Red White Ryukin 4-5inch (Pair)

The goldfish with a hunchback, and proud of it. A good ryukin rises steeply from a pointed head into a tall hump behind the skull, then drops into a deep, short body and a long, flowing twin tail. Seen side-on it is almost triangular. In red, or red and white, it is the image most people have in their heads when they picture a fancy goldfish.

Ryukins are a line-bred variety developed in China and named and refined in Japan, by way of the Ryukyu islands. They are the sturdiest and most active of the deep-bodied fancies — quicker than orandas, and much quicker than ranchus — and they have a bit more appetite and bustle than most. That deep body still compresses the swim bladder, so feeding matters, and the hump and depth only develop properly on a fish that is given room to grow.

Care Snapshot

Setting Up For It

• Filtration rated for two to three times the tank. Ryukins are greedy and messy. A canister or large hang-on-back, plus a sponge filter for backup capacity, keeps ammonia at zero.
• 40–50% water change weekly. Temperature-matched and dechlorinated. Nitrate builds quickly with goldfish and quietly stunts growth.
• Open swimming space. More active than most fancies, they use the full length of the tank. Keep décor to the back and sides.
• Moderate, diffused flow. They cope with a little more current than orandas, but long tails still tire in a strong outlet.
• Sand or bare bottom, smooth décor. Safe for constant sifting, kind to long fins and easy to keep clean.

Tank Mates

Ryukins are the most competitive of the deep-bodied fancies, so feed slow companions separately or at the opposite end of the tank.

Feeding — Greedy, So Feed Smart

A ryukin will eat whatever is offered, as fast as it is offered, and gulping floating food plus a deep body is a common route to swim-bladder trouble. Use sinking pellets or soak floating food first, and resist overfeeding.

Two small meals a day, only what disappears in a minute or two. From the AQA range, a sinking goldfish pellet makes the daily staple; add frozen foods several times a week and blanched peas once or twice a week for digestion.

Foods they take eagerly: sinking goldfish pellets, gel food, frozen bloodworm, brine shrimp and daphnia, blanched peas, spinach and courgette.

Sexing & Breeding

Males develop white breeding tubercles on the gill covers and the first pectoral fin rays in season, and chase females persistently. Females are broader and fuller when carrying eggs. Young fish outside the season cannot be sexed reliably.

Spawning follows a cool spell and then rising temperature and daylight. Eggs are scattered over plants or a mop and eaten by the adults unless removed. Only a proportion of the young develop a good hump and deep body, and red-white parents produce a variable spread of colour.

Keeping It In Indian Conditions

• Summer heat is the real enemy. In many cities tanks climb past 30 °C in April and May, and that kills more goldfish than disease. Keep the tank in the coolest room, out of direct sun, with a fan over the surface and an air stone running constantly.
• Power cut plan. A greedy, heavy-feeding goldfish tank in warm monsoon weather loses oxygen quickly when the filter stops. A battery air pump or inverter backup is essential.
• Hard water is fine. Dechlorinated tap or borewell water suits ryukins well.
• Not a bowl fish. Bowls and small tanks are still widely sold for goldfish in India. A 20 cm deep-bodied ryukin cannot live in one — please do not use them.