Introducing Loki the Ryukin Fancy Goldfish

And now it's the goldfish turn!


It's time to introduce Loki. He is a red and white ryukin fancy goldfish (Carassius Auratus) and he is my pride and joy. I love this little (but ever getting fatter) fish so much it's silly. He was given to me by Kirby for my birthday in May and it is all thanks to him that I have become stupidly into my fish keeping. At first Loki lived in a 30 litre tank, which I quickly began to learn wasn't big enough for a ryukin, most certainly not for the long run. Being about 2 inches (just body) in length when I first got him and learning that he could grow up to about 10-12 inches in length when he was fully grown.

Loki went through a couple of problems, the first one being as soon as I brought him home. He was unhappy, lethargic and I didn't think he would make it through the first week with me. This lead onto me dreaming nightmares of poor Loki for months. But after much research on the internet (and an added nutritional diet of peas) Loki pulled through and I began to learn of his wonderful personality. Then a few months later he got a parasite and in his attempt to re leave himself, scratched a huge gash in his side which removed 10 or so of his scales. I was really horrified at this and the poor thing was clearly miserable. However, with a dose of medication and with me spotting it so early, my Loki pulled through and after moving him into his new big tank the scales grew back within a few weeks - even quicker than I'd ever hoped or anticipated.

Loki still seems to get some bloating issues, as in the evenings sometimes he likes to spend a lot of time simply floating at the surface of the water, but with a careful diet, I pray that this will never develop into a full blown swim bladder problem. Unfortunately some fish are prone to such issues, but I am very glad that I am aware of it so that it can always be addressed properly in the future.