Wen Growth - 4 Tips

When it comes to achieving wen (head) growth on goldfish I feel as if it is some huge secret between goldfish keepers, and most of the research I have found on this topic doesn't seem to be completely true so, I am here to tell you what I find to be the biggest contributing factors to achieving wen growth on goldfish.

1. Temperature
Most people seem to have the impression that higher water temperatures help to set the stage for achieving wen growth, which could be true. Although I have found it is also the lower water temperatures which seem to yield the most changes to wen growth. Also from my research some have said their goldfish get the biggest wen growth in low temperatures around 54F, but I have found you can start getting wen growth results just from reducing your water temperature to 71F.

2. Food
From most of the research I have done a lot of people seem to feel certain foods (or brands of goldfish foods) will yield amazing wen growth results, and even goldfish companies try to promote their foods making them sound as if they are geared toward wen growth, etc. A fish with a healthy diet should thrive in general but in terms of wen growth I found it may be geared more toward the amount of food it's being fed rather than what you're feeding it. Now if you're feeding your fish a lot it's basically going to grow bigger at a more rapid rate, but this is more related to its body size and not its wen growth. I found feeding a goldfish less may allow the fishes body to not grow as fast at a more rapid rate and instead the nutrients of the food may actually go to contributing to the fishes wen growth. This may be another reason why one would see more rapid wen growth in colder temperatures as well because colder temperatures make goldfish slow down their activity level and they ultimately begin to eat less. So if you want your goldfish to have good body and wen growth, try using a quality goldfish food and finding/calculating the right amount to feed them while keeping the temperature and their activity levels in mind.

3. Genetics/Breeding
A lot of goldfish may seem to never achieve much (if any) wen growth and I find this could be more related to the fish's genetics and probably poor breeding standards to some extent. If you buy a small young colored up goldfish and it looks as if it really has no wen growth coming in currently than don't expect as your goldfish grows up that it will achieve any, because I have found more often than not it just won't really. If you want a goldfish with big wen growth, I would suggest looking for a goldfish that currently has some good wen growth coming in before you decide to raise that fish thinking that it will achieve wen growth as it grows.

4. Health
If you have a fish suffering from things like Swim Bladder Disease or some underlying issue (again certain problems could relate back to genetics/breeding), this could possibly be a reason why you aren't seeing any significant wen growth happening (although an excess amount of wen growth could actually become problematic for goldfish as well). Again, this can relate back to also providing the fish with a healthy diet. Another part of a fish's health is having a clean habitat, most serious goldfish keepers tend to do rather large water changes, either doing them daily or weekly is what seems to be the norm. If you aren't sure when to do your water changes at least test your aquarium water weekly and see what your water stats are, in doing this it can help give you the knowledge you need to keep your aquarium healthy and provide your goldfish with the best habitat for achieving things like wen growth.

Altering Water Temperature

This week I had a semi-idiot moment (but still a lesson learned in the process) when trying to reduce the current water temperature in my aquarium momentarily (per another experiment of mine). Basically I have been told that when doing a water change you should keep the temperature of the new water within 3-5F of the aquariums current water temperature (as to prevent things like 'Ich' from happening). However, if you have a 79F tank, change 25% of the water (in say a 20 gallon aquarium), and add in 74F (which is 5F lower than the current water temp) water to replace that 25%... guess what, the aquarium water only dropped 1.25F degree in combination with the current tank water temperature (which just wasn't going to do because I wanted the overall water to become 74F momentarily and not 77.75F).

As a side note the upside to adding in cooler water than the tanks current temperature is an increase in the waters oxygen level (which is why I feel when you do a water change to always add in cooler water than the tanks current temp). Did you know water at 77F/25C has an oxygen solubility level of 8.6mg/L? Which means that the average oxygen level in a typical indoor freshwater aquarium is probably going to be around 8-9mg/L. Water at 32F/0C which is 'freezing point' has an O2 level of 14.6mg/L, while water at 212F/100C which is 'boiling point' has an O2 level of 0.

To break it down if I did a 50% (1/2 the tanks water) water change I would need to add in 69F water to my 79F for it to average 74F, which is a 10F temperature difference from the tanks current temp. So if I am only changing 25% (1/4 the tanks water) of the water I would need the new water to be 15F below 79F which would be 64F.

Now you may be saying that colder water is denser than warmer water (thus meaning the cold water would sink to the bottom of the tank) and that 'would' be problematic for aquarium inhabitants. However, when you add cool water to warm water the two temperatures combine together (because heat rises and cold sinks), but if you added hot water to cool water (thus reversing the order) then the two would take time to merge together (the later case could be problematic for aquarium inhabitants). Don't believe me? Than checkout this video on water density. So, if you happen to be using a tube to fill cooler water back into your aquarium you'll want this tube to be closer to the waters surface and not at the base of the tank in order to allow the two water temperatures to better merge together (unless of course you have other intentions for doing so).

