The Different Kinds of Goldfish: Orandas, Comets, Koi

Regular goldfish, comet goldfish, orandas and koi are all similar in appearance. They will all require about the same temperature in their tanks or ponds. The colder the water the better. The problem with cold water is you need to buy a chiller which can be very expensive. It's best to get the water around 74 degrees and keep it at a steady level. Regular goldfish and orandas are somewhat easy to take care of but they get sick a lot and go downhill very fast. Comet goldfish are not as easy to keep alive. They are bred to be feeder fish and therefore they are all usually sick unless you purchase them from a reputable pet store that doesn't have them in a feeder tank. I have saved about two hundred comet goldfish from my boyfriends red tail catfish and out of all of them only four have survived. Koi are by far the easiest type of goldfish to keep alive.

All these fish are very closely related to the carp. Koi are the closest looking to a carp followed by comet goldfish. The only difference with koi and comet goldfish are their size and they appearance. Koi come in a wide variety of colors. They also have long feelers on their faces. Comets look more like a sleek and slender goldfish. When you win a goldfish at the fair, you are winning a feeder fish which is also known as a comet goldfish. This is why most of the fish do not survive. They are not kept in a tank with a filter or oxygen like they are supposed to.

Orandas look like goldfish but they have bubbles on their heads. They look somewhat deformed. This is the way the fish are meant to look. Do not be alarmed if your goldfish all of a sudden starts to form a bubble head. Usually orandas will form the head growth later in life. All the fish listed can reach about twelve inches in length. Koi can reach up to three feet in length and they also live the longest. Some koi have been known to live for several hundred years. Koi are meant to be placed in ponds because you need a tank which is at least one thousand gallons to house one fish.