies?

Sounds like you are feeding good stuff. I'd keep the water really clean & wait to see how they turn out!!

Im also an oranda enthusiast currently i have 9 orandas. I will give you a direct qoute from Dr. Erik L. Johnson and Richard E. Hess book Fancy Goldfish. It reads "Headgrowth is mainly gentically determined, but is also influenced by enviromental conditions. Falling autumn temperatures encourage fat accumulation and increased headgrowth-which is fatty tissue. The amount of live food, degree of crowding, and water conditions also influence headgrowth. At the same time will result in smaller fish. It seems that as the fish directs it's growth towards body size, headgrowth slows down. The same phenomenon occurs with other types of goldfish. in which fin development is delayed in favor of body size." In that paragraph the author is talking about ranchus but in my experience it is the exact same for orandas. If you want to increase headgrowth i say gradually drop the temp down to 64-65 you might see a drop in feeding activity as the goldfishes metabolism slows down the feeding behavior. Another good way of helping fish out alot is green water i'll post a thread so i don't have to right alot. http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=66317 All in all the headgrowth is primarily gentic i have a 9 inch oranda with hardly any headgrowth. But i have a 2 in chocolate oranda thats gonna have a mammoth headgrowth(can't wait till he gets big) I'm glad to see another oranda enthusiast on here they are truly great fish and have some cool personalities. I strongly advise getting the Fancy Goldfish Book i quoted it has helped me a tonne. It is the best book i have ever seen about goldfish and is very very informative. Incase you where wondering about Richard E. Hess he is the operator of www.goldfishconnection.com

Orandas are by far my favorite fish and with 12 tanks in our home I have alot of fish to compare!
Here's a photo of my biggest gal Fiona. She is @ 4" long in body size and had a mammoth wen.

Cool Beans!

Wow...she's gorgeous!

Here's my current pride and joy he's 4" in body and spunky
His wen is much bigger now and here's my dads pride and joy

He's also much bigger then when i got him and has a richer oramge he is much more striking in person HUGE body on that fish. There both imports from the fish sempai in Breslau, Ontario.

Get outta TOWN...those are some awesome Orandas! Thanks for sharing!!

OK, so I'm still new and still learning a lot. Someday I'd like to order a fish from the Fish Sempai, how do they ship them? I just can't imagine sending a fishie like that via UPS!

Oranda's are my favorite also.. Each Oranda's body and wen style are often set from genetics..feeding more protein helps also..I feed my Orandas Gel food from fresh greens,babyfood,bloodworms..and so on..I have all chubby Orandas except 1..Pumpkin is very long with good wen but not chubby..Keitaro is very chubby and suffers from SBD..after meals...I think Orandas have a wonderful personality...Here's a pic of my newest one..Bella


http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh64/Je...1935/bella9.jpg

Thanks she is such a bossy priss to the smaller boys! I absolutely love her to death.

Holy Mackeral (whoops)
I have a serious case of oranda envy with those beauts Awesome Orandas.

*And an appropriate Site Name too, I might add*

Jewels I love your Oranda bella, i've seen some pics of her in other theads and love it looks like my winston pandas are very striking fish. As far as the fish sempai ships I think he double bags the fish and puts in pure oxygen and next day ups, his fish are drop dead gorgeous very cool variety.

Thanks I went to his farm to just pick up the panda and the fancy goldfish book. But i cam home with 13 fish glad i have a few tanks always running just incase of situations like that. Would of bought more but no room there was a tri-colour there i would've killed for but no room and his prices are so reasonable. $40 for a tri-colour that are perfect I have no problem shelling out that for a fish that is perfect. And don't even ask about the ryukins words cannot describe them.

Precious!

They don't ship to the US anymore. Order new fish from Ken instead.

I love oranda, i have one little oranda myself, really cute and cant wait until he grow! His wen is white, so beautiful! lol My fav. is actualy lionhead and ranchu lol

I think he still ships to the US. I know he use to not be able to, but it says on his website he can. Orandas are such cool fish lots of variation colour and styles of wens.

Sitting here thinking about Orandas..I have to say I love the ones who change colors..I had a Panda who went from black and white to Yellow!.. her whole wen was yellow..This occurred after pond life..I cant wait to put them out there this spring!

I'll post some more pics my orandas tonight after water change.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/hou...ound/kokos2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/hou...ound/kokos3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/hou...ound/kokos4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/hou...ound/kokos5.jpg

I love yoru orandas! Especially the one in the third photo! Adorable!

That one is about 9" with tail but has very little wen and it's body shape is a bit elongated. It was first every oranda i have it about 3 years and is a real looker in person it's colour pattern is really catchy. If it only had a good wen. As you can probably tell im a real particular person about my orandas.

I hear you! I picked out my Orandas before I researched any standards, mine would not win any contests. However, I really love my cutie pies just how they are. I'm anxious to see how they change in the coming years.

Thanks for all your awesome photo's, I really enjoyed your posts. I really enjoyed this whole thread. Orandas rule!!!

From what i can se in your pictures at the bottom of your posts your oranda's look quite good body shap, colour and head. There nothing much more striking than a black and gold oranda.

Here are some more pics of my guys.
My first oranda near 9"

The rest are all from the Fish Sempai. Winston and Black and Decker Industrial are imports from Tung Hoi Aquarium.

Little redcap 1.5" plus fins

Little calico 1.75"

Little Redcap Pom Pom

Winston and Black and Decker Industrial

Black and Decker Industrial

Winston