White goldfish type with red head marking

Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
339
Reaction score
296
Location
UK
Hardiness Zone
9a ish!
Country
United Kingdom
IMG_1286.JPG
Just been reading the list of fish types posted on another thread in this forum and it got me wondering about two of my fish. Anyone say what category they would fall into? I've seen fish for sale with this identical colour/pattern on the odd occasion since I got this pair.

They're both relatively slender bodied with very long flowing tails, pearly white in colour except for a single elongated oval head/dorsal marking which is bright red. They look like what we call Sarasas over here which are red and white, but these two have reversed colours being predominantly white and red, and look just like a Tancho koi, colour wise. I seem to recall when they were smaller their body colour seemed to be a more pinky white, but they're both definitely a clearer white now.

The pic above shows one of them it's not an ideal shot as I've zoomed in on an old pic and cropped it down a lot, any more zooming and it goes too out of focus! Any clues?
 
Joined
Nov 11, 2010
Messages
4,068
Reaction score
4,008
Location
Chicago Area
Hardiness Zone
5b
Country
United States
Hi. Very pretty fish. The fish you have are a typical kind of Sarasa Comet. They have all white bodies and a red oval marking on their head. I have had lots of variations of it but the one you are describing is a very classical Sarasa coloration.
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
339
Reaction score
296
Location
UK
Hardiness Zone
9a ish!
Country
United Kingdom
Thanks Keith. Was curious as I always called the mainly red ones with white random patches Sarasa comets and didn't realise these two were a type of that.....mainly because their head patch was such a striking feature with it only ever being seen on their head/dorsal area.
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
Moderator
Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Messages
44,338
Reaction score
29,089
Location
Frederick, Maryland
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
6b
Country
United States
I have a few with that coloring, but also have some color spots on the rest of their body.

Nice fish Moby
 
Joined
May 26, 2014
Messages
973
Reaction score
492
Hardiness Zone
13b
its sarasa but red on head is neat , we used to call these in fantail redcap oranda which only had red on head , i think precise marking can be achieved if selective breeding , iv observed that fry will often have marking on same spots where parents had more or less . i have these sarasa but with all face red , u have like tanchu neatly on head .
 
Joined
Jun 5, 2015
Messages
677
Reaction score
572
Location
Chicago (W suburbs)
Showcase(s):
3
Hardiness Zone
5b
Country
United States
Some will call this the "Tancho" sarasa comet. Lots of comets are this way, but apparently this color pattern is especially well liked because it reminds people of the Japanese flag.
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
339
Reaction score
296
Location
UK
Hardiness Zone
9a ish!
Country
United Kingdom
'Tancho sarasa comets' they will be then! Thanks to those who responded:)
 
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Messages
566
Reaction score
635
Location
Willow Grove,PA
Hardiness Zone
6a/b
Country
United States
IMG_1762.JPG
One of my original 4 fish was a Sarasa comet with a white body and red marking along the top of its head. Unfortunately it didn't survive in the temporary pond I set up during my rebuild. I lost a bunch of fish I believe to the two bull frogs that where hanging out there . I never saw any dead fish...
Anyway I did get these two off spring . One has the white body with the red dorsal head marking and one that is half white and orange.
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2015
Messages
339
Reaction score
296
Location
UK
Hardiness Zone
9a ish!
Country
United Kingdom
Interesting fish Gordon. I don't get any youngsters in my pond, the fish spawn frequently, but there are too many gaping mouths for any to survive. I've plenty of cover for them to hide amongst as you can see my pond is well planted, but none seem to make it. Have no other idea why I get none....other than I own a veritable tribe of cannibals!
 
Joined
May 26, 2014
Messages
973
Reaction score
492
Hardiness Zone
13b
Interesting fish Gordon. I don't get any youngsters in my pond, the fish spawn frequently, but there are too many gaping mouths for any to survive. I've plenty of cover for them to hide amongst as you can see my pond is well planted, but none seem to make it. Have no other idea why I get none....other than I own a veritable tribe of cannibals!
can b ur orfe eating
i had this problem in middle i had no fry , my pond is stream like , it has end where the pumps are , so all the water comes at end , what i did is made a damn of stones narrow shallow channel where no larger fish could enter but the water can flow in , so it was working like a skimmer just difference was there was a portion behind it fr smaller fishes, i noticed every month fry would collect there and they would not come out untill they grow large , i was amazed because before that there was no survivors then suddenly every few weeks i had fry there , i dont know if the fishes splashed the eggs around there that flew in or the fry from all the pond wud flow into it and get trapped .

beside that u can increase shallow areas where fishes can spawn and larger fishes cant enter and add more bushy plants which has dense roots . Other reason can be if there are large fishes or over populated ... the water is fluctuating its amonia, nitrites , oxygen , heat etc at some time may be after heavy feeding or at certain time, fry cant survive any fluctuation if water quality turns bad for short time , all fry will die but larger fishes will not feel any change . u can increase water flow or aeration too .
 
Last edited:

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
30,780
Messages
508,557
Members
13,042
Latest member
lucaryan

Latest Threads

Top