Aquarium Water 'Top Off'

I have noticed a lot of people asking about 'topping off' aquarium water. This means that typically over a short period of time you may notice your aquariums water level going down from the water gradually evaporating into the air. Some people have the impression that you aren't suppose to replace that water in the aquarium, and that's actually not true. If you didn't replace that evaporated water than overtime your aquarium wouldn't have any or enough water in it to sustain its inhabitants. However, you do not want to consider topping off your aquarium water as a type of 'water change' because technically you wouldn't be changing any water.

So now you may be wondering what to do in this matter. Well, you can top off the aquarium water all you like to keep the aquarium from emptying out, but I'd suggest to do a partial water change at this time by emptying out some of the current aquarium water, and then replace that removed water and top off the aquarium in the process. If you happen to notice any of your water parameters (nitrite, ammonia, pH, etc.) aren't where you'd like them to be after testing the water then it may require more additional water changes. Be sure the new water you add into your aquarium is the same temperature or within 3-5°F of the current aquarium waters temperature (or you may risk getting your fish sick with things like ich).

A few ways you can try to reduce aquarium water from evaporating quickly is by keeping a lid on the aquarium, although you still want some openings on your lid so that the aquarium gets proper air and water exchange so that the tank can cycle naturally without causing toxic CO2 buildup. Another thing you can do is try to lower the aquariums water temperature if you do have an aquarium heater, or try adding in an air diffuser to reduce heat. Also insure you don't have any leaks in your aquarium or filtration, and that any air pump tubes used have working check valves on them. If you do run an air diffuser it may make water gradually splash/bubble out of the aquarium if you don't have an aquarium lid.

Increase Oxygen

Here I've listed 5 simple ways to help increase oxygen levels in an aquarium.

#1 Lower Water Level. Try not to fill your aquarium all the way to the brim with water, as water drops down into the aquarium (waterfall effect) from the filter it forces water down into the aquarium and helps push oxygen into the water thus helping to increase oxygen levels (be sure the current is not too strong for the aquariums inhabitants).

#2 Water Changes. Too many water chemicals and/or waste, etc can cause a loss of oxygen in the water, it's very important to do regular water changes (clean tap water contains adequate amounts of oxygen).

#3 Lower Temperature. Cooler temperatures can hold more oxygen than warmer temperatures but, be sure the aquarium is the proper temperature for the aquariums inhabitants.

#4 Air Diffusers, Bubblers, etc. With these devices attached to an air pump it helps to increase oxygen and water movement in an aquarium.

Air Diffuser

* Bubbles should be tiny (almost pin hole size) looking for the most part, and probably vary in size. The tank should not just have large (about a cm) and/or slow moving bubbles as this may mean your water has become thickened by dirty water. Also be sure your air pump is strong enough to operate the equipment properly, and clean or replace old diffusers, tubing, and check valves as needed.

#5 Filtration. The right amount of filtration is key to keeping a healthy and clean aquarium, you want to make sure the tank is not overstocked with fish either as the fish will be competing for oxygen. Keep filter cartridges clean, and active carbon can help remove unwanted chemicals and aid in oxygen levels.

Treating Ich on Ranchu

This past week I made a big mistake thinking that my ranchu would be fine in a temporary bucket of water while I cleaned out the aquarium. Well, it took me awhile to get around to actually cleaning my tank so I transferred my ranchu into a new bucket of water and they ended up going through a drastic temperature change (ranchu can only handle around a 3-5F temperature change at time) and thus suffered from it. Bumblez is not at all a fan of cold water and thus he began slowing down his swimming, while Oakki had broke-out in ich on the front of his wen. Luckily I was able to remedy both of them at the same time, here's how I cured and treated the ich in under 3 days (be sure to treat ich ASAP)...

1: Do at least a 50% water change to the aquarium water (be sure the new water added in is within 3-5F of the current tank water temperature), and treat the water with Seachem Prime according to directions (Seachem Prime helps reduce stress, helps slime coating, and dechlorinates water).

2: Keep the water temp in the aquarium around 74-76F (I use an Aqueon heater), as this seems to be an ideal temperature for ranchu in general.

3: Add 1-TBSP of Aquarium Salt (I used the Jungle brand) per 8-10 gallons of water (aquarium salt reduces stress, provides electrolytes, and cleans.. it may also raise your pH so be sure to dose accordingly). Although it may not be necessary, I added in a pinch of aquarium salt everyday after this initial dose until my ranchu no longer showed signs of ich.

4: Turn off any aquarium lighting to reduce any stress caused by glare, etc as these fish have already undergone enough stress at this point.

5: Be sure to run an air diffuser in your aquarium (along with a 24/hr running filtration system) for at least several hours a day to insure the fish are getting plenty of oxygen in the water (this is very important if you are using any other water treatments to remedy your fish outside of what I have on this post), this is especially important for smaller aquariums and/or ones with a higher temperature.

I hope my ranchu ich remedy works for others just as well as it did for my ranchu, and be sure to do another 50% water change a few days after having done the first one as to reduce the risk of having ich spread, etc (just be sure the new water you're adding into your aquarium is in the ideal temperature range as I mentioned before, too drastic a change may only worsen or cause the ich to reoccur). Good/adequate water quality can solve a lot of problems (be sure ammonia levels are also in a safe range, preferably no traces of ammonia, this is especially important if you have a small or overcrowded aquarium).