The Watonai

[Lenae98]

Could we add the Watonai to the pinned goldfish types? I noticed it was missing.

Watonai are long bodied goldfish similar to that of a Shubunkin, but instead of a single tail Watonai possess a long flowing double tail. Watonai are one of the few double tail goldfish varieties that are hardy enough to live in a pond all year long. This variety gives you the best of both worlds, the hardiness of long bodied goldfish and the flowing tail of a fancy variety, but be prepared to give these fish plenty of room to swim. A Watonai will reach a size of 12 plus inches at maturity.

The link below shows my sky blue Watonai in quarantine.

https://youtu.be/bp8LEmI3gkY

[mjfromga]

I love the blue based fish. Handsome guy. And by Gary, did you mean Gary Hater? If so, he's an awesome breeder and keeper. He no longer breeds the variety I like but I loved the fish I got from him many years ago.

[Lenae98]

11 hours ago, mjfromga said:

I love the blue based fish. Handsome guy. And by Gary, did you mean Gary Hater? If so, he's an awesome breeder and keeper. He no longer breeds the variety I like but I loved the fish I got from him many years ago.

Yes Gary Hater. I joined the goldfish councils Facebook group and he's been quite generous in answering my questions. I really admire Gary's knowledge base and of course his fish! I consider him a mentor. I hope to get a ghost Bristol Shubunkin from him soon but I've been watching Neptune online since the summer and he finally came on sale so I had to snatch him up! He's actually from Blackwater Creek koi farm. Great fish but I wasn't all that thrilled with their packing techniques. I feel like that's why he went through a bit of shock. Really no styrofoam packing around him to keep him warm. I will keep this in mind and restrict my ordering from them to more mild temperatures. But I do so love their fish and have been exceedingly happy with all three that I have acquired from them.

[mjfromga]

I got a tiny fish from PetSmart about a month ago sold to me as a calico fantail for $3.99. Upon further inspection - he is almost certainly a Wakin goldfish, the "sister" breed to the Watonai. Quite fun! Hopefully he does well indoors for the winter and I can boot him outside in spring.

[Lenae98]

3 hours ago, mjfromga said:

I got a tiny fish from PetSmart about a month ago sold to me as a calico fantail for $3.99. Upon further inspection - he is almost certainly a Wakin goldfish, the "sister" breed to the Watonai. Quite fun! Hopefully he does well indoors for the winter and I can boot him outside in spring.

What a great find. A sight better deal then I got but then again I dunno who fashioned the rule that koi were worth hundreds and goldfish a few bucks.  I plan to add a Wakin to my pond in the future. Would love to see your guy!

[mjfromga]

Here's my little indoor system for now.

Crunchy, the little calico short tailed girl... I'm nearly certain is a Wakin. Her shape is 100% Wakin. What do you think?? She is not large of course as she came from PetSmart but with time she will grow a bit. She's already grown some.

She's the only female in the tank, and the only non Oranda. I plan on moving her outside in spring. I also plan to upgrade my outdoor holding size a bit. 

Now the Wakin traditionally comes in red and white, but some breeders such as Rain Garden and some others HAD started to breed in calico.

 

[Lenae98]

9 hours ago, mjfromga said:

Here's my little indoor system for now.

Crunchy, the little calico short tailed girl... I'm nearly certain is a Wakin. Her shape is 100% Wakin. What do you think?? She is not large of course as she came from PetSmart but with time she will grow a bit. She's already grown some.

She's the only female in the tank, and the only non Oranda. I plan on moving her outside in spring. I also plan to upgrade my outdoor holding size a bit. 

Now the Wakin traditionally comes in red and white, but some breeders such as Rain Garden and some others HAD started to breed in calico.

 

She looks like a Wakin to me! Blackwater Creek has calico wakins as will. I think they're slowly becoming more common in the hobby. Crunchy is adorable! I love wakins they're these little bold speed demons. How'd crunchy get his name?

[mjfromga]

1 hour ago, Lenae98 said:

She looks like a Wakin to me! Blackwater Creek has calico wakins as will. I think they're slowly becoming more common in the hobby. Crunchy is adorable! I love wakins they're these little bold speed demons. How'd crunchy get his name?

I was watching them eat and just somehow got really goofy. Since they were eating and chewing, somehow I got the notion to name one of them Crunchy and the other one Chewy. 

And I always MISGENDER poor miss Crunchy. I am 99% sure she is a female. The other 3 fish in the tank are confirmed as males. 

I've never had a Wakin before as they are quite impossible to find here. Imagine getting one because PetSmart got in a batch of "calico fantails". LOL!

And Crunchy is a quite nice one. No deformities or tail fusions or anything. Calico and Kirin are my favorite colors in fish.

[Lenae98]

4 hours ago, mjfromga said:

 

And Crunchy is a quite nice one. No deformities or tail fusions or anything. Calico and Kirin are my favorite colors in fish.

Shubunkins are my favorite fish so you can guess I'm a calico fan. Although I am a bit picky. I like my calicoes to have large black spots and clean color margins. Calico, despite being one color pattern, is incredibly diverse and I think everyone has a particular kind of calico pattern they prefer.

[mjfromga]

10 hours ago, Lenae98 said:

Shubunkins are my favorite fish so you can guess I'm a calico fan. Although I am a bit picky. I like my calicoes to have large black spots and clean color margins. Calico, despite being one color pattern, is incredibly diverse and I think everyone has a particular kind of calico pattern they prefer.

I agree. I like blue dominated calico the best. Crunchy's pattern I don't prefer... but it's okay for $4 🤣

[Lenae98]

8 hours ago, mjfromga said:

I agree. I like blue dominated calico the best. Crunchy's pattern I don't prefer... but it's okay for $4 🤣

You would love my Sanke then. She started out a Sanke gold, thus her name, but a few months ago her white base started changing to blue. Not much white left on her now. I am still in love with her though. She's a stunning fish (I may be bias) and she's a big girl. That's cause she LOVES her food. Sky and Sanke are the same age but Sky's like an inch and a half smaller. He's a little Napoleon. I hope he doesn't bully Neptune. Any advice on how to introduce a new fish? It's just been Sanke and Sky since the start and they came from the same pond.

[mjfromga]

I always just put the fish together. Bullying is very rare in goldfish if everyone is healthy. There may be some initial chasing but it usually goes away within a week or so.