Animal-World > Freshwater Fish > Goldfish > Redcap Oranda Goldfish

Redcap Oranda Goldfish

Family: Cyprinidae

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Carassius auratus auratus Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

This pretty little goldfish, the Redcap Oranda Goldfish is totally white except for the cherry red hood!.\

   The Oranda Goldfish are some of the most popular goldfish in the world, and the Redcap Oranda is a favorite variety. The Redcap Oranda is a beautiful gold fish with a large round body, shimmering scales, and a long flowing split caudal (tail) fin that fans out when it comes to a stop. These fish are favored for their hood, a fleshy growth on the top of the head called the wen. The wen starts to show at about 3 - 4 months, but really begins to form at about 1 - 2 years becoming full in 2 - 2 1/2 years.

   Unlike the common goldfish with a long slender body, the Redcap Oranda Goldfish is one of the more rounded or egg-shaped fancy gold fish. It is totally white except for a cherry red hood on its head, looking just like a cap. All of its fins are paired except the dorsal fin, and the tail fin is usually split.

   The Redcap Oranda Goldfish are very popular, but although they are widely available they are considered delicate and not recommended as a beginner fish. Unlike the flat-bodied types of goldfish, they have a lower tolerance for pollution and cannot tolerate extremely cool temperatures. The hood is subject to infection from debris, bacteria, and fungi that settles in the tiny folds.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:
   The Goldfish, a wild carp originally known by such names as the Crucian Carp, Gibel Carp, or Golden Carp, was described by Linnaeus in 1758. They originated in Asia; Central Asia and China. Today domesticated goldfish are distributed world-wide. These fish inhabit the slow moving and stagnant waters of rivers, lakes, ponds, and ditches feeding on plants, detritus, small crustaceans, and insects.
   These fish were developed in China, and in the early 1600's were exported, first to Japan and then to Europe, and were further developed into the wonderful colors and forms of gold fish we see today. The Oranda Goldfish is one of the older fancy goldfish with the Redcap Oranda variety being an early development. Today there are more than 125 captive bred fancy varieties.

Status:
   This species is not listed on the IUCN Red List, and presumably there are no wild populations of this captive bred variety.

Description:
   The Redcap Oranda Goldfish is an egg-shaped variety of goldfish. The body has a large round shape, shimmering white scales, and a long flowing split caudal (tail) fin that fans out when it stops swimming. All of their fins are paired except the dorsal fin, and the tail fin is generally split. They have fleshy growth or hood on the top of the head that is a bright cherry red.

Size - Weight:
   Redcap Oranda Goldfish will generally reach about 6 - 7 inches (5-18 cm), though they have been known to grow much larger in many aquarists tanks. The largest known Oranda Goldfish is Bruce, bred in Hong Kong at the TungHoi Aquarium, where he is reported to have reached a whopping 15 inches (38 cm) in length!

Care and feeding:
   Since they are omnivorous, the Redcap Oranda will generally eat all kinds of fresh, frozen, and flake foods. To keep a good balance give them a high quality flake food everyday. To care for your Redcap Oranda Goldfish, feed brine shrimp (either live or frozen), blood worms, Daphnia, or tubifex worms as a treat. It is usually better to feed freeze-dried foods as opposed to live foods to avoid parasites and bacterial infections that could be present in live foods.
   Oranda Goldfish are some of the more delicate species of goldfish. Unlike the flat-bodied types of goldfish, they have a lower tolerance for pollution. Its hood is subject to infection from debris, bacteria, and fungi that settles in the tiny folds. They will need good care and plenty of space. Many people will keep goldfish in small one or two gallon bowls with no heater or filtration. But for the best success in keeping the Redcap Oranda, provide them the same filtration, especially biological filtration, that other aquarium residents enjoy.
   The shape and size of the aquarium is important and depends upon the number of fish you are going to keep. Goldfish need a lot of oxygen and produce a lot of waste.

• A large surface area of water will help minimize goldfish suffering from an oxygen shortage. Surface area is determined by the shape of the tank. For the same volume of water, an elongated tank offers more surface area (and oxygen) than a tall tank. In a fish bowl, filling the bowl to the middle offers more surface area (and oxygen) than filling the bowl to the top. Always provide the maximum amount of surface area.
• Providing a large amount of water per fish will help dilute the amount of waste and reduce the number of water changes needed.
• A general rule of thumb for young fish only is: 1 inch of fish (2.54 cm) per 1 gallon of water. This rule applies only to young fish and is not adequate as they grow. Larger gold fish consume much more oxygen than young fish so maintaining this formula for growing fish will stunt them, and can contribute to disease and even death.
• Keep the tank size and shape in mind when you are buying your fish. To allow for growth, either buy fewer fish than the maximum number of fish (based on the above formula) or be prepared to get a larger tank.

