The Beginning Of It All



A Comet Goldfish 



       It all started when I was 7 years old, my father bought a big 200-L fiber-glass tub (its kind of like a pond).  Initially, he bought it for his nishikigoi (koi) but after a tragedy, he eventually end up not using the pond.

     What was the tragedy? We went back to my father's hometown for a few days and when we came back, all the kois were found dead...floating on the surface...and a strong smell filled the air of our front lawn.  The cause of the tragedy is a power shortage that made the pump to stop working. The pond was dried up and was not used for a few months.

    Naturally, seeing a blue, not-so-new, empty pond doesn't make my conscience feel at ease. I filled it up with water and  bought a new pump (with my mom). Now that the pond is all up and running, with crystal clear water flowing...I feel that its time to stock it up!

    My father was also drawn back to fishkeeping seeing his son all hyped, and brought me to a local fish shop in Section 18, Shah Alam (no longer exist). At the shop, while he was choosing his nishikigoi...I looked around and spotted a tank of fish.

    The tank was placed way up high (third tier) and I was too short at that time to reach up. I asked my dad "What fish is that?" and he replied "Let's ask the storekeeper". The storekeeper said that the fish is called "hon chow" (is the spelling correct?). The fish looked a bit similar to kois but with long flowy fins and tail (at this time there were no butterfly kois yet..at least not in Malaysia). I kept referring to the fish as "the ones that looks like koi but with long tail". We did not buy any of those "hon chow" and I have been nagging my dad to take me to the store back to buy them.

    The "fish that looks like koi but with long tail" was actually a Comet goldfish. So, long story short, we went back to the fish shop and I brought back home a number of comets (can't remember how many) and 3 ryukins. The satisfaction was blissful...I remember the ryukins specifically...there were 2 longtail ryukins and 1 short tail ryukin. One of the longtail ryukins were sarasa (red and white) with a distinct white spot on its head. The short-tailed ryukin was having an almost 12 red coloration (but I know nothing of the 12 red at this time). And thus began my journey into the goldfish world.......




Photos taken from online sources : www.mizumono.com
                                                          kingyo.jpn.org

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