how fast/large do shubunkin goldfish grow

[sissy]

my shubunkin is over 6 years old and over 15 inches long he lost his mate last year because it jumped out of the pond overnight and I did not find him until the next morning .

 

[koiguy1969]

I believe 12" - 15" is about all you can expect on most goldfish varieties, including shubunkins.

 

[j.w]

Mine sure are taking there time growing. I don't think I have any yet that are even 12" and some I've had for 10yrs! I didn't feed them for the first few yrs so maybe they didn't become lardo's cuz of that.

 

[sissy]

Shame on you jw not feeding your poor fishies .I was feeding mine the growth and color inhancing food .I guess now that I think about it that was not such a great idea .

 

[MarineMan]

What did they eat then?

 

[j.w]

They are goldfish so they will eat whatever bugs, worms plants, their own eggs etc. that they like that fall into or fly above the water. It is not uncommon for ponders to do this w/ their goldfish. It also keeps the population down so less overcrowding and obesity. I think they may live longer too if not over fed. Koi are a different matter tho............they couldn't find enough food in a pond to keep them going for long. I feed them now but not too much and am thinking on cutting back some more as the population is now growing faster w/ them being fed. I like when they are happy to see me and come to me for food but don't want too many fish in my pond.

 

[MarineMan]

Oh cool, i didnt know that, im more of a tank guy, i live in a condo and cant have a pond yet, but hopefully soon i can get a house and have a nice pond in the back yard, its more of a community tank, ive got some loaches and a frog and a couple plecos in it, and a minnow i found in the creek and some danios. oh and a couple shrimp. everyone gets along pretty well.

 

[j.w]

I had aquariums for a long time and finally decided I had had enough of all the work involved w/ the inside fish. Now have switched to the pond life and find it much easier for me and the goldfish seem to live a lot longer. Loved my tropicals tho and miss them now and then but not the maintenance!

This bottom one is before I put the live plants and the flourite in and these Clown Loaches were my favorite fish!

 

[Koised]

It's been a long time since I have raised goldfish, but there were some things I learned while raising and breeding them. While genetics do play a part it is not nearly as much as with koi. Given the same water quality and food most batches were far more uniform in size than koi. Other than feeding small amounts of quality food many times a day I found that water quality was the next biggest thing contributing to fish growth. Many people erroniously believe they only grow to the size of thier container. It is the fact that water quality can degrades fasterin a small container. I have found this effect can be negated with water changes or flow through systems. I did notice that with some varieties such as lionheads and other egg bodied types genetics did play a larger role, but not with shubunkins. Never have seen a goldfish over 15 (that is using the standard measuring style of not including the tail, body only).

 

[addy1]

My fish are getting less food this summer, population control, lol. We still have a lot of room for more fish, but don't want a population problem, can't kill the suckers, cull etc, and they are darn hard to catch.

 

[CometKeith]

Addy, I think if you have a lot hungry fish then fewer babies will be able to hide well enough to survive?

 

[addy1]

Addy, I think if you have a lot hungry fish then fewer babies will be able to hide well enough to survive?

Yep the current fish will be looking for those eggs that get dropped and snack on them. I won't starve them, but give them over all less food.
I also have a ton of dragonfly nymphs (i read they eat fry and eggs) tads and what ever else has taken up residence, that will help with natural population control.

 

[Kim Allison]

Talal, I bought 3 shubunkins last summer that were around 1.5-2 inches. They are now each around 5-6 inches. I fed them 2-3 times a day, but again it depends on a lot of factors besides just feeding.

Wow, that's much faster than mine, unless you're including the tail. I got my first Shubunkin, about the size you said, a year ago along with 2 fantail goldfish and 2 comets. I added 2 more Shubunkin this spring, about the size my 1st had reached by that time. Today, best measure I can get from nose to base of tail can't be much more than 3", but I'm not complaining. They're in a 100 gal. preformed pond and have plenty of room now. In the distant future, we may need to consider a larger pond. That would be fine with me!

 

[Kenneth]

I bought 6and they are growing fast as well in 3 months and have already got young baby fish twice

 

[budgenator]

I started with 2 dozen feeders, so something would be moving in the water until I got some "Good" fish about 15 years ago, last year I lost count around 200; the older ones usually hit the neighborhood of 6-8 inches. I've got some bullfrogs that are at least 5 years old too.