Magpie Goldfish

1 Breed Introduction

The Magpie Goldfish, short for ‘Magpie’, has a blue-based body color and is named for its overall resemblance to a magpie. It mostly derives from blue goldfish such as the Blue Oranda or Blue Dragon Eye.

English name: Magpies spent fish

Type: Goldfish, temperate freshwater fish

Origin: China

Breeding: Egg-laying (oviparous)

Water quality: pH 7.2 to 7.5

Care difficulty: Easy

Suitable water temperature: 10 to 30 C

2 Physical Characteristics

The Magpie Goldfish is special in form and color; its blue-based body shifts with the light as it swims, very pretty. It is a high-head type with the usual goldfish traits.

Its base color is blue, with the belly fading to white as blue pigment recedes. The fins and head are black, giving a stark black-and-white look that names it after the magpie. It mainly comes from blue goldfish like the Blue Oranda or Blue Dragon Eye; reduction or loss of the blue reflective tissue makes part of the body turn white while other parts darken to black, the black-and-white contrast being the Magpie pattern.

3 Housing and Environment

Though not hard to keep, care points still matter or it gets sick. How to set up the tank so it grows healthy and prettier?

Keep water quality: in hot weather the fish is active, eats more, grows fast, but also excretes more, and plankton blooms, so the tank easily breeds bacteria that threaten it. Change water often, especially in summer: partial changes once or twice daily, full change weekly, best at dawn or dusk.

Control temperature: above 30 C it easily suffers hypoxia and ‘scalded tail’ disease, a big threat. Cool it below 30 C promptly, and place the tank in a ventilated spot to cool and ensure oxygen.

4 Feeding

It is a goldfish variety, not picky, but good food and scientific feeding matter for health and beauty. How to pick suitable food?

Good food has a natural fish/shrimp scent; poor food has much flour and a greasy spiced smell, salty like MSG. Sour or rancid smelling is worst. Good food keeps its shape long in water; poor food turns to mush quickly and even colors the water.

Good food barely swells after soaking; poor food swells a lot. Goldfish do know when full, but some still die of overfeeding because cheap food swells fast in the stomach, eventually bursting the fish or causing indigestion or enteritis.