   Because goldfish produce a lot of waste, good filtration is very helpful in maintaining the water quality of the aquarium. Regular weekly water changes of 1/4 to 1/3 is strongly recommended to keep these fish healthy.
   Use a gravel substrate and add some decorations that provide shelter for your pet goldfish. Driftwood and smooth rocks make good, safe decorations; and plants are especially appreciated, either live or plastic. A cover for the tank is desirable as it reduces evaporation and though they are not prone to jumping, on occasion some gold fish will jump out. Most aquariums come with a cover that includes lighting. It is not essential for goldfish, but will help if you have live plants.
   Goldfish are subject to the same diseases as tropical fish. A couple of the more common problems are Ich, Swim Bladder disease, and external parasites including flukes, lice and anchor worms. To learn about these and other diseases and how to treat them see: Aquarim Fish Diseases & Treatments.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish will swim in all areas of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
Unlike the flat-bodied types of goldfish, they have a lower tolerance for pollution and cannot tolerate temperatures much below 60° F (16° C).
   Temp: Goldfish are a cold water fish and will do best at temperatures between 65 - 72° F (18°- 22° C)
   Hardness: 5 - 19° dGH
   Ph: 6.0 to 8.0

Social Behaviors:
   Goldfish are very social animals and thrive in a community. Not only are they a great community fish but they are great scavengers as well. The Redcap Oranda is not a fast swimmer. They cannot vigorously compete for food with fast swimming types of goldfish like the the Common Goldfish, Comet Goldfish, the Shubunkin, so may not fare well if housed with them, but they will do well housed with other egg-shaped varieties if the environment is well cared for. It is really not necessary to add other scavengers or other bottom feeders to the aquarium when you have goldfish.

Sexual Differences:
   Although is it impossible to sex Goldfish when they are young and not in breeding season, the male is usually smaller and more slender that the female. In the breeding season the male has white prickles, called breeding tubercles, on its gill covers and head. Seen from above the female will have a fatter appearance as she is carrying eggs.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Redcap Oranda Goldfish are egg layers that spawn readily in the right conditions. See Breeding Freshwater Fish - Goldfish for more information on breeding Goldfish.

Availability:
   The Redcap Oranda Goldfish is readily available and is inexpensive.

Panda Oranda Goldfish	Oranda Goldfish	Red Cap Oranda	Red Oranda Goldfish
From LiveAquaria.com

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Latest Comments
My redcap fish is very sweet, it is not at all like other fishes. They can grow large in size. It is more senstive than other fishes. It is very rare in my town, that's why I love red cap fishes. SANTOSH 2009-06-06
My red cap is sweeter than all of other red caps. Plese pardon me, I just love it from when I kept it in my small jar. If you want this loving feeling, go to market and get your favourite one... and it must be a RED CAP. Durjay Mukherjee 2009-06-01
I have a Red Capped Oranda named Felix. I got Felix yesturday and I already love him! It looks like Felix tries to talk to me sometimes.I relly don't know if Felix is a Male or a Female. One thing I know for sure, Felix loves his new home! Cameron Vazquez 2009-05-24
I have a red cap oranda named Eve. She is so playful. She has lived whit me for five months so far. Me and her love to play with each other. Gerry 2009-04-03
I have a red-cap oranda named Stella and she lives in a simple spot: a bowl with jewels and water! I clean her bowl about twice a week because she does not have an air stone and needs fresh oxygen. She is beautiful and seems quite happy and extremely easy to look after. I love GOLDFISH! fiona 2009-03-23
Some of the coolest comments:
I have one Red Cap Oranda, I believe she is a girl, but won't know until she gets a little bigger and doesn't develop those nodules. She lives with 3 other fancy fish, which two of them bred and I now have 10 more in another tank. My Red Cap which I call Bobble or Bauble, she has some fuzz in her wen at the moment, which I just dabbed with blue. I've also added salt to the water. I have had her for a year and at one point she did flip over and lay upside down on the bottom of the tank. I fixed that problem by feeding her two peas (Thawed and de-shelled) a day for 5 days and then every second day from there. She got that problem because she got constipated and her swim bladder got pushed out of shape, therefore losing balance. She now only gets two or three meals a day (Small amounts - all food soaked in their water first) and a pea at lunch time every second day. Although every time she sees me she gets excited and I could feed her more, I just have to remember that I want her around for 20 years, so by not over feeding I am loving her better. She also loves to go to the top of the tank and just gulp at the water surface, looking for food, I also fixed that problem by soaking her food and not putting anything on the surface anymore. She has plenty of air, as it is a big filtered tank and she has an airator. She is definitely the light of the party in my tank other than my Lionhead called Puff. Emanemz 2009-03-20
I have 2 medium sized orandas in a 55 gallon tank. They are great fish. They both have great personalities and always follow me around the tank. I have spent over 100 dollars on fancy meds for them since I got them a few years ago. Their wens (head growth) often get white fungus patches on them that seem to be uncurable. Never over feed Orandas their stomachs are too small . Feed them 1 time a day and sometimes don't feed them for a day. Make sure you get a really good filter for gold fish. It will save you money in the long run. I have a cheap one that came with my tank, the water is full of floating algae particles because of this, water changes only do so much. If your fish seems sick, laying on the bottom. etc. try to not feed for a day, mine usually recover. I highly recommend these fish for people that like fish with alot of personality. Matt 2007-06-08

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Author: David Brough. CFS.