Feasibility of Indoor Culture and Production of Ornamental Goldfish

Feasibility of Indoor Culture and Production of Ornamental Goldfish

Summary

Red Cap Oranda, fancy ornamental goldfish, are imported from Japan and China because they are not grown commercially in the United States. A favorite of retailers and hobbyists, this species (Carassius auratus) is subject to high mortality associated with the stress of overseas transport.

If these fish can be successfully cultured domestically for commercial distribution, rural employment opportunities would increase and dependence on foreign imports would decrease. Additionally, growing the Oranda domestically should save retailers and hobbyists thousands of dollars per year in transportation costs and lost fish.

The objective of the project was to build and operate an environmentally sound, cost-effective, closed-loop re-circulating system for the rearing of Oranda that can be adapted to both small and large-scale production.

At projects end, no Red Cap Orandas had been produced. The fry are delicate and the producer spent most of the grant period facing and solving unforseen problems. Foremost was keeping the fry from being damaged by the tank overflow. With most of the physical problems solved, at grants end the producer hopes to finally produce some Red Cap babies from some adults he has purchased.