If you want to add a touch of living watercolor to your aquarium, be sure to take a look at shubunkins. These amazing goldfish look as if they have been painted by an artist: their light-colored bodies are scattered with spots of blue, red, black, and yellow in the most bizarre combinations. Their name translates from Japanese as “red brocade.”
Shubunkins are not a single specific species, but a whole group of varieties. The classic “American” shubunkin has a long, slender body and a single tail, resembling a regular goldfish, but in bright “calico” colors. The “Bristol” shubunkin is famous for its luxurious double heart-shaped tail. The most unusual are the “long-tailed” varieties with elongated, veil-like fins.
Keeping these beauties is not that difficult, but it is important to remember the basics. They need a spacious aquarium with good filtration and regular water changes. Like all goldfish, shubunkins like to dig in the ground, so a powerful filter is a must. It is best to feed them special high-quality food, without overfeeding. With good care, these active and hardy fish will delight you with their bright colors for many years.
Habitat
Shubunkin (correct name: shubunkin) is a variety of goldfish artificially bred by Japanese breeders.
Its ancestor is the silver crucian carp (Carassius gibelio), which inhabits stagnant and slow-flowing waters in Central Asia. Thanks to long-term selective breeding, it has lost some of its characteristics and acquired a wide variety of colors. Shubunkins are thought to have appeared relatively recently, in the 19th-20th centuries, and quickly spread from Japan throughout the world.
Characteristics
The shape of the shubunkin's body resembles that of another fish, the comet: a broad and short head, an elongated body slightly flattened on the sides. The fins are long and erect, and the caudal fin is forked. The size depends on the volume of the tank in which the fish are kept. In small aquariums, shubunkins reach 10-15 cm, but there are reports of individuals 30-33 cm long.
The main difference and advantage is the wide variety of colors. The fish can be orange, yellow, purple, gray, white-blue—in total, more than 100 variations. A characteristic feature is the randomly scattered spots on the surface of the body, which can also have different colors.
Before sexual maturity, it is impossible to distinguish females from males, but during spawning, white growths appear near the gill fins of males, and females become round from roe.
Care
The minimum aquarium volume for keeping shubunkins is 30 liters, but experienced aquarists recommend purchasing a 100-liter tank for a pair. The fish are undemanding in terms of conditions, but general water parameters must be observed: temperature 18-23 degrees, pH 6.0-8.0, GH 5-19.
Two other important features are filters and substrate. Shubunkins like to dig in the substrate, stirring up sediment from the bottom, which quickly pollutes the water. The substrate should be coarse—fine and medium fractions are not suitable, as the fish can swallow the particles and die. It would also be useful to install an aerator, and natural lighting is recommended. Water changes should be 20% weekly.
Plants deserve a separate mention. Shubunkins like to nibble on leaves, so delicate, capricious species are unlikely to survive. The best option is artificial decorations, but they should be chosen very carefully (the materials must be non-toxic).
Safety should also be considered when choosing other decorations for the aquarium. Shubunkins are very active and curious fish, so they can injure themselves on sharp edges or get stuck in narrow crevices.
— Alena Petrovna Strizhkova Aquarist and home aquascaper
Feeding spiny-tailed frogs is not a difficult task, as they are omnivorous. Their diet should be varied—flakes or other high-quality dry food, supplemented with frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms, daphnia, tubifex worms. It is important to avoid products infected with parasites, otherwise the fish will require long-term treatment.
You can add blanched lettuce or spinach leaves to their diet. Feed them twice a day in small portions, with each portion not exceeding 3% of the weight of one fish. Remove any leftover food after 20-30 minutes, otherwise the compounds formed during decay will seriously harm the fish.
Shubunkins tend to overeat, so it is better to underfeed them slightly than overfeed them.
Breeding
In nature, goldfish reproduce with the arrival of spring, so spawning can be stimulated by creating natural conditions. An aquarium with a volume of at least 70 liters is used as a spawning tank. Healthy individuals are selected for reproduction, separated for several days, and fed protein-rich food. Plants should be placed in the spawning tank, and to stimulate spawning, the temperature should be lowered to 11 degrees, then raised by 2 degrees per day.
Spawning usually begins at a temperature of 20-23 degrees Celsius—the male guides the female to the plants, after which she lays her eggs (up to 10,000 eggs). After that, the parents should be removed, as they will start to eat the eggs. The fry hatch in 4-7 days – they are fed live dust and other special foods until they start to eat artemia and dry flakes.
Shubunkin is a decorative breed of goldfish with bright coloring and “flag” fins, loved for its beauty and calm disposition. These fish come in different varieties: with long or short fins, with different scale patterns — from bright red to spotted. It is best to keep them in a spacious aquarium with clean water, good filtration, and plants, but without sharp objects that could damage their fins. They should be fed a simple, balanced diet without overfeeding. The main thing is to monitor the water quality and temperature, then shubunkins will be healthy and will delight you with their appearance for a long time.
Subspecies
They are about 16 cm long, predominantly dark in color, with black dots and spots scattered across their bodies.
It is considered the most common variety of fish, practically no different from the Japanese variety, but among them there are blue individuals, which are considered very rare.
It differs from the common fish in its elongated single caudal fin, but its color does not change.
Compatibility
Peaceful shubunkins can be kept in the same aquarium with the following fish:
Shubunkins should not be kept with aggressive species that like to nip at tails and fins, such as Sumatran barbs, cichlids, etc. Most aquarists tend to agree that a species-specific aquarium is the best choice.
More care tips:
Advice for owners
- When choosing the optimal temperature for an aquarium, it is important to remember that shubunkins tolerate low temperatures much better than high ones, but are sensitive to sudden changes. Sudden changes can lead to the death of fish, so fluctuations should be avoided.
- Among inexperienced aquarists, there are several misconceptions about shubunkins. Sometimes they are kept in round aquariums without soil, decorations, or filters. Thanks to their endurance, the fish can live in such conditions, but they negatively affect their health and significantly reduce their lifespan. In addition, you should not feed them with ordinary cereals (semolina, rice, etc.). Despite the omnivorous nature of shubunkins, such a diet will lead to unpleasant consequences.
- Choosing plants for an aquarium with Shubunkins is not an easy task, as they eat leaves and dig up roots. If the owner does not want to use artificial decorations, they can opt for hardy specimens with tough leaves and a powerful root system, such as Vallisneria, Anubias, Cryptocoryne, and Echinodorus.
- With good feeding, shubunkins can be kept not only in aquariums but also in ponds.
Video review of Shubunkin
Shubunkin is an amazing fish that can become a real decoration for your aquarium. Its main charm is not in the shape of its body, but in its unique kaleidoscope of colors. Each individual is unique, and watching these colorful fish is a real pleasure.
Despite its beauty, the shubunkin is quite unpretentious. They need a spacious aquarium with clean water, good filtration, and calm neighbors. With proper care, which includes high-quality food and regular water maintenance, these fish will delight you with their health and activity for a long time.
When you get shubunkins, you get not just pets, but a living, moving picture. Keeping them is a calm and meditative hobby that teaches responsibility and gives you many quiet joys from contemplating the underwater world in your home.
