The long and slender pearlscale goldfish is certainly a special type of goldfish that has a unique appearance, mostly from its translucent body and its shape, and it’s a fun little fella to add to your aquarium.
Want to get started with raising one or more pearlfish in your pond or aquarium? Here are a few quick tips to make sure they’re given a good home:
01. Make Sure Your Tank is Big Enough
Pearlfish start out small to medium-sized, around 6-7 or 9-10 cm long depending on the type, and they tend to grow a little larger as adults (up to 50 cm at most, but that is extremely rare). Your tank should be somewhere between 40-75L for just one and larger for two or more.
You’ll need to make sure that the tank has a filter, there are no strong currents, and, if possible, the water should be a little acidic with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Simply, try to keep the water calm and clean. Decorate them with plants and some shade to give them a little privacy, but also to mimic their natural habitat.
About their habitat, these slender little guys (and gals) live quite deep in the ocean, sometimes up to 2,000m (two kilometres!) deep in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, usually along cliffs and often inside of other invertebrates or even as parasites living inside of sea cucumbers. No need to go overboard with decor in your tank, but a little leafy shade will do them well.
02. Filter Out Your Water Regularly
The depths of the ocean are quite different from areas further towards the surface, and food can be quite rare, and contaminants are generally not as prevalent. This means that your pearlfish will likely do far better in a tank with clean water filtered regularly, usually around a quarter of the tank filtered out weekly.
Don’t overfeed your pearlfish, either, as we’ll touch on in the next point. Overfeeding can pollute the tank, as it’ll just let it rot at the bottom of the tank.
03. Feed Your Pearlfish Well
Pearlfish like a good mix of fresh food as well as pellets and flakes; they aren’t too picky, but they don’t tend to respond to overfeeding. In the wild, they mostly live amongst plankton and eat a little of whatever they like.
Drop a little bit of flakes and/or pellets a few times a day, and don’t worry too much about keeping a strict diet (but don’t forget to feed them completely).
04. Give Them Some Friendly Company
Pearlfish live so deep in the ocean that they’re naturally inclined to keep company with a few other species that live so far down. They tend to get along well with other pearlfish (no surprise there), but they don’t enjoy aggressive types of goldfish or other fish. Species that tend to nip at the fins of other fish likewise won’t get along well with pearlfish.
05. Manage Their Health
Pearlfish should live somewhere between 5-10 years, but that’s assuming they’re well cared for. Comparatively, that isn’t quite as long as many other goldfish, but it’s still considerably long, and you should be responsible for keeping them in good health as best you can.
All of the above tips can help you keep your pearlfish happy and healthy, but to keep it concise, try and feed them well, make sure their temperature is reasonably warm, and give them some privacy when introducing friends.